As we await tonight’s openers, the stage is bathed in blood red light and this is surely a portent of things to come, and no more so than Diesect. A band who originate in Australia, this tour is their very first time in Europe, and they haven’t travelled all this way to take prisoners. They get the evening off to an explosive start, and are a power trio in its purest definition (i.e., powerful) and create a sound that’s far bigger than their constituent parts and it fills every inch of the venue. It’s visceral and violent, they lock in tightly to ensure that every riff connects like a ten ton hammer, leaving the crowd battered and bloodied, but enamoured nonetheless.

Great American Ghost aren’t a band who deal in subtleties and as such waste little time on fancy introductions, appearing like a tornado sweeping through the venue. Vocalist Ethan Harrison in particular has a wild-eyed, psychotic stare that suggests you don’t get too close, yet he seems intent on breaking down the division between band and crowd, singing from the barrier and threatening to invade the floor at any moment (which he does during final track, singing from inside a swirling pit). Yet, the whole band are on fire with a solid rhythm section and a guitarist pulling impossible sounds from his guitar, conspiring to create a no-holds-barred, full-on affair which awakes the crowd from their Sunday slumber. Tracks such as ‘Echoes Of War’ prove themselves particularly pertinent, ensuring Great American Ghost remain totally relevant.

The thirty-date tour which reaches a conclusion tonight has rendered Crystal Lake a well-oiled machine which means they are bang on point from the very first note. A band of whirling dervishes who leap straight for the crowd’s jugular, they immediately draw blood with the aptly-tiled ‘Neversleep’ and keep their fangs drawn for the coming fifty minutes. Prowling the stage like a 900lb gorilla, vocalist John Robert Centorrino is a street brawler looking for trouble, and ensures tracks such as ‘Six Feet Under’ hit with maximum force, shattering cartilage and sending teeth flying in every direction. John never fails to engage with the crowd, making this a very collaborative affair, meaning that no matter how heavy things get (and they get extremely heavy) this is a very unifying affair, and in our age of fragmentation offer a feeling of positivity that’s sadly missing from today’s scene. Every light on every cellphone illuminates the venue for closing track ‘The Weight Of Sound’ (the title track of their new album, reviewed here), making an arresting spectacle and ensures Crystal Lake won’t be forgotten in a hurry, but there was never any danger of that.

In many ways it’s hard to believe that American metalcore legends Miss May I are celebrating their 20th anniversary. Of course, there was never any doubt that their sound would stand the test of time, it was more their approach to music (and life) which suggested they were likely to burn out on their own frenetic energy. However, that they are built for the long haul becomes obvious when they unleash opening salvo ‘Shadows Inside’, a nuclear warhead exploding with ground-shaking force, the shock waves of which reverberate throughout Birmingham (and beyond). Bombastic is a word that doesn’t do their attack justice, but it’s the only one that will suffice as the band explode like a spark to kindling. The veracity with which Miss May I operate has a similar effect on the crowd and, like a chain of domino falling, it doesn’t take long for a pit to erupt that’s equally virulent. An end-of-tour show can be a funny thing; it can either fall flat where a band hasn’t properly paced themselves and they run out of fuel, or a band will be on fire and burn off their excess energy. I’m pleased to report that Miss May I are very much in the second camp and take us on a tour de force through their discography where older cuts (‘Forgive And Forget’) fuse with the new (‘Into Oblivion’) in strange and exciting ways. We’ve been treated to some energetic performances tonight, but Miss May I take things off the dial, delivering a set that never takes the needles out the red. The energy with which the band operate means that the end of their set comes around far too soon, but closer ‘Hey Mister’ means this evening will live long in the memory.

Miss May I Set List:

1. Shadows Inside
2. Masses Of A Dying Breed
3. Pray For Silence
4. Into Oblivion
5. A Dance With Aera Cura
6. Architect
7. Relentless Chaos
8. I.H.E.
9. Die On The Vine
10. Under Fire
11. Hey Mister

Crystal Lake Set List:

1. Intro
2. Neversleep
3. Bludgod
4. Everblack
5. Hail To The Fire
6. Six Feet Under
7. Lost In Forever
8. Openwater
9. Watch Me Burn
10. Apollo
11. The Weight Of Sound