Tuesday, 28 January 2025

Bullet for My Valentine/Trivium - Cardiff Review

I am used to bands that have been around for many years celebrating milestone anniversaries of their classic albums. I have been to many shows which celebrate anniversaries of albums released in the 1970s, 1980s, and even the 1990s - but given that 2005 was 20 years ago it should come as no surprise that some classics of my teenage years are now reaching landmark milestones. Nothing showcases the crawling passage of time quite like loved albums from our youth aging and being celebrated like many of the classics released before I was born have been in the past. I am not sure that I was aware of either of Bullet for My Valentine or Trivium in 2005, when The Poison and Ascendancy respectively were released, but it was not too long after that I started to pay attention. Trivium's The Crusade, which dropped at the end of 2006, was likely the first 'modern metal' album I bought - so it was probably not too long after I got hold of that album that I started to listen to both The Poison and Ascendancy. The videos from the former were certainly all over Kerrang! TV at the time, so they were hard to ignore, whilst Trivium fuelled my interest thanks to their inclusion of some more progressive influences into their metalcore sound. I saw Trivium in 2007 and Bullet for My Valentine in 2008, both in Plymouth, and, with the exception of seeing Lamb of God open for Heaven & Hell also in 2007, they were easily the heaviest concerts I had been to at the time. Metal purists will no doubt scoff at that, but young metal fans need to start somewhere - and Trivium's show in particular stands out as a memorable formative concert experience. Over the years I have followed both bands, but I think that it is fair to say that I followed Trivium more closely. I have always stuck close to the Florida-based band, lapping up each new album as it dropped, whilst also managing to catch them live a few times - taking in two concerts in 2023 alone. The band's heavier and more progressive sound has always spoken to me - and the technicality of their music has always kept me coming back. Whilst I never truly went off Bullet for My Valentine, I just found that they spoke to me less as time moved on. I kept up with them for a while, but started to somewhat lose interest during the mid-2010s - so much so that I did not pick up 2018's Gravity until much later. I enjoyed the band's 2021 self-titled release (which I reviewed here), and saw them live again around that time, but I have not returned to their music often since. Despite this, though, when a lengthy tour by the two bands was announced last year to celebrate their breakthrough 2005 releases I was all in. I do not need many excuses to see Trivium live, and getting a chance to hear The Poison in full was also tempting - and I am not sure that Bullet for My Valentine have ever bettered that caustic debut. I opted for the first night of the tour at the Utilita Arena in Cardiff - which soon sold out, prompting another show to be added. The venues booked were the biggest that either band have played in the UK for a number of years - and healthy ticket sales show that there remains plenty of love for both albums, even if there was no doubt a healthy amount of emo nostalgia at play.

Being a Sunday, the venue opened early and the evening's sole support act, Orbit Culture, took to the stage at around 6:15pm. The Swedish melodic death metal band only had around half an hour to play with, and battled somewhat boomy sound, but they delivered a strong set to a pretty receptive crowd. With an all-white stage set, which was rather grand by support band standards, the band made a strong impression from the off with their bludgeoning sound - which is different to most Swedish melodic death metal. There is a strong groove metal influence to be found within Orbit Culture's music - and there is little of the traditional lead guitar approach pioneered by bands like At the Gates and In Flames. As such, there is very little light to be found amongst the shade of the band's core sound, which does lead to limited variety - but I enjoyed the band's 30 minutes on stage. I had previously seen them live opening for Trivium two years ago - but I have not explored their work that much since. I have heard their two most recent albums, as well as a recent EP, but I am certainly no expert in their work - and the sound mix was a bit muddy at times to truly pick out some of the nuances. That being said, though, the riffing throughout was powerful, with a few circle pits opening up towards the end of the set, whilst the vocals of frontman Niklas Karlsson were generally pretty powerful. There were a few more lead guitar-based moments, which allowed Richard Hansson (guitar) to shine - but generally his showcase moments were solos rather than in-song melodies. Orbit Culture certainly have a very oppressive sound, both live and on record, and I do wonder whether breaking this up somewhat at times would help. They are the sort of band that can really fatigue the ears after a while, and this would have certainly happened on Sunday had their set been much longer. I like what the band do, but I struggle to fully connect with them for that reason - and I feel that there are times that their music could be more melodic. That being said, they went down pretty well at the show. A large crowd had got there early and the band even managed to get a decent-sized wall of death going during one of the songs - so I think that it is fair to say that Orbit Culture did their job of warming up the crowd well.

I get the impression that Trivium and Bullet for My Valentine are rotating who is in the headline slot each night - but for the opening night of the tour it was Bullet for My Valentine who topped the bill. This made sense given the band's Welsh roots, so it was Trivium who followed Orbit Culture. I have seen Trivium a few times over the years, but there were still quite a few songs from Ascendancy which I had not seen them do live. Unlike Bullet for My Valentine, I think that Trivium have since bettered their breakthrough album - but Ascendancy nevertheless remains a high point in their catalogue, and it is an extremely mature album considering how young the band were when it was recorded. Drummer Alex Bent was not part of the band at the time, but the other three all were - and as soon as the first riff of Rain crashed in it was clear that the band meant business. Trivium are always great live, but in terms of pure performance this might be the best yet in my experience. The main reason for this were the vocals of Matt Heafy (vocals/guitar) - who sounded the best he has live for many a year. He recently stated that he had managed to re-learn how he used to scream, although this time without damaging his voice. I had somewhat raised my eyebrows at this when I read it - but I was blown away by how great he sounded. He has always managed to adapt songs well live, but he really roared through the set - with Corey Beaulieu (vocals/guitar) singing less, despite still having a strong presence. The two headliners had just over an hour each, which meant that there was time for their respective album and a little more. Ascendancy was played in full from start to finish as the set kicked off, then, with Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr hitting the crowd early on and the soaring title track being an early highlight. Before A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation got underway, though, Bent laid into his kit for a bit of solo whilst a large inflatable version of the figure on the album's cover rose behind him - bring the set really up to arena standards. This, combined with a large catwalk which the band made great use of, really made the set feel like a spectacle - and anthems like A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation and Like Light to the Flies really filled the room with everyone singing along. The guitar solo trade-off between Beaulieu and Heafy during the latter was excellent - and the band just went from strength to strength as things progressed. The only song on the album which I do not think has aged all that well is Dying in Your Arms, and it felt a bit overtly emo compared to everything else - but the thrash of The Deceived and a rare outing for the strange and off-kilter Suffocating Sight showcased the band at their best. With the album's deeper cuts sitting towards the end, too, the set stayed interesting throughout - with the more acoustic-based Departure and the lengthy Declaration, neither of which have been played live too often over the years, bringing Ascendancy to a close. There was time for one more, though, and as Capsizing the Sea played over the PA it was clear what was to follow - and the groovy riffing and big chorus of In Waves brought a masterful metal set to a powerful close. The setlist was:

The End of Everything
Rain
Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr
Drowned and Torn Asunder
Ascendancy
Drum Solo
A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation
Like Light to the Flies
Dying in Your Arms
The Deceived
Suffocating Sight
Departure
Declaration
Capsizing the Sea
In Waves

It was always going to hard for Bullet for My Valentine to top Trivium's set and, in my opinion, they did not manage to do so. I still enjoyed the Welsh band's set, but in my opinion The Poison has not aged anywhere near as well as Ascendancy - and it very much feels rooted in 2005 thanks to its angsty lyrics and overall emo vibe. That being said, it remains a strong album of the time - and hearing many of the songs live for the first time was fun. I moved further back during Bullet for My Valentine's set, so I enjoyed it more casually, but the sound mix was powerful - with Matt Tuck (vocals/guitar) sounding great vocally, whilst Jamie Mathias (vocals/bass guitar) added plenty of throaty screams. The thrashy Her Voice Resides and the anthemic 4 Words (To Choke Upon) sounded great as always - and it is fair to say that the hometown crowd were really up for the show. There was a lot more singing during Bullet for My Valentine's set than there was during Trivium's - with the soaring power ballad Tears Don't Fall, sitting far earlier in the set than it usually would, eliciting a big sing-a-long. I would argue, though, that the band did not fulfil their brief - as they did not play The Poison in full as advertised. This is because Spit You Out was not played, which has been left off some reissues and overseas releases in favour of Hand of Blood (which was played), but I would assume that most in attendance grew up with the original version of the album which included Spit You Out. I was looking forward to hearing the song live, too, as it is one of my favourite deeper cuts on the album - so when it was not played I was disappointed. Hand of Blood could have still been played, perhaps as part of the encore instead of being inserted into the album where it never really belonged, but either way I think it was a mistake to leave out Spit You Out. That said, though, many of the deeper cuts still sounded strong. Hit the Floor sounded pretty anthemic - with Room 409 being another unexpected highlight later on. Michael Paget (guitar/vocals) found plenty of time throughout the set to solo, although he sadly seemed quite rooted to his spot on the stage - with only Tuck really making significant use of the catwalk. Trivium had been all over it, so it seemed rather like the Tuck show as a result - with the others knowing their place. This was a shame, and the set had a different overall vibe, but the performance was still strong. When it was time to play Cries in Vain, though, the band had to stop twice due to issues in the crowd. I am not sure what was happening but there was an awkward silence for what was probably a couple of minutes and the band tried twice to start the song before finally getting to play it at the third attempt. The main set then came to a close with The End, a much more atmospheric song overall, and the band briefly left the stage to loud cheers. The screens on the stage soon crackled back to life, though, and a two-song encore followed. The newer Knives showcased the band's current sound, before the anthemic Waking the Demon brought the night to a sing-a-long close - and the band took their bows to plenty of love from the Welsh rockers in attendance. The setlist was:

Intro
Her Voice Resides
4 Words (To Choke Upon)
Tears Don't Fall
Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do)
Hit the Floor
All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)
Hand of Blood
Room 409
The Poison
10 Years Today
Cries in Vain
The End
-
Knives
Waking the Demon

Overall, I enjoyed all three bands. Orbit Culture put on a strong showing for half an hour and Bullet for My Valentine were a lot of fun - playing what remains their best album (mostly) in full. For me, though, the evening belonged to Trivium. They are one of the leading lights of the modern metal scene in my opinion, and they have gone from strength to strength since Ascendancy dropped in 2005. They remain a creative and vital force in metal and even on this nostalgia-packed night they showcased why. This tour is likely to be hugely successful for all involved - and both bands deserve to reflect on what they achieved 20 years ago.

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