If you are looking for a top tier deathcore show then look no further. Lorna Shore‘s European tour with Whitechapel, Shadow of Intent and Humanity’s Last Breath is almost certainly what you’re after. February in Manchester at the Victoria Warehouse, Lorna Shore actually managed to sell out the venue, which is just incredible for a genre as extreme as deathcore. The crowd were buzzing from the start because this is a cracking lineup.
First up, coming from Sweden, are Humanity’s Last Breath. A deathcore band with a pinch of black metal and a very clear Meshuggah influence, they are the perfect chaotic opener for an even more chaotic night. Coming out to sirens only felt right for this lot; constant pick scrapes and some absolutely crazy guitar noises set the tone immediately. Lead vocalist Filip Danielsson cuts an imposing figure on stage in his hooded coat, bringing visual comparisons to V of Sleep Token fame, and they have the audience crowdsurfing almost immediately.
Shadow of Intent are a well renowned deathcore band from Connecticut. They’re known for having some devastatingly heavy breakdowns with beautiful melodies woven throughout their music, too.
Their vocalist Ben Duerr has some of the gnarliest vocals you’ll hear live; an absolute beast. The entire band brought it tonight, clearly loving themselves and bigging up the crowd constantly. It works a treat. The crowd goes crazy for these guys, heaving bodies over the barrier constantly, and a pretty impressive circle pit is a fixture throughout their set.
Hailing all the way from Knoxville, Tennessee are deathcore heavyweights Whitechapel. Opening with songs from their newest album Hymns in Dissonance, they immediately throw themselves into ‘Hymns in Dissonance’, ‘Prisoner 666’ and ‘A Visceral Retch’, each song carrying its own memorable moments. These are three songs that have become instant classics among the fans, which is impressive considering Whitechapel made a lot of the OG deathcore classics almost 20 years ago now.
Whitechapel‘s vocalist Phil Bozeman, who is very well regarded in the metal and deathcore scene as one of, if not the best, deathcore vocalist of all time, sounded absolutely disgusting tonight. The “I like vocals that sound like two rocks grinding together” joke has never been truer than this evening. Whitechapel are one of those bands that have been around for a very long time and have clearly perfected their craft. It was just an absolutely incredible show of fast, technical riffs and slow breakdowns with some of the nastiest 808s we’ve had the pleasure of hearing live.
While Whitechapel played a lot of new material, they also played some of their oldest songs like ‘A Somatic Defilement’, ‘Devirgination Studies’ and ‘This Is Exile’ to the utter joy of the audience.
All in all, just go see Whitechapel, whether they’re supporting or headlining. You will not be disappointed. Whitechapel are one of the best live bands around, not only in deathcore but in metal in general.
Finally, the headliners of the night, Lorna Shore. Coming across the pond from New Jersey, the blackened deathcore legends came onto the stage in a brilliantly dramatic fashion, having a massive sheet put up in front of the crowd to create an enigmatic atmosphere. They dropped it on the opening beats of ‘Oblivion’ from their new album I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me.
This set was absolutely incredible. The crowd went wild the entire time, shouting out lyrics constantly. The pit was chaos, with multiple pits opening up, and the production was on another level. Lorna Shore brought out eight very large screens full of visual effects, an incredible lighting rig and a show worthy of an even bigger stage than this.
Lorna Shore brought the heat, literally and figuratively, with pyro shooting all over throughout their songs. It was a true blaze of glory, so much so that their vocalist Will Ramos even commented, “I’m glad I didn’t catch my pretty pink hair on fire.” On the topic of Will, he put on a deathcore vocal clinic. From goblin screams to low and high frys, low and high false chords and even a few closed mouth gutturals, that man can do it all. I’d love to see Will do a side project with some darker and more gruesome elements to it someday.
You might worry that with Will being as talented as he is, the rest of the band might be outshone, but that’s far from the truth. Drummer Austin Archey and guitarist Adam De Micco were both incredible performers and players. Austin‘s drumming was out of this world. The fact that he can keep up with Lorna Shore‘s 320 BPM for an entire set with no slip ups is just actually robotic at this point. Adam, being one of the members the crowd cheered for loudest, kept whipping out improvised solos which was such a treat. Their sound is huge and mixed extremely well, so the crowd were treated to a near perfect show.
Closing the show with the surprisingly emotive ‘Pain Remains’ trilogy before launching into the song that launched a thousand imitators, ‘To The Hellfire’, the stage filled with flames, flames and more flames. Finishing on that disgusting display of vocal prowess, Will exclaimed that this was the perfect end to their UK run, that he was very happy with the “crowdsurfers, the fire, the crowdsurfers not being on fire” and the absolutely insane show that not only the band put on, but the sold out crowd too.
Things can only get better for Lorna Shore. In a moment where extreme music is gaining in popularity (see Spiritbox at the Grammys for example), it’s only a matter of time before their technical prowess and boundless charisma pushes them even higher into public consciousness. We can’t wait to see it!
