Suffocation at Duo Music Exchange, June 12th 2019

Last year Frank Mullen rejoined Suffocation for one last tour of America as its lead vocalist. He semi-retired from touring duties in 2013, roughly 25 years after founding the band in a suburb of New York City. If ever a band was responsible for the birth of a genre, Suffocation would be the one. As the forefathers of brutal death metal they were responsible for introducing a balance between complex songwriting, including odd time signatures and numerous breakdowns, with raw aggression. Luckily for Japanese audiences Mullen decided to come for a last trek around these shores with the band.

Back in 2010 I had the chance to see them with Mike Smith on drums and Guy Marchais on guitar at a show they co-headlined with Napalm Death. They were first on the bill but I was late, I could only catch them playing the last song they played that night. This time around I was not going to make the same mistake and got there early, right on time to see the first band of the evening. World End Man, from Japan, got the crowd pumped with their brand of brutal death metal. Due to the place not being packed yet, the pits were numerous and vicious.

Eviscerate the Crown from Australia started the deathcore streak of bands that lasted until the headliner came on stage. Theirs’ leaned more towards the melodic type, which was not entirely well received by the audience. Aversions Crown, also from Australia brought things up a notch in terms of energy and delivered a well rounded set that got the crowd going.

Deathcore is not exactly my cup of tea and I was starting to get a bit impatient at this point. The Faceless was next and their setup took quite a long time. Being infamous for their unreliability I thought “oh no, their cutting minutes from Suffocation’s headlining slot”. By the time they got on stage I was skeptical and not in the mood, but the first ominous notes of Ten Billion Years made me realize they were on another level. Their combination of growls and clean voice -the latter delivered by founding member Michael Keene- along with their industrial-progressive leanings, made them stand out from the crowd. It might sound cliched, but I’d say they were a breath of fresh air, delivered with precision.

After they finished their 50 minutes another lengthy setup ensued. I thought for sure the headliners were going to play an abbreviated set. That happened to me once at that same venue, when a ten o’clock curfew forced a headliner to play just for thirty minutes. Luckily this was not the case and Suffocation played a full 70 minutes set, and what a set it was.

Terrance Hobbs and Derek Boyer are metal royalty, when the walk on stage you know the crowd is going to react, and react the crowd did. But it didn’t compare to Frank Mullen’s entrance. Everyone cheered as the man grabbed the mic and opened the show by thanking the fans that have been along the ride with them for the past thirty years. Graciously he acknowledged the significance of a life dedicated to death metal and expressed how much he’ll miss it.

Thrones of Blood (coincidentally almost the same title as one of Akira Kurosawa’s classic movies) opened the show with Mullen filling the instrumental breaks with his renowned death chop. His smile was infectious, shaking hands with audience members and with the crowd surfers that made it all the way to the front. His chops -in the musical talent sense- are still there. An impeccable growl, one of the best in the game. His stage presence sure will be missed, he’s definitely one of the best frontmen in death metal. Musically it was a treat to see how the complexity of these songs’ structures along with their blistering speed were carried out effortlessly. Hobbs and Boyer commanding from stage right and the new blood, guitarist Charlie Errigo and drummer Eric Morotti contributing as well to the insane levels of intensity.

The setlist was comprised of mostly tunes from the first and third album along with the majority of the Despise the Sun EP. The stretch from As Grace Descends to the closer Catatonia was unbelievable. Catatonia which was introduced as the first song Suffocation ever wrote, followed what was probably the best performance of the night: Liege of Inveracity, which happens to be my favorite song of their catalogue.

They returned from an encore to play Infecting the Crypts. Once again Mullen said goodbye to the fans going down to the space between the audience and stage, shaking hands with everyone from behind that barrier. It was intense, emotional, visceral and most of all fun. It’s been more than 24 hours since and I’m still grinning from ear to ear.

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