Bury Tomorrow and August Burns Red Flatten Sold-Out Leeds Becketts Student Union [Photos]

It feels like forever since Bury Tomorrow and August Burns Red announced this tour, so it’s no surprise to discover that you have to shoehorn your way through the crowd if you’re going to get anything of a decent vantage point as the tour arrives at Leeds Beckett Student Union.

Sadly, work commitments meant arriving as very late additions to the bill, Novelists, minus vocalist Tobias Rische who couldn’t make the trek, were stripping their set down. Still, judging by the packed room, the French progressive metalcore quintet was a welcome addition to the line-up.

When you slam through a cover of System of a Down’s classic “Chop Suey” as your opening number, it would be fair for people to expect a less-than-serious approach to the rest of the set. However, nothing could be further from the truth in the case of Pennsylvania metallers August Burns Red who are in ferocious form, in particular vocalist Jake Luhrs who puts in a commanding performance at the head of the pack.

Stalking the stage with a menacing look in his eyes, Luhrs leads August Burns Red through savage renditions of “Vengeance” and “Bloodletter,” with circle pits somehow breaking out on the packed dancefloor. The band power through “Backburner” and “Defender,” both sledgehammering the pit and as “White Washed” wraps up this breathtaking metallic onslaught, you’re left hoping that Bury Tomorrow is going to be extra special to follow it.

Thankfully, as the Southampton-based metalcore favourites storm into opener “Choke,” they leave no doubts that they’re up for the task at hand. Having been honing their crunchy, bouncy sound since the early 2000s, the band has blossomed into something quite special over time. Layering out their sound, the mix of melody, electronics and just great, hooky metalcore, the set weighs heavily on more recent material, but when you hear epic renditions of “Black Flame” along with frantic performances of the likes of “Cemetary,” there can be no complaints about their choice of material.

With their seventh album due in early 2023, the band took the opportunity to treat fans to a couple of new tracks, including the recent single “Abandon Us” and a particularly bouncy “Boltcutter.” Given that the latter looks to have all the familiar elements to make it soon a fan favourite, it’s looking hopeful that The Seventh Sun will give Bury Tomorrow fans everything they could wish for, which is precisely what they did here in Leeds with another flawless performance.

Bury Tomorrow (w/ August Burns Red) @ Becketts SU (Leeds, UK) on October 26, 2022

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