By Nate Follmer

Edited by Erica McNatt

Touring the US and Canada to promote their latest album “Cure,” ERRA sold out the Baltimore Soundstage with international support from Novelists, Void of Vision, and Make Them Suffer

Opening the evening was the French progressive metalcore band Novelists. Vocalist Camille Contreras has been with the band for a year, and during that time, Novelists have reinvented their sound. Their latest singles, “Mourning the Dawn,” “Prisoner,” and “Turn It Up,” share a similar heavy undertone to their previous albums, but Camille adds a layer of catchy pop vocals that makes their music more accessible to the masses. I love bands like this because they can open up the metalcore genre to new fans who may be turned off by growls and screams. Come on in Swifties, the water’s fine. Camille definitely has the metalcore vocals down as well, so don’t let that poppy voice scare you away, you metalcore purists. There’s room in the pool for everyone. 

Up next was the first Australian band of the evening, Void of Vision. I said it after the Monsters of Oz tour and I’ll say it again – Australia is giving the world some of the best metalcore bands and Void of Vision is yet another example of this. Is it the spiders? Is it the buff kangaroos? Who knows and frankly, I don’t care. Just don’t stop giving us the heavy goodness, Australia. Keep your spiders to yourself though. 

Void of Vision played songs from a majority of their albums, which included songs “The Lonely People,” “Year of the Rat,” “Ghost in the Machine,” “Into the Dark,” and their latest single, “Empty.” Their unique mix of metalcore and industrial rock kicked the energy levels up a notch and got the circle pits spinning. Vocalist Jack Bergin puts everything he has into his vocals and stage presence, which kept the surfers coming over the barricade throughout their entire set. 

It was round two for Australia with Make Them Suffer taking the stage after Void of Vision. I’ve been a long-time fan of Make Them Suffer, and it’s been really incredible to watch their growth over the last few years. It hasn’t even been a year since they were last in the US opening the Monsters of Oz tour. Now they’re taking the stage right before headliner ERRA and just came off an arena tour in Australia playing with Sleep Token and Bring Me The Horizon. 

I read a comment – on Reddit of all places – after the release of their latest single, “Epitaph,” that said, “Alex is the greatest thing to ever happen to this band.” Honestly, I won’t disagree with that statement. Vocalist Sean Hermanis and Keyboardist Alex Reade’s clean vocals and screams go together like peanut butter and jelly. Find me a vocal duo as good as these two…Go on, try it. 

Guitarist Nick McLernon writes some of the best riffs and solos in metalcore. His style of playing is his own and is instantly recognizable. We heard some of his iconic riffs that night, like “Bones,” “Soul Decay,” and “Erase Me.” Rounding out the band is the rhythm and chaos section, Drummer Jordan Mather and Bassist Jaya Jeffery. Jordan’s kick patterns in “Epitaph” are blistering. Give that pre-bridge build up a listen – it’s magic. I’m convinced Jeffery shotguns three Monsters before he hit the stage. He is in constant motion and doesn’t miss a beat. He’s definitely on the top of the list of most entertaining bassists. Make Them Suffer’s set was non-stop pandemonium from the first note of “Ghost of Me” to the end of “Doomswitch.” They’ve proven they are ready for a major headlining tour, so give us the new album and get back here soon. 

With the Soundstage vibrating from the energy of the night, ERRA had just the – puts on sunglasses – “Cure” that Baltimore needed to end the evening on a high note. Groovy metalcore chugs? Got ‘em. Catchy choruses? Check. Incredible feats of tapping on the guitar? You bet. A brand new album and a hometown hero? Got those as well. 

Remember a few paragraphs back when I asked you to find a vocal duo as good as Sean and Alex? I found one for you – Guitarist Jesse Cash and Baltimore’s own J.T. Cavey. ERRA started the night by showing off this dynamic vocal pairing with “Cure,” which is correctly the band’s number one title on Spotify and Apple Music. Cavey’s guttural growls add the perfect amount of punch to Jesse’s clean vocals in this track, and it sounds just as good live. 

ERRA played through more than half of their latest album and also added in a mix of favorites from their catalog. “Gungrave,” “Scorpion Hymn,” and “Snowblind” were played from their self-titled album. They showed “Drift” some love through “Luminesce” and their encore “Skyline,” and they also threw in some classic ERRA with “Dementia” and “White Noise.” You couldn’t ask for a better set list to promote “Cure.” Fans new and old should be happy with the set list. 

Complimenting the music was a mesmerizing light show that was quite impressive for the size of the stage. They somehow packed countless different lighting effects on stage, plus a group of five band members who had plenty of room to move. Whether the crowd was moshing and surfing or just vibing, ERRA created an atmosphere around their music that kept the crowd in their grasp all evening. That’s the thing that draws me to ERRA’s music and makes it unique. You can do the traditional metalcore activities, such as moshing and headbanging, or you can just get lost in the layers of sound. If you still had energy to burn off or needed to come off your adrenaline high before you drove home (that was me), you could do either. 

The ERRA Cure North American Tour just kicked off, so you’ll have plenty of chances to see it live. It’s snaking its way across the US and Canada throughout May and coming back to the East Coast for stops in Boston and New York at the beginning of June. If you aren’t able to attend, be sure to check out ERRA’s new album “Cure” wherever you listen to your music. 

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