Out of the ashes and into the light – Still Remains show at the Anvil in Bournemouth was absolute Bliss – By Zoe Marchment.
We had the treat of two support acts, first being Wars and to follow opening for Still Remains, Carcer City. These supports did not disappoint. Wars, a 5-piece hardcore band based in Rugby UK and signed to Spinefarm Records warmed up the crowd with their first song – Still Waters Run Deep from their debut album, back in Jan, We Are Islands, After All. With constant powerful riffs and a harmonious vocal mix, from the frontman Rob Vicars and guitarist Sam Barnard throughout their set, sent the crowd into a headbanging frenzy. Playing other songs such as Sciamachy Scenes, Weathered Eyes, The Art Of Not Knowing, Salt Flat Sailing and ending the set with That By Discord Things Increase. This is one band to definitely check out.
Next, was Carcer City another 5-piece Metal band, all the way from Liverpool UK and signed to Stay Sick Recordings. These boys truly knew how to open up for Still Remains, with the beats raging through your body and many heavy breakdowns, making you fully embrace their arrival. With a much younger audience than Still Remains, they showed exactly what the new scene of UK metal is all about. Liken to bands such as Architects and Heart of a Coward, Carcer City’s performance that night was transcendent.
Playing such songs as Infiltrator, Perceptions, Infinite//unknown, Wolf without a pack and finishing off their set with one of my favourites of the night, Sovereign. Frontman Patch, completely owning the stage, told the audience before they played the last song that Sovereign sums up everything that they are as a band. Stating ‘death awaits us all and in life, there are only a few things that should be important to us as humans and that is happiness and love’. Spreading the positive vibes to the audience, this song created one of many pits to open in the basement that night. With a mixture of techno beats and hardcore slams making this song one, I will keep on repeat. Totally engaging with the audience so much so that you can feel Carcer City are extremely passionate in who they are and what they stand for as a band. Check out the video below from the night.
Still remains what a show! There are literally no words to describe the virtuosity that was to befall us. I usually write notes for the article throughout the performance, but I barely touched my phone because I was too busy enjoying the magnificent magic that laid bare on stage. Frontman TJ completely tore the basement in The Anvil a new one. Hands down the hardest hitting Metalcore show to slay the Anvils stage that I have seen in a long time. The whole room was one big pit where rowdy 30-year olds relived their teenage metal days.
Some of the young fans of Carcer City and Wars stood back, some even joined in with enthusiasm and admiration upon seeing the masters of metal rain down breakdowns after breakdowns from the past and shower them with such hardcore intensity and passion. After 10 long years from the last time they played down south in the UK, on the Kerrang Tour where they joined Bullet For My Valentine Hawthorne Heights and Aiden, made tonight all that more special. All the way from Michigan USA this band made a night that not one if the crowd could forget. On the out of the ashes UK Tour 2017 saw them play in various locations around the UK such as; Dover, Sheffield, Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Birmingham, Bournemouth (Sold Out), Bristol and finishing their tour in London. From the responses you can see that this band treated every show like it was their last, giving every single performance their all, battling through the sickness and making sure everybody enjoyed their shows.
Starting off the set with To Live And Die By Fire, a golden oldie from the Of Love And Lunacy album launched in May 2005. The atmosphere was electrifying as the audience chanted back the lyrics whilst the band rocked the stage, giving you the feeling that only the truest of Still Remains fans showed up for a band they truly cared for and showed that the south coast could defiantly represent. To follow on, they played a selection of songs from this album, such as, Bliss, Recovery, I Can Revive Him, Blossom, The Witch, to which was shouted out from the crowd awaiting the band to play and the famous White Walls.
Within the outstanding performance we were also gifted from the album The Serpent released back in August 2005, songs such as Stay captive, Avalanche, Dropped From The Cherry Tree, The Serpent and Anemia In Your Sheets. Still Remains completely engaged the audience allowing mic takeovers, to which I was lucky enough to experience, screaming into the microphone at the front with TJ, was a very special moment for me. One thing that happened which I can definitely say I have never seen in The Anvils basement before is a Frontman crowd surf because of the basements low ceilings. However, TJ slayed it, surfing over the already boisterous audience around the room and back to the stage, was a feat in itself. Still Remains also graced our ears with a couple of songs from Ceasing To Breathe which is their current album released in December 2013, songs such as Crone and Close.
Then rightly wrapping up the set with one of my favourites, The Worst Is Yet To Come from the album Of Love And Lunacy, which tied up the performance excellently. I was lucky enough to grab an interview with Jordan in their tour bus just before the show, give it a listen below.
Overall the night was one I will always remember, fantastic tunes, pit city, amazing atmosphere and a perfectly picked tour line up which entertained me thoroughly. If you haven’t heard many of the bands I’ve discussed in my article, it’s time you do so now and see if you can catch them on tour in the future. Failing that, keep your ears open for some more music from them all in the future and give them a follow on Social Media, you won’t be disappointed.