Band: Trivium
Support: Upon a Burning Body, Caliban, As I Lay Dying
Venue: Bristol, O2 Academy
Date: 19/10/12
When the might of Trivium entered Bristol, fans flocked left, right and centre to see the band after their latest album, ‘In Waves’. From entering the doors to the arena, no-one could have anticipated the chaos that reigned…
First up on the bill were Upon A Burning Body, and to say ‘don’t judge a book by its cover’ is a perfect description of their set, whilst the whole band oddly looked like smartly dressed university students, they delivered a tightly packed set in a short amount of time, involving crushingly brutal rhythms and with vocalist Danny Leal commanding spontaneous mosh pits that exploded with raw energy. This is one band you will want to keep an eye on if you want something new.
Once the German metalcore mob Caliban embraced the stage, things became wilder and the circle pits looked more like savage death traps, whilst opting for the hardcore elements, raw guitar power with blistering energy and using the harsh and clean vocals combination for their own brutal purposes.
Not only is Awakened such a kickass album, but when As I lay Dying took to the stage they made everyone use as much energy as possible, sing along and prove why next year is potentially going to mark them as one of the biggest metalcore acts around. Along with the chaos that ensured, they brought in old school and new school elements in how to demand the crowd and possess them to do whatever crazy things they can do, whilst Tim Lambesis jumped around the stage with unfaltering energy.
Once Trivium exploded onto the stage, everyone was well and truly knackered. But did that stop the crowd? It’s Bristol, so the only answer you’ll come across is no – from the first song the audience became a horde of heaving, pulsating bodies that clambered over each other whilst being treated to songs from every Trivium album. The band themselves were on fire, from the supernova drumming of Nick Augusto and blistering guitar work, with Matt Heafy giving 110% effort into his vocal delivery.
This was a night of unprepared and unexpected carnage that descended onto Bristol, but judging from the quality of each individual band that played, Bristol was just another city destroyed on their path of UK domination.
9/10
Reviewer: Connor Flello
