It was a cold winter night when I headed to the o2 Institute in Birmingham for one of the most ridiculously stacked bills I’ve seen for a show in a long time. With a lineup consisting of Metalcore titans of headliners While She Sleeps and Currents, slam/metalcore darlings Thrown and Resolve (who are easily one of the hardest working bands in the scene right now)
This is going to be a ridiculous show.
With the crowd quickly filling from the 6pm doors (which I absolutely love, more early shows please), it wasn’t long until Resolve hit the stage to open the night. First seeing these guys support Ocean’s Ate Alaska at the Asylum, I’ve loved seeing their progression as a band, and tonight was an incredible example of how Resolve are one of the bands you need to pay attention to. Crushingly heavy riffs with outright breathtaking showmanship created the best opening set I’ve had the pleasure of watching this year. It’s also the first time I’ve seen a pit open up for the opening band this year too.
It’s safe to say that Resolve woke the entire room up.
Next up were the fastest-growing band in the scene Thrown. Within moments of the band hitting the stage, the room went ballistic. Pits opened across the floor, riffs poured in like water and the entire set flowed amazingly. Some small technical issues at the start were quickly ironed out and taken in stride. Outside of the single technical issue, the set demonstrated pure anger and aggressiveness in Metalcore form.
The majority of the set consisted of ridiculous breakdowns, and I can only summarize the performance in two words.
Absolutely Disgusting.
After Thrown, I headed out to the beer garden for a quick breath of fresh air, and the excitement for Currents was electric. I headed in to get ready and accidentally threw my camera across the floor of the venue. Luckily, It was okay and I managed to get into the
pit just in time for the start of the band’s set. Currents were mind-blowing, the set was a never-ending wave of bodies coming over the barrier, and some of the tightest performances I’ve had the pleasure of seeing in a metalcore band.
The Death We Seek was my highlight, and Currents easily made fans of anyone in attendance who didn’t know who they were before their set.
With the crowd more than warmed up, it was time for the main event, Sheffield metalcore legends While She Sleeps hit the stage in celebration of their 6th Studio album, Self Hell. This was my 4th time seeing WSS live, and second photographing, so I had a rough idea of what was in store, but when I say this was the best set I’ve seen from the band today, I don’t say it lightly.
The electronic elements of the band’s most recent songs translate into additional layers of depth and heaviness in their live sound
that bring everything into a professionally wrapped package, finished off with a lovely bow. Rainbows, Self Hell and To The Flowers all show how far the band have come over the past decade and a half, while their fan favourites such as You Are We, Silence
Speaks, Four Walls and Systematic are sounding better than ever, with Loz Taylor’s vocals sounding the best they ever have, including some utterly vile Lows that I really hope come into the band’s studio sound on the next album.
Before WSS’s set, I was talking to a good friend of mine about how it’s a shame that they’ve never managed to quite break through the glass ceiling of larger venue headline shows, and after seeing this set, I honestly think it’s on the horizon. There isn’t a band in
the industry that sounds like them, and their performances are continuously developing into a spectacle that needs to be seen, not read about. This was a truly amazing show, and I couldn’t have had a better one to end the year on.
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Review & Photography: Dan Stapleton
