Review / Bury Tomorrow @ SWX

By Gail El-Halaby, Second year Psychology

Gail El-Halaby reviews British metalcore group Bury Tomorrow at SWX

The last time I saw Bury Tomorrow was back in 2014 in a tiny, minimal capacity, no barrier gig, post Runes album release at Kingston College. I distinctly remember repeatedly stage diving and crowdsurfing, 16-year-old me thinking it was badass.

It was Bury Tomorrow’s 2016 release Earthbound which seemed to have really propelled the band onto the forefronts of British metalcore, resulting in them touring with names such as Architects, Crossfaith and Parkway Drive.

However, one thing I’ve always admired about the band is how true to themselves and genuinely humble they seem to be about how far they’ve come since their initial 2012 release- ‘The Union of Crowns’ which is so clearly shown throughout their live show.

Supporting Bury Tomorrow on this tour were Crystal Lake, Cane Hill and metalcore veterans 36 Crazyfists.

The band comes on with 'No Less Violent', the opening track to their latest album Black Flame, with a drop so heavy I’m not sure if I should be running to the toilet or into the pit. The set list is predominantly consisting of their latest two albums, with some throwbacks to their earlier albums, such as the famous ‘Man on Fire’ and ‘An Honourable Reign’. Dani Winter-Bates’ quality growls particularly stand out and Jason Cameron’s clean vocals are on point.

About 15 minutes in Dani shouts ‘everyone put their arms around the person next to you and introduce yourselves, you’re now friends for the rest of the night’, which received super enthusiastic responses from the already sweaty crowd in the middle and in the most British manner, a couple of awkward nods of the head and smiles for everyone standing on the sides or the balcony areas.

Crazy circle pits ensue throughout and this gig is particularly full of crowd surfers. I can’t help but begin to feel a bit sorry for the security at the front, who definitely won’t be needing a trip to the gym any time soon. The band fully encourage audience participation, which is something I really enjoyed about the show, throughout the lead singer Dani addressed the audience directly, and always shows complete gratitude for their fans. The energy is consistently high and the stage presence excelleing compared to a lot of other bands I have seen before.

The band close with the title track of their new record, 'Black Flame', but not before announcing that every member of the band would be around by merch to meet and greet all the fans, which is both incredibly humbling and very respectable.

Overall, this was just an all-round very good metalcore gig. Apart from missing out a couple of the older school bangers such as 'Lionheart', the sound quality was decent and the band played well, evidently putting in their all.

As I walked out post-gig, the last thing I notice was how many guys seem to have been inspired by Dani Winter-Bates’ look, which really must be quite flattering.

Featured Image: Bury Tomorrow/ Nuclear Blast

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