Trivium - Birmingham Review

It is always amazing how quickly the first gig of each new year rolls around. There is a generally a few weeks around the Christmas period when the live music industry generally goes to sleep, but this past Friday I headed up to Birmingham for my first night away of 2023. Despite it only being around a month ago that I saw Spike launch his new Quireboys in London, the gap between that raucous night in Islington and Friday's antics seemed longer. In truth, it was nice to have a quiet few weeks after a manic November and December, but I am always keen to get back to gig-going - and 2023 promised to get started with a bang. I actually have three more gigs coming up in January, which could make it my busiest January ever, but I doubt that any of the others this month will be as intense as what I just took in - when the US metal act Trivium brought their latest European tour to Birmingham's O2 Academy. Like many shows that I have been to over the past year or so, this gig was originally supposed to take place at the end of 2021 - but it was postponed as big European treks were still hard to undertake at that time, despite live music essentially being 'back to normal' here in the UK. The wait to see Trivium turned out to be a long one, too, at over 12 months, but I was certain that it would be worth it. Around the time that the 2021 gig was supposed to take place, too, the band released their tenth studio album In the Court of the Dragon. This meant that the rescheduled tour would essentially be showcasing two albums - as 2020's What the Dead Men Say had not been toured either, with Trivium's last run of UK shows coming in 2018. 2023's run of UK shows, then, would be the band's first in five years - and was appropriately dubbed the Deadmen and Dragons tour after their 2020 and 2021 releases. It was a tour that I snapped tickets up for immediately, too. Despite being a big Trivium fan, I have not actually seen them live that many times. Prior to Friday, I had only seen them live three times - most recently back in 2017 when the band were at the tail end of the Silence in the Snow touring cycle. Trivium are one of those bands that I have just been unlucky with live - as often when they announce a UK tour it clashes with some existing plans of mine. I would have loved to have seen them live more often, as they are good at changing up the setlist and playing different songs, so getting the chance to see them for a fourth time was not to be missed - especially following the excellent In the Court of the Dragon. It seems that many others thought the same, too, as pretty much all of the UK shows sold out in advance. This is, of course, great for the band - although the O2 Academy in Birmingham is, in my opinion, not very well designed and struggles to cope with capacity crowds. This would rear its head later during Trivium's set, leading to some uncomfortable moments - which was not helped by the behaviour of a few who seemed to want to cause unnecessary headaches for those around them.

More on that later, but first it is time to talk about the evening's opening act. The UK leg of this tour saw Trivium joined by two bands - and up first was UK's own Malevolence, who seem to have really broken through into the metal consciousness over the past couple of years. I passed up seeing them at last year's Bloodstock Open Air as I was quite tired following Mercyful Fate's excellent set, so I was looking forward to checking them out properly this time - particularly as I have been enjoying Malicious Intent, their third album which was released last year. As soon as the band hit the stage, it was clear that their set was not going to be a typical opening fare. There were a lot of Malevolence fans in attendance, and the place was already pretty much full by the time the lights went down. Given how well Malicious Intent has been received, I expected the band to get a strong reception - but there were times when you would be forgiven for thinking that Malevolence were headlining the night. They created a strong energy from the first riff, and it never let up - even during their mid-set ballad. Much of the material, unsurprisingly, came from Malicious Intent, with the short title track opening things up before the band segued into Life Sentence, with its groove-based riffing and the throat-shredding vocals of frontman Alex Taylor. What was also great was the fact that the band did not suffer at all from typical opening band sound. Malevolence's sound was crystal clear throughout their set, with Taylor's vocals nice and loud in the mix - whilst the lead playing of Josh Baines (guitar/vocals) cut through the grooves. This meant that the Alice in Chains-esque opening of Still Waters Run Deep sounded huge, and the riffing that followed throughout the older Self Supremacy really filled the venue. This song also featured probably the largest circle pit of the entire night. There was plenty of moshing during Trivium's set, but this specific pit was huge - and it is rare to see an opening band getting such a reception. It is likely that Malevolence will not be filling such slots for much longer, and on Friday's performance a promotion would be deserved. The gentle Higher Place, sung by Konan Hall (vocals/guitar), then showcased the band's diversity and provided a change of pace. It would have been easy for the band to have played quite a one-dimensional set, but Higher Place showed that they can do things differently - although they did soon return to their typical sound with Remain Unbeaten and the anthemic Keep Your Distance. It was left to the catchy On Broken Glass to bring the set to a close, with Hall's chorus filling the venue whilst Taylor spat out the verses with real venom. It was one of the strongest opening sets that I had seen for sometime, and Malevolence are clearly a band tipped for bigger things. The setlist was:

Malicious Intent

Life Sentence

Still Waters Run Deep

Self Supremacy

Higher Place

Remain Unbeaten

Keep Your Distance

On Broken Glass

Half an hour or so later the tour's special guests took to stage - following an effective atmospheric build up which included the lights dimming very slowly over the course of a couple of minutes just before their set started. Whilst the I had been aware of the German band Heaven Shall Burn for quite a few years, I had not really listened to them much at all prior to the lead up to the show. I picked up a few of their albums, but none of them really did all that much for me - so I was looking forward to seeing how they would come across live. Unfortunately, though, my reaction to the band live was similar to that of hearing their albums. For a band who are often described as a melodic death metal band their sound is not all that melodic (at least in the traditional Gothenburg sense), and it did not help that they were not blessed with the same clarity of sound which Malevolence had enjoyed. As such, frontman Marcus Bischoff's vocals were often quite buried in the mix - and there was little definition between the two guitarists, meaning that much of the nuances of the band's music was lost. I think it is fair to say, too, that they were not welcomed as enthusiastically as Malevolence had been. The crowd certainly welcomed Heaven Shall Burn warmly, but there was significantly less moshing during their set - and the cheers were quieter overall. Despite their prominence, Heaven Shall Burn are not a band that have ever really made much of a dent here in the UK. Looking at setlist.fm, their last visit to the UK came back in 2014 - when they toured with a bunch of deathcore bands. In truth, some of Heaven Shall Burn's songs are probably closer to deathcore than traditional melodic death metal - which possibly explains the somewhat muted reaction to their set. The fact that their appearance at this year's Bloodstock in August will be their first UK festival appearance in their nearly 30 year history also suggests their lack of presence here - so the fact that they were afforded a full hour slot on this tour, at least during the UK shows, seems strange. That being said, there were still some strong moments throughout their set. I liked the mechanical Übermacht, which included some great bass playing from Eric Bischoff, and the more anthemic Voice of the Voiceless proved that the band can put together a powerful chorus when they want to. For me, the best moments of the set were when the band's guitarists played lead breaks. Not enough of the band's songs are based around strong guitar leads for me, but when they are used they significantly improve the song which they are a part of. Perhaps the highlight of the whole set was the band's great cover of the old Edge of Sanity track Black Tears - and, sadly, the fact that a cover was the highlight is likely quite revealing.

It was another half an hour or so after Heaven Shall Burn's set before Trivium kicked off, and this is when the venue's poor design really started to become noticeable. The actual floor area itself is large, but only the portion directly in front of the stage has an open view - as the venue's balcony is very low, wide, and covers three sides of the room. As such, anyone stood under the balcony is not going to be able to see the stage properly - and it is likely that the sound would also be poorer. This meant that during the changeover between Heaven Shall Burn and Trivium more people than could easily fit in the open space were constantly trying to push their way into the square in the middle of the venue. This lead to some quite unpleasant situations, with tempers of those around me near the back fraying - and a fight even broke out just after Trivium started. I remember similar things happening at another sold out show I attended at the venue around ten years ago, and the O2 Academy in Birmingham is one that is a significantly more pleasant place to be when it is not sold out and there is more room to move around - particular at the back of the room. As such, for the whole of Trivium's set there were people pushing and shoving trying to get in and out of the middle square - which got tedious pretty quickly, and those around me were clearly getting pretty annoyed. I resolved not to let it effect my night, but it was hard not to get distracted sometimes - especially during the fight! The amount of people in the room was clearly causing issues down near the front, too, as the band had to stop playing twice during the set to allow hurt fans to safely exit the throng and receive medical attention. All of that being said, though, Trivium were excellent. As mentioned above, the band are good at switching up the setlist night after night - which means that what they are going to play is often a mystery. If I had a criticism it would be that I would have liked to have heard more songs from the two newest albums, given the name of the tour, but the 90 minute setlist was still great - and showcased nine of their ten albums. 2005's Ascendancy was the most represented, with four cuts from it played, and the show got underway with two of them. The album's opening number Rain got things off to a great start, and despite all the pushing and shoving the atmosphere was great from the off. Despite the few out to annoy those around them, everyone else was there to have a great time - and the singing from the crowd was so loud that sometimes it even drowned out the band. This was the case during Rain's chorus, but it was arguably more so during Like Light to the Flies which followed. The song has always been a real crowd favourite, and the chorus shook the venue - before the great guitar solo section allowed both Corey Beaulieu (vocals/guitar) and Matt Heafy (vocals/guitar) to shred.

Whilst Heafy is the band's frontman, as has been the case for a number of years now Beaulieu handled some of the main harsh vocals throughout the set - with him and Heafy often teaming up for some great call-and-response vocal sections. This was the case during the title track of 2017's The Sin and the Sentence, which followed, and the powerful song brought the set into something more akin to the present day after starting back in 2005. It was great to hear the song live as I missed the tour for The Sin and the Sentence, and its more progressive arrangement came across well live. Another early highlight in Down from the Sky was then played, which really got the crowd going. The song is another real fan-favourite, and the chorus was sung back at the band very loudly - although it had to be briefly stopped to allow someone to receive medical attention, which did stem the flow somewhat. Even the newer songs received similar levels of love. Like a Sword Over Damocles also had its chorus sung loudly, before the band took a bit of a break from lengthier pieces to break out the shorter, punchier Strife. The song is one that I would not include if I was picking the setlist, but I always enjoy hearing it live - and the simpler riffing and overall vibe allowed the band to really rock out before heading back into knottier territory with the newer A Crisis of Revelation. I would have included a different song from the latest album, but the progressive, thrashy piece really came alive on stage. The latest album really upped both the progressive and thrash sides of the band's sound again, and A Crisis of Revelation really showcases this - and Heafy's harsh vocals throughout were extremely potent. Paolo Gregoletto (bass guitar/vocals) also got to shine with a shredded bass solo. Heafy then paid tribute to the excellence of Malevolence by having Baines join them for a run through of the oldie The Deceived, with Baines taking the solo, before more progressive riffing in the form of Catastrophist impressed the crowd - after it had to be restarted due to another injury. It was great that the set highlighted the band's more complex songwriting a lot, but a handful of simpler songs were welcome additions. Both the fist-to-the-face of To the Rats and the relatively slow-burning Until the World Goes Cold helped to level things out somewhat - but both only acted as a brief simplification before the mighty Shogun was wheeled out. The band have not played it live too often over the years, but have been making a feature of it on this tour. It was great to hear the 11 minute-plus song live, and it was easily the most progressive moment of the night. There was lots of soloing and changes of pace throughout, and the cheer when it came to an end was extremely loud. Whilst the band did not properly leave the stage and come back again, the intro to In Waves felt like an encore break - and the set's final two numbers had the vibe of such. The groove-based In Waves really rocked the room, with everyone headbanging to the rhythm of the infectious main riff, but it was perhaps the closing Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr that sent the place the wildest. There was a lot of moshing during the final number, and the hooky chorus was once again sung extremely loudly - bring the night to a triumphant end. The setlist was:

The End of Everything

Rain

Like Light to the Flies

The Sin and the Sentence

Down from the Sky

Like a Sword Over Damocles

Strife

A Crisis of Revelation

The Deceived [w/ Josh Baines]

Catastrophist

To the Rats

Until the World Goes Cold

Shogun

Capsizing the Sea

In Waves

Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr

Despite the issues mentioned previously with the crowd and the venue, Trivium's Birmingham show was a great way to kick off 2023. Trivium are a band that always deliver live, and it disappoints me that there were so many of their tours in the past that I could not make for various reasons. Still, it was great to catch them again on this latest run, and the setlist included a number of songs that I had not seen them do live before. The band always go down well in the UK, so I doubt it will be too long before they return again - and I shall make every effort to make it when they do.