Live Review: Bleed From Within w/After The Burial and Great American Ghost at The O2 Forum in Kentish Town London!

The 2,300 capacity O2 Forum in Kentish Town is the venue for the London stop of the Zenith Tour, a run which has seen Scottish Metalcore Kings Bleed From With drag Americans After The Burial and Great American Ghost kicking and screaming across Europe. Having started in Antwerp Belgium on 10th September, it will fittingly reach its inevitable conclusion in Glasgow in two nights time. When they arose from the grave back with 2018’s “Era“, not even the oldest of their fans could have predicted what the next seven years would have in store for them. Three more albums, a leap from long time label home Century Media to Nuclear Blast, deep festival runs and tours galore, including opening for Slipknot on their 25th Anniversary run for their self titled album. The Scottish quartet aren’t just surviving, they’re thriving. The statistics don’t lie. More than 38 million Spotify streams alone for “The End Of All We Know” from 2020’s “Fracture” and 447k monthly listeners is simply unbelievable.

Great American Ghost [8/10] bring the blood and thunder with wave after crushing wave of bombastic bass and pummeling percussion driving the sold out crowd into a frenzy. Drummer Terrance Pettitt breaks the drum head on his snare during “Lost In The Outline” so vocalist Ethan Harrison takes a moment to work the audience, thanking the other bands from bringing them out while a tech quickly swaps it over. A heavy hitting (or should we say towering?) rendition of “Alter Of Snakes” follows an threatens to bring the walls down before Harrison jumps into the crowd to set off a wall of life from the middle of it during the bone snapping “Kerosene“. A venue sized circle pit during “Echoes Of War” is impressive but it’s a Friday night in London and the intense, energetic performance of the pile driver of a tune means it’s well deserved.

American Technical Metalcore merchants After The Burial [10/10] have had their bassist Adrian Oropeza go home mid tour due to a broken arm but they have the sting section from Great American Ghost filling in for them. Bassist Anthony Laur plays the first five songs before guitarist Grayson Stewart plays the remaining two to complete a punishment beating of a set. Downtuned chugs and intricate technical leads impress throughout with the bends of “Behold the Crown” a lethal dose of American hatred that’s fearfully addictive. New song “Hum From the Hollow” bodes well for the Minneapolis Minnesota favourites next album, which they promise is on the horizon before a buzzing rendition of “Death Keeps Us From Living“. Despite the “no crowd surfing” sign on the door, vocalist Anthony Notarmaso encourages it, getting the venue security to earn their keep. The energy is electric as the patched up line up attack with their signature waves of sound style, grand finale “Collapse” an absolute masterclass.

Tonight is not only the biggest show of the tour but also the biggest Bleed From Within [10/10] headlining show ever… and it’s sold out. The Scottish Metalcore Kings take their lead from Trivium in their stage decor with inflatable spikes mirroring those from the “Zenith” album cover behind them. As this is a special occasion, twenty one years into the bands career, they bring out Hannah Boulton, the lady who has provided backing vocals on numerous tracks over their past three albums to join them at various points. She’s not the only guest either with Sylosis frontman Josh Middleton also making a cameo later on.

The moshing begins from the very start with “Violent Nature” hitting like a freight train. There is no respite either as “Zenith” and “Sovereign” follow in quick succession before the band slow things down a notch for the stomp of “I Am Damnation“. “Stand Down” becomes a sing-a-long anthem as Scott Kennedy screams “out for blood” and the crowd scream back “out for war” before the circle pits to the rarely played energetic bruiser “Crown Of Misery“. Drummer Ali Richardson has a huge drum rig that’s raised on a platform and so gets a moment in the limelight for a solo while the band towel down which is well deserved. Guitarist Steven Jones clean vocals are as superb as Craig Gowans solos, the pummelling bass from Davie Provan matching Kennedy’s fierce vocals.

Tonight the band are treated like homecoming heroes and as Scott Kennedy says several times during the night, it’s something for which the band are truly grateful. “The End Of All We Know” of course another massive sing-a-long anthem with the pyrotechnics of the European festival circuit the only thing missing before the curtain comes down with the “Best Metal Performance” category, Grammy nominated “In Place Of Your Halo“. That does of course mean that for the huge fifteen song set list the five piece have stuck to their last four albums but there is the argument that those are the ones that got them here in the first place. An utter triumph from the very first note, tonights show feels like it could be the one that opens the door to the band headlining arenas next time out, something which would be another dream come true.