FACES OF DEATH TOUR – SIGNS OF THE SWARM, VARIALS, CABAL, TO THE GRAVE – 26TH OCTOBER 2024: CLUB ACADEMY MANCHESTER

29th October 2024 0 By Quinccy

This is the second gig in 2 days and I’ll tell you something I’m absolutely knackered but with the power of Monster energy drink and a strong iced white mocha from Starbucks, we are as good (as we’ll ever be) to go. I have been looking forward to this gig for a while as it’s been booked into my calendar for a while. I do have to say I was fairly disappointed when I heard the news that Veil of Maya had announced the bands’ immediate hiatus and unfortunately had to pull out of all tours going forward. Veil of Maya was a band I listened to back in the day when the fringe comb-over was strong and the raccoon tails meant you were peak fashionista (If you know, you know…). The lineup for Manchester was Signs of the Swarm, Varials, Cabal, and To The Grave, unfortunately, Manchester did not get the honor of having Heart Of A Coward which was another disappointment as these are also a band back from the Raccoon Tail days.

Opening for the evening was To The Grave, for those of you who are unfamiliar with To The Grave these guys are from Sydney, Australia, and are an absolute treat to watch. I didn’t really know what to expect (this seems to be my recent catchphrase with bands lately, we do love a little go in blind experience, right?) however was very pleasantly surprised and as a bonus having the honor of watching these guys soundcheck before the rowdy crowd was permitted to enter the venue was brilliant.

Cabal took to the stage with a super charged up energetic performance which got the crowd riled up in a frenzy. Cabal, hailing from Denmark left a big impression from the evening. I’ve listened to their stuff briefly before coming tonight but never expected them to outperform my expectations. I do feel personally that their sound was slightly off (maybe a technical issue?) but the performance was outstanding.

Varials energy was faultless. You could tell from each band member that they meant business. I felt that Varials set felt shorter than the rest of the bands. I didn’t fully count time so can’t confirm this but their set felt like it was over very quickly. Overall their performance brought energy, crowd engagement and did a fantastic job warming people up for the headlining act.

Brutal deathcore band Signs of the Swarm ended the evening in a headlining spot ensuring that the Faces of Death tour would be an event to remember. For those who have never been introduced to Signs of the Swarm before they are a Pittsburgh deathcore band that has been around since 2014, they have made leaps and bounds to define their style and it’s indefinably an interesting one. Their set list consisted of both new and old tracks from their discography which kept the crowd engaged and wanting more, so much more in fact that at the end of their set the crowds roared for just one more song – unfortunately to their disappointment, they did not get this.

I would like to add to this experience it’s been noted that there was one guy who got his leg broken during the evening and another guy who managed to have his head split open and bled everywhere, I mean… surely that says the volume of brutality throughout the evening.

Although I’m starting to make my peace with Club Academy and have to say I’m actually starting to really like it as a venue, I actually can’t complain today about the quality of the beverages they were actually okay. Maybe it was just a bad day the other time? Who knows (See my last review from when I was lucky enough to catch GHØSTKID, SETYØURSAILS, and WITHIN DESTRUCTION >> HERE <<).

There’s still time to check out this sick lineup on the Faces of Death tour 2024 at the following locations:

30.10 London, UK @ Scala
31.10 Birmingham, UK @ O2 Institute2
01.11 Paris, FR @ Petit Bain
02.11 Stuttgart, DE @ Core Fest
03.11 Frankfurt, DE @ Das Bett
05.11 Nuremberg, DE @ Hirsch
06.11 Aarau, CH @ KiFF
07.11 Milan, IT @ Legend Club
08.11 Ljubljana, SI @ Orto Bar
09.11 Vienna, AT @ Flex Café
10.11 Munich, DE @ Backstage
12.11 Berlin, DE @ Hole44
13.11 Warsaw, PL @ Proxima
14.11 Prague, CZ @ Futurum
15.11 Dresden, DE @ Reithalle
16.11 Hamburg, DE @ Gruenspan
17.11 Gothenburg, SE @ Musikens Hus
19.11 Stockholm, SE @ Kollektivet Livet
20.11 Copenhagen, DK @ Pumpehuset
21.11 Hannover, DE @ Béi Chéz Heinz
22.11 Tilburg, NL @ Poppodium 013
23.11 Cologne, DE @ Essigfabrik
24.11 Haarlem, NL @ Patronaat