Trivium & Bullet for My Valentine review: Spine-tingling metalcore

However, despite both bands promising to deliver their biggest and best shows to date, it never once felt like either band attempted to outdo the other. Instead, both bands traded chugging and punchy guitar riffs, stellar and ferocious drumming, mesmerising dual guitar harmonies, driving bass lines, catchy hooks, a mix of melodic singing and growling as well as spine-tingling breakdowns in an energetic nostalgia-soaked spectacle that celebrated the timeless appeal of their signature records ‘Poison’ and ‘Ascendancy’.

After being released within seven months of each other, both bands enjoyed a similarly meteoric rise, both bands went on to inspire a metalcore revolution, honed a similar sound of melodic metalcore that contains elements of hard rock, heavy metal and thrash metal and developed a mutual respect for the legacies that they have created before coming together to deliver the ‘Poison Ascendancy’ tour.

Following an opening set from Swedish metal band Orbit Culture, Bullet were the first to take to the stage and as a video package celebrating the band’s legacy played, the mood was set for what would be an explosive performance.

Timeless classics such as the hard-hitting ‘Her Voice Resides’ fuelled by a striking guitar riff and a perfectly balanced mix of growling and melodic singing provide an injection of pace to kick things off, the fast and powerful drum grooves stand out exponentially in ‘4 Words (To Choke Upon) as well as the spell-binding solo that gives the track an extra kick in a live setting. ‘Tears Don’t Fall’ gets off to a delicately-paced start as Matt Tuck encouraged the audience to sing their hearts out before the galloping rhythms and the sound of power chords reverberate around the arena.

Tracks such as the punchy ‘Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow’ unleashed a rowdy response from the audience, ‘Hit the Floor’ is dark thanks to some brilliant vocals from Tuck and a rendition of the raw and emotive ‘All These Things I Hate’ evokes a mass singalong from the Mancunian audience. As Bullet’s set comes to a close, the fist-pumping and riff-driven hit ‘The Poison’ gets the crowd bouncing before ‘10 Years Today’, ‘Cries in Vain’, ‘The End’, the crunchy ‘Knives’ and the rapid-fire and riff-fuelled ‘Waking the Demon’ close out a thrilling set.

Following a 30 minute break, Trivium emerged on the stage and erupted into a fiery rendition of ‘Rain’ that highlighted Matt Heafy’s versatile voice as well as the guitar work of Corey Beaulieu, the bass-heavy ‘Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr’ followed and offered bassist Paolo Gregoletto an opportunity to shine before Alex Bent took centre stage for a drum solo after a performance of ‘Ascendancy’.

Hits such as ‘A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation’, which reminds me of Sum 41’s ‘Still Waiting’ in parts, the catchy ‘Like Light To Flies’ provides an opportunity for moshpits galore before the spine-tingling riff and punchy guitars of ‘Dying In Your Arms’ echo throughout the Co-Op Live followed. As the set came to a close, The intense and powerful ‘The Deceived’, the disturbing ‘Surfacing Sight’ and the majestic riffs accompanied with elements of an acoustic guitar in ‘Departure’ provide the audience with an extra burst as the band reached a crescendo before ‘In Waves’ closes out a night of celebration in style.