Live Review: Bleed From Within w/Baest and Disembodied Tyrant at The 1865 in Southampton!

It’s been a miserable week on the south coast but that’s not going to stop the party when “The Dying Sun Tour” rolls into town, the 1865 in Southampton just one of numerous sold out venues on this tour. That no doubt gives Bleed From Within peace of mind as the band have already played a handful of United Kingdom shows as part of last years European tour for album “Zenith” and with an North American run in just three weeks, the fans need to ensure they’re warmed up. Quite how drummer Ali Richardson has managed to learn the set having just completed a European tour with his other band Sylosis beggars belief but having heard good things from friends who have attended other shows on this run, we know he hasn’t put a foot wrong…

The 1865 is alive with the sound of music as Copenhagen Denmark natives Baest [9/10] remind us that Friday night is alright for fighting. The Death Metal merchants known for their love of Traditional Heavy Metal rip through five songs of such quality that we’re left wondering why they’re here. The Vikings break the ice with the opening track of their current album “Colossus” and by the time “Meathook Massacre” rears its ugly head they’re commanding a wall of death. Wearing Obituary and Accept shirts means they’re wearing their obvious influences on their sleeves and this commanding display should comfortably see them on bigger stages than this. Aside from anything else, they don’t take themselves too seriously and that’s all part of the fun as the violent delight that is “Necro Sapiens” is followed by the almighty “Stormbringer“. The leads are electric as vocalist Simon Olsen growls his way through the lyrics, commanding a Slipknot style sit down and jump up before the song finishes to rapturous applause. They warn they’ll be back in this city later in the year so don’t sleep on that.

This tour is the first time that American Symphonic Progressive Technical Deathcore brutes Disembodied Tyrant [9/10] have turned stages to sawdust upon our green and pleasant land and lead by mastermind Blake Mullens they annihilate the weak from “Death Empress” to “Omenkiller“. The five piece barely pause for breath between songs, drummer Kevin Alexander and absolute beast. The most impressive thing about witnessing the band live is that while their performance requires a backing track they are by no means completely reliant upon it, Mullins more than happy to produce some throat splitting screams at the same time as ripping some leads. “The Poetic Edda” is a masterclass and when Mullens asks what’s better than a wall of death, you know that we’re going for round two. “Crow Black Sky” is a crushing personal favourite, the band relentlessly furious in the pursuit of complete devastation.

Having witnessed Scottish Metalcore Kings Bleed From Within [10/10] at the tale end of 2025 at the O2 Forum in London, we know just how good they are as a live band and tonight they don’t disappoint. “Zenith” is a powerful opening cut, the band offering a tsunami of riffs and a whirlwind of percussive battery to get things underway. The arena sized anthem that is “The End of All We Know” is a huge sing-a-long that gets everyone using their voices and vocalist Scott Kennedy is loving every second. As promised on social media during the build up to “The Dying Sun Tour” the band have for us a few deeper cuts and some that have never been performed live in “Invisible Enemy“, “Leech” and “A Depth That No One Dares“. All three go down so well that the audience reaction should be all the compelling evidence that the band needs to play them more often. Bleed From Within are at this point reaching the stage where they could play an “evening with” style show like Machine Head and play two sets if they so desired. They have that much high quality material in their arsenal. Simon Olsen from Baest joins for “God Complex“, the surprise being that he’s very much a co-vocalist rather than simply making a cameo appearance and its wonderful to witness. It has to be said that rhythm guitarist Steven Jones aching clean vocal moments are as impressive as ever and when the curtain comes down with a triumphant rendition of “In Place Of Your Halo” everyone is all smiles at the rapturous applause. During the set tonight Kennedy has mentioned selling out The Joiners previously and at the end is shaking his head as if he can’t believe they’ve sold out this mere eight hundred capacity venue on the south coast. In truth, the five piece had the audience eating out of the palm of their hands from the very start, a wall of death and another Slipknot style sit down and jump up all part of the fun.