Sumerian 10 Year Tour – Baltimore, MD – 2.28.16

Celebrating 10 years as a record label this year, Sumerian Records hit the road with Born of Osiris, Veil of Maya, After the Burial who helped shaped the record label into what they are today, with the help of Erra, and Bad Omens who were recently signed not too long ago.  This tour is bound to be one of the heaviest and stacked lineups of the year.  With supporting local act Artifacts to open up, they got the night started to help celebrate the record label’s achievement and our photographer Luis Rosales was there to capture it all.

Artifacts opened up the night playing a very short set which was cut off due to time restrictions from the venue.  However that didn’t stop them from being able to having the experience of sharing a stage with the biggest names of progressive, heavy metal of today. 

Newly signed Bad Omens was up next and it was clear that they had already built a big fan base considering the venue was almost at capacity by the time they started playing.  Having played a fairly short set, they wasted no time to bang out everything they had including their hits ‘Glass House’ and ‘Exit Wounds.’  Lighting was better than expected, for their sound and look, they had perfectly balanced back and front lights which didn’t distract you from the music.

Erra came on to follow new comers Bad Omens.  Having recently acquired new vocalist JT Cavey, formally from Texas In July, the band was ready ready to hit the road for their second tour.  JT fit the band’s sound so well live that you would think he’s been part of the band for awhile.  Everything was sounding really good from guitars ripping to the bass being heavy as can be.  6 songs was all they needed to leave their mark and get fans ready for the big three of the tour.

After The Burial came on right after and the fan reaction was as big as expected.  Very welcoming as many fans cheered on that the band came on after the passing of guitarist Justin Lowe. The band gave a few words to crowd on how much they appreciate the fans support and how strong they have been for the past couple of months, they wanted to inspire everyone in the room to stay strong and to keep moving on with your life no matter what happens. They played a 6 song setlist which seemed like it went by too quick.   After the Burial definitely got one of the biggest applauds of the night.

Veil of Maya took stage a few moments later after an emotional set from After the Burial.  Veil of Maya had the stage ready with a backdrop on the wall and two on stage that stood in front some lights which made for some interesting looking patterns when lit, along with a lot of strobe lights going off.  Aside from how the stage looked, the band threw down 11 songs wasting no time in between.  Having most of them come from their latest album ‘Matriarch’ and the only songs not from that album were ‘Punisher,’ ‘It’s not safe to swim today’ and ‘Unbreakable.’ Their set was mostly a play through of Matriarch, which was performed really well and fans were really into it, throwing some pretty big mosh pits and some crowd surfers being tossed around as well. 

Born of Osiris was up next to close out the night and first to the stage was bassist David Darocha who was eager to play.  Having one of the brightest and most colorful lights of the night made it fun to photograph for everyone.  Just as everyone else play shorter sets, Born of Osiris put together a 16 song setlist from each of their albums.  Playing to around 4-6 songs per album, they made it like a greatest hits show for themselves which was incredible to see bands play everything from the beginning of their careers. This tour was very well put together and Sumerian Records couldn’t have picked a better group to take on the road. One not to miss for the remainder of the tour.