Pete Wall
Denial of Life open the show with serious intent, hammering through a riff-heavy, thrashy set that builds momentum as it goes. Frontwoman Brenna Gowin’s unrelenting energy carries the room, while the lead guitar lines give the songs extra bite. A cheeky ‘Raining Blood’ intro drops midway through and does no harm at all to the growing confidence and flair of the set. By the end, what started as a cautious crowd and fairly sparse crowd has built to wholehearted support and loud applause.
Shai Hulud follow with a set that feels both frantic and cathartic. They launch into the one-two punch of ‘My Heart Bleeds the Darkest Blood’ and ‘Set Your Body Ablaze’, which immediately have limbs flying at the front. For a band this far into their career to be this electrifying is a thrilling thing to witness. There’s a precision and clear intent behind the delivery of every track. Later in the set, ‘For the World’ and ‘Given Flight by Demon’s Wings’ remind long-time fans just how much weight Shai Hulud’s back catalogue carries, before ‘A Profound Hatred of Man’ seals their return with irresistible force. The whole set is an urgent, muscular, heart-on-sleeve triumph.
Talking of muscular, Bleeding Through take the stage like they’re ready to kick ass and take names. They’ve always been a band that are somehow equally confrontational and unashamedly emo. Tonight they raise the emotional stakes with an open-hearted set that takes the energy created by Denial of Life and Shai Hulud and builds on it incredibly well. Opening with ‘Love Lost in a Hail of Gunfire’ they lean straight into intensity, keeping it up with the likes of “Orange County Blonde and Blue” and ‘Revenge I Seek’. The six-piece lineup, complete with keys, give the sound plenty of heft and one man wrecking machine Brandan Schieppati’s demeanor is of someone almost overcome with the emotion of pouring it all out for his people. Crowd vocals roar back on ‘For Love and Failing’ and show-closer ‘Kill to Believe’, turning the set into a call-and-response between band and baying crowd. The frontman’s consistent gratitude feels wholly genuine, and when he drops to his knees mid-song it feels like a shared moment in appreciation of a band not afraid to be vulnerable. The only minor negative on the night is that timings don’t allow for ‘Wings of Lead’ to make the cut. Nevertheless, Bleeding Through leave no one disappointed.
It is a pretty tall order for Darkest Hour who are tasked with crowning a night that has already hit such heights. They kick off with ‘Knife in the Safe Room’ and sound excellent, but something is lacking. The energy in the room has, almost inevitably, dropped a few levels and despite calling for circle pits, Darkest Hour feel almost low-key after the preceding onslaught. ‘An Epitaph’ and ‘The Sadist Nation’ deliver the band’s trademark mix of groove and wailing highs, and the musicianship is as sharp as ever. But despite the precision, the set feels slightly underpowered. Thirty years in, the band’s endurance and professionalism are clear for everyone to see, even if the spark can’t quite match the firestorm of what came before.