Trivium / Rock City / Nottingham
It’s a trip back into Nottingham to our favourite venue (and second home) Rock City. Early doors tonight and early curfew at 10 (Friday is student night) but one we’re really excited for, as Floridian metellers Trivium return to the city as part of their “Goblins and Wizards Tour”.
With doors at 18:00, the first band Orbit Culture are up on stage at 18:30 and it’s great to see a big crowd down early for the Swedish openers. Not a band I’m familiar with, but boy they put on a great set. Formed in 2013 in Eksjö, Orbit Culture are a melodic death metal band and are Niklas Karlsson (vocals and guitar), Richard Hansson (guitar), Fredrik Lennartsson (bass) and Christopher Wallerstedt (drums). They’ve released four studio albums, the most recent “Descent” released earlier this year.
As you might expect from a Scandinavian metal band, it’s a good old heavy set, with harsh lighting, mostly green, blue or red. The guitars are loud and harsh, with a pounding heavy beat from Fredrik on bass and Christopher on drums, making your chest pound. Nice. Niklas provides the vocals which are suitably growling and brutal.
It’s great to see a band with no prior experience, and Orbit Culture didn’t let their countrymen down. Raw, powerful and intense, the early crowd had a real treat.
A chance for a drink from the bar, and a brief stand under the air con vent. The place is filling up now and getting real hot. The usual manic but professional work on stage to turn things round, before Glaswegian metalheads Bleed from Within. They’ve been around on the scene for a while now, having been formed back in 2005, and have released six albums, the most recent, being the brilliant “Shrine” released in 2022.
With a strong following of their own, Bleed from Within deliver a stylish blend of metalcore, melodic death metal and groove metal.
Once again the vocals are growling and intense and delivered superbly by singer Scott Kennedy. The guitars blast out groove infused riffs with real deep heavy breakdown sections.
Probably favourite tracks of the set for me were Shrine (title track from the most recent album), and Pathfinder taken from the album “Fracture” released in 2020.
As the set progressed, the crowd were getting more and more into the doom-laden set, and the crowd surfers started coming over, supported down brilliantly by the security staff, each running through the pit, dripping in sweat, grinning from ear to ear, back into the maelstrom.
Unfortunately the set came to a sudden stop. Scott Kennedy stopping the band as someone went down in the mosh pit. Quiet descended on the crowd as stewards and medical staff supported the individual, escorting them from the floor. Scott shouting after them to meet the band at the merch stand for some goodies. A nice touch, really encapsulating the sentiment that metal crowds/bands look after each other.
With the delay, and the early curfew (damn you students ! lol) they had to cut the set short, but wow, what a brilliantly intense, energy filled set.
The place is absolutely rammed now, there’s not an inch free in the house. The stage is set, covers off, and we file into the pit to await the arrival of Trivium. The set, set out with an oriental theme, and two big dragons either side of the stage. The lights drop suddenly and the place erupts. You can almost feel the energy in the room !
Formed in Florida back in 1999 when at his eighth-grade talent show, Matt Heafy performed a cover version of No Leaf Clover by Metallica. Watched by singer Brad Lewter, who later asked him to try out for his band as lead guitarist. Since then Lewter has left the band with Heafy taking over the main vocals, and the current line up is Matt Heafy (vocals and guitar), Corey Beaulieu (guitar), Paolo Gregoletto (bass) and Alex Bent (drums).
Since 2003, they’ve released ten studio albums to date, the most recent “In the Court of the Dragon” released in 2021.
As they stream out on to the stage, Heafy is wearing a bright yellow, Chinese style jacket covered in text and dragons and they dive right in with the title track from the latest album In the Court of the Dragon. Heafy is a fantastic frontman, as he leaps up on the platforms, smiling broadly. He frequently sticks out his tongue, reminding me a bit of Māori metal band Alien Weaponry. He interacts with ease with the crowd and has boundless energy.
Not as harsh as the previous bands, Trivium produce some of the best fast-paced, visceral metal on the scene, and it seems to produce an equal reaction from their adoring fans. Right from the off, the mosh pit forms and inevitably as the set progresses, the bodies start coming over.
Strife has the crowd at max, and this is followed by the brilliant Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr taken from the “Ascendancy” album released in 2005 which contains some excellent guitar work from both Heafy and Beaulieu. This demonstrates – not for the first or last time – some seriously potent solo performances from both Heafy and Nottingham’s second favourite Cory Beaulieu (#44 - it’s an ice hockey thing !). I noticed that Paolo Gregoletto had his bass perched on a stand, and it was only later someone told me he had only a few weeks ago, had surgery ! You wouldn’t have known, his playing was spot on and played it’s part fully in the rhythm section with Alex’s thunderous drum beats.
What’s nice (I think) is that the setlist is not dominated by songs from the most recent album, but has a great mix of tracks from their back catalogue. If anything, there are more tracks from their 2008 album “Shogun” which turns 15 this year. Perhaps the best songs from that release in the set are Like Callisto to a Star in Heaven and Of Prometheus and the Crucifix, which go down a treat with the heaving mass in the stalls.
The main set comes to an end with A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation also from 2005’s “Ascendancy”. With it’s quick fire bass drum intro and crisp sharp guitars, it’s a wall of intense metal which has the hair bouncing over the barrier confronting abusive relationships head on.
The night ends with In Waves from the album of the same name from 2011. It’s brutal harsh vocal introduction which the audience join in, screaming the words back at the band. This is Trivium, this is fast paced, hard crisp metal at it’s finest. What makes Trivium such a favourite ? Their style uses the vocals and riffs to build the track up, towards a crescendo onto which Heafy unleashes insanely powerful choruses, that are made to be sung along to.
The place is roasting as we all file out into the cool night. Trivium did not disappoint. Although they’ve been playing for well over 20 years now, they clearly love playing together, and that sense of fun and excitement is just as good now…. As it’s always been with Trivium.
You can still catch the tour tomorrow (02/09) at the O2 Academy in Edinburgh, 03/09 at Stylus in Leeds, 04/09 At the O2 Academy in Bristol, 06/09 at the Lea Cliff Hall in Folkstone, and finally on 07/09 at the O2 Guildhall in Southampton.
