With the evening sun beating down, it’s time for some contemporary Deathcore with Whitechapel. With hard steady beats perfect for headbanging and fast technical riffs, these guys have pioneered their genre of metal. Phil Bozemans range of deep growls, high screams and the occasional singing is impressive and there’s no stopping him once he hits the stage. It’s not long before he’s asking the crowd to open the biggest circle pit of the day, a challenge this crowd quickly accepts as they charge at some speed round and round. In the meantime, smaller pits open around the site as those not central take matters into their own hands not wanting to waste a chance to rock out. Before long, a sea of crowd surfers makes their way over and it’s clear that this crowd is fully in the grasps of this band. Pulling from their entire catalogue of music, Whitechapel have pulled together a set that includes as many breakdowns and blast beats as possible. From start to finish both the crowd and the band are unrelenting in throwing everything they have for this hour-long set.
A band that many fans were excited to see back on the bill was metalcore heavyweights Malevolence and its finally time for their set. Vocalist Alex Taylor as expected is full of energy when he hits the stage bouncing around. Within minutes, he’s instructing the crowd to open the pit, not happy until it’s pushed as wide as possible and that’s when the chaos really starts! Taylor continues to use his Yorkshire charm and charisma to keep the crowd on the same wavelength as the band and that’s all-guns blazing giving it their all. The whole band is bouncing and after some minor technical difficulties they’re into the swing of things providing those shredding riffs and heavy breakdowns. I was excited to see this set after seeing them here back in 2021 and these guys have only gotten better since then. Providing a fully immersive experience as part of their live show is incredible to witness but when Taylors energy is so infectious it’s no wonder! Throw in a further challenge to break the record of the highest amount of crowd surfers (not sure the wheelie bin counts but 901 recorded!) and a circle pit round the sound tower (achieved!) and Malevolence have certainly achieved making this a set to remember!
The sun is now setting its time for tonight’s Headline act, Architects but before they take to the stage, the Queen classic “Don’t Stop Me Now” is blasted through the sound system causing a nice big sing along. With the intro of “Seeing Red” playing and the lights flashing, there’s a huge cheer for the band as they hit the stage, and the confetti cannons explode once they start playing. It’s a hell of a start to a show as the crowd sings along and bursts of pyro go off. It’s another impressive stage set up with half the band raised up high and screens on each half creating a visual spectacle. The band’s performance is on another level however as they absolutely blow the crowd away with hit after hit including “Impermanence”, “Doomsday” and “Curse” . Vocalist Sam Carter has command over the thousands in the arena as they follow his every instruction from raising hearts to kneeling before jumping on the breakdown. With everything from the more melodic hard rock to the guttural growls and screams of Carter this band covers it all. Closing with the massive hit “Animals” this crowd is leaving happy, exhausted, and blown away.
Overall, today has seen a higher calibre of bands on this stage and closing with Architects has been the cherry on top of an incredible day.
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