Come and Take it Live, Austin, Texas
April 29, 2022
Friday, April 29th, Metalcore titans All That Remains and Miss May I brought a crushing night of Metal to Austin’s Home Of Heavy, Come And Take It Live. Two bands with differing roots and who have left divergent impressions on the Metal scene combined forces and brought Texas’ moshers together for this unforgettable showcase. First was Miss May I’s turn in the spotlight and they met the challenge head-on with the song Under Fire, a defiant Anthem of standing by your convictions. The crowd instantly snapped to life and the floor erupted into a large mosh pit. While primarily centered around Miss May I’s last release, Shadows Inside, classic fan favorites such as the Hey Mister and Relentless Chaos gave longtime fans a pitch-perfect throwback to the band’s origins and ferocity. Even the pounding brutal track IHE made its appearance, signifying the Wall of Death to the fans. Singer Levi Benton’s aggressive vocals have reached a refined quality, striking and piercing like a blade, but special attention should be made to bassist Ryan Neff’s vocal evolution. With a look through the previous albums, the range of Neff has dramatically strengthened, and his vocal performance easily stands among the greats of the genre. The band put a perfect capstone to their set with the titular track of Shadows Inside, setting a high bar for All That Remains to meet.
At the end of the night, the stage was set one more time for All That Remains to relive the Fall Of Ideals, their 3rd studio album. Going in reverse order of the tracklisting, the band launched out with the often-overlooked track, Indictment, instantly setting off a frenzy from the audience. From that point the set was honestly simple, the band hit all the key points from their defining album on its 15th anniversary with crazy feedback from the fans. With the order-reversed, the singles of the album found a seemingly natural rollout with slammers such as The Air That I Breathe and It Dwells In Me situated with more room to stretch as the band made their way to the opening battle-cry of This Calling. The only thing that is truly surprising about this performance is how the band has changed so dynamically since its recording. Singer Phil Labonte and guitarist Mike Martin from the original recording are joined by Jason Richardson after Oli Herbert’s untimely passing, and guest drummer Anthony Barone filling in for Jason Costa. In a weird twist, this tour does see the return of Matt Deis on Bass who departed before this album’s release. The lineup in an odd way has come to reflect the band’s sometimes painful history, bright future, and allstar familiar faces, and the over 800 fans in attendance ate up every second of what they delivered. After This Calling, and the conclusion of the album, the band came back one last time for the 3 part encore of Chiron, What If Was Nothing, and Two Weeks, bringing the night to an impactful close!
Photography by Michael Mullinex
