Sometimes a single show announcement can shake the foundations of the rock world. When Welsh rockers Bullet For My Valentine unveiled that they would play their debut album, The Poison, in full people went into a frenzy. The initial announcement only seemed to include an album show up north, and it took many frustrating months for the rest of the dates to be announced. Of course, London was chosen: namely Brixton Academy.
Source: George Powell
Out on tour with them are Killswitch Engage, a band who in terms of fanbase are of similar size to the headliners themselves. Due to this they don’t take a backseat: they do what they do best and push every ounce of energy out to energize the crowd and incite carnage. Throughout their 40 minute or so set the group power through both old and new material, including tracks from latest album Incarnate, way back to 2004’s The End Of Heartache and 2002’s Alive Or Just Breathing, back to a day when metalcore was purely huge guitar riffs, rhythms and solos – not just breakdowns and getting low on stage. With frontman Jesse Leach back with the band since 2012, shows like this are testament to how far he has come since his initial departure from the band in 2002.
Source: George Powell
With the support slots gone in the blink of an eye, it’s time for something everyone has been waiting for: The Poison. The crowd demographics include people are here to relive their youth and those out to discover something new. Bullet For My Valentine step out after an introduction from Motorheads’ Ace of Spades, which wakes the crowd up. Their impressive stage production and smart attire show how far the band have come, but tonight we don’t care about what’s happened since, as we blast back to 2005 and hear the album which shaped a lot of people’s young lives.
As the intro blurs through, a pit explodes from the onset of the opening scream of ‘Her Voice Resides’ and barely dies down until after the band’s second encore. Tonight is hit after hit as ‘4 Words (To Choke Upon)’ and ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ blast out consecutively. In a world where we listen to music digitally and rarely remember track listings, it’s incredible to remember how massive this album was. The copper stage lights illuminate the band’s initials, which occasionally blast out flames, although nowhere near enough for a band famed for incredible pyro. We pay homage to our own parent websites’ origins with ‘Hit The Floor’, which frontman Matt Tuck expresses that he wishes the band had started playing before these shows as it gets the crowd going so much.
Source: George Powell
The very nature of the album is fast, frantic and chaotic, and the crowd match that energy with pits springing up around the venue, and a little too close to us for our liking. But the one thing which is wonderful to see is just how passionate the crowd are about this album and the band who created it. There’s no hostility, there’s no one out looking for a fight, there is just sheer joy and admiration.
With The Poison paid its due, the band stride off stage and return with three more tracks: ‘No Way Out’, ‘Your Betrayal’ and ‘Waking The Demon’ which garner the same extreme reaction from the crowd. The band depart again but return for a third and final time to play their latest track ‘Don’t Need You’ , showing the direction the band are now taking. The past few albums have been a little ropey, but this song alone provides enough encouragement that Bullet are back with the music that fans want to hear, and not just something which will give them radio airplay.
