Academy 2 is one of Liverpool’s stranger venues, but is there a better place to host a night full of metal? Located down a side street and above the main venue, Academy 2 is an intimate venue holding 500 people – yet it feels like there is way more inside.
A sea of hairy metal heads file into the room ahead of Conjurer’s opening set. Kicking the evening off the band take to the stage at 19:40 and power their way through a set lasting just over half an hour. Having only two full albums, the band give the crowd a taste of what they’re about throwing in songs from each of their releases.
Vocals are split in the band between the guitarists with Brady Deeprose hitting higher pitched screams and Dan Nightingale doing all the growls. A high point of their set is in a mid – song break Nightingale takes centre stage and growls with no microphone – probably the only time the crowd are quiet all night.
Lastly, Conjurer’s bassist Conor Marshall. Reminiscent of 90’s Jason Newsted, I have never saw anyone spin their head that aggressively and that quick for that long all while playing the bass. Taking his place in the centre of the stage for most of the set, the crowd are mostly fixated on Marshalls unreal stage presence and playing. To top this off, during the final song ‘Hadal’ Marshall jumps into the crowd and plays through the rest of the song in the middle of the pit.
Unto Others were up next and well, they could’ve been missed. After Conjurer had ripped through their set full of doom metal, the crowd then have to watch a band from Portland who sound like a fusion of Anthrax and Aha. With their 80’s hair, questionable outfits and songs that don’t cut it I was wondering at times if they’re a novelty act. They weren’t, and they weren’t worth watching.
Closing the night was the headliners Carcass. Scousers themselves, it was the band’s first hometown show since 1994 and they did not disappoint. Playing a 17 song set, featuring songs off eight different albums the band made sure the fans had a show that was worth a 29 year wait.
With the band being veterans at this point, they know how to work a crowd. With only two constant members of the band still remaining, vocalist/bassist Jeff Walker and guitarist Bill Steer the band have the whole crowd moving with the band and crowd feeding off each other’s energy.
As it was a hometown gig, Steer even got his mum up on stage at one point making this feel like a true homecoming not just your standard gig.
Conjurer were the real highlight of the night but Carcass not too far behind them. With Conjurer being a band on the rise and Carcass veterans, the two British bands brought the perfect mix of youth and maturity to what was a sweaty night of metal.
Tickets for the remaining dates can be found HERE
