Michigan-based metalcore band We Came As Romans energizes hometown fans on Darkbloom Tour with support from ERRA and Brand of Sacrifice.
First up is deathcore band Brand of Sacrifice from Toronto and Manhattan. Their music is brutal with wicked blast beats by Mike Caputo, Liam Beeson on guitar, low-end by bassist Andrew Kim, and led by the guttural and occasional clean vocals of Kyle Anderson. Kyle is a madman as he moves around the stage, locks flying about, and plays up to the fans up front. They kick off their set with “Dawn” from their 2021 release Lifeblood and run through three more songs, “Demon King,” “Lifeblood,” and “Altered Eyes” from the same album. The crushing new single “Exodus” keeps the crowd fired up as they engage in plenty of moshing and headbanging. They close out their short but killer set with “Millennium” and “Eclipse,” both from their 2018 EP The Interstice, which ignites a circle pit in the middle of the floor. What a great start to the evening of metal.
ERRA takes it to another level with a searing set of progressive metalcore. Led by harsh vocalist JT Cavey and clean vocalist and lead guitarist Jesse Cash, they rip through a 40-minute set that has the crowd going wild with moshing, crowd surfing, headbanging, and fist-pumping. They lead with “Pull From the Ghost,” a single released in 2022. It starts with some cool instrumental before JT kicks in with screams and transitions into a softer passage with Jesse singing. Like most of their songs, there is a mix of JT and Jesse trading off on singing. Additional guitars are provided by Clint Tustin. Alex Ballew on drums and Conor Hesse on bass provide the heavy beats and rhythm.The rest of their nine-song set is made up entirely from their 2022 self-titled album including “House of Glass,” “Gungrave,” “Psalm of Sedition,” “Nigh to Silence,” “Vanish Canvas,” and “Scorpion Hymn.” Jesse is rather animated as he spins, holds his guitar upright in the air, squats down low on the riser, and stares down the fans. The fans are loving it. “Nigh to Silence” and “Vanish Canvas” feature some slower sections with Jesse showing off his vocal skills along with his finger-tapping talent. Clint adds in some cool guitar work in the middle of “Nigh to Silence.” The songs also get the crowd clapping with their hands overhead.
JT exclaims, “I want to see Detroit rowdy for the heavy song” as they launch into “Scorpion Hymn.” It is probably the heaviest song of the evening with some thunderous bass and chugging guitars. They close it out with two of their more popular and upbeat songs. “Divisionary” features some cool guitar riffs and soaring vocals by Jesse and it gets the fans singing along. The closer, “Snowblood,” has some killer guitar work by Jesse, along with fast-paced drums, and plenty of harsh vocals from JT. The crowd responds with loud cheers, jumping, and waving their horns in the air. It is quite an awesome set by this up-and-coming band out of Alabama.
The lights dim and some intro music plays as the anxious fans let out loud cheers. Hometown band We Came As Romans hits the stage and opens with “Daggers” from their latest album Darkbloom. They follow that up with “Golden” and “The Anchor,” also from the same album. Rhythm guitarist Lou Cotton headbangs while rocking out and lead guitarist Joshua Moore tears it up and also adds backing vocals. Lead vocalist Dave Stephens wastes little time getting up close with fans as he climbs out on top on them and then crowd surfs back to the front. There is plenty of moshing and crowd surfing and the sold-out venue is amped up with many other fans throwing up their horns. Dave introduces the next song, “Lost in the Moment,” as one of Kyle’s favorites. Kyle Pavone was another vocalist in the band until his passing in 2018. They play a few more songs from the 2017 album Cold Like War including the thrashy “Wasted Age” and the title track.The fans get fully engaged by waving their arms side-to-side during “Tracing Back Roots” and singing out loud on “Hope.” Before the next song, Dave mentions that in Columbus the fan voting was heavily weighted like ten times over for “Ghosts.” He also jokes about it being because their drummer is from there, but that the rest of the band is from Michigan. He then announces that “Fade Away” is the winner tonight. This song has the fans once again crowd surfing, clapping, singing, and bouncing up and down. “Learning to Survive” is driven by the thunderous opening drumming by David Puckett and also the deep bass by Andy Glass. During “One More Day” the fans put up their hands and make a heart symbol after Dave mentions to them about losing someone close and that “we share your pain.”
For “Doublespeak,” Dave exclaims, “Let’s get wild, let’s get weird, the whole floor moves.” JT from ERRA even joins them for part of the song. They wind it down with “Plagued” and “Darkbloom” before exiting the stage. Returning to the stage is Dave but backed this time by the band and singer from Brand of Sacrifice as they play a heavier version of “Darkbloom.” They close it out with “Black Hole” which has cannons shooting confetti over the crowd. Before leaving, Dave says, “We will see you very soon. Thank you. Have a great night.” The fans surely were treated to a great night of metal by all the bands.
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