By Josh Bicknell
Beginning the year with a relentless showcase of metalcore, Manchester’s Club Academy became a battleground for moshers, featuring the soaring melodies of Avoid and Like Moths To Flames, alongside the bone-rattling heaviness of VEXED. Together, they set the stage for Silent Planet’s immersive and cerebral headline performance.
The venue had reached about half its capacity as Avoid took to the stage, and it was a shame that more concertgoers missed out on their opening set. All the way from Seattle, this marked their first ever run of ÜK shows, and it was clear they had no intention of wasting the opportunity. Frontman Benny Scholl kept things lively, laughing and joking with the crowd as he delivered a stellar vocal performance, effortlessly switching between clean choruses and slam-like pig squeals.
The rest of the band were equally dynamic, making for a set that was as unpredictable as it was exciting. It’s rare to see an opening act transition seamlessly from pop-punk-style choruses to an ’80s-inspired guitar solo, only to round off their set with a brutal squeal, yet Avoid pulled it off in a way that kept the crowd engaged from start to finish. For me, this flexibility defined their set, making them a band well worth getting early for.
Up next were VEXED, a band that immediately connected with the crowd thanks to their UK roots. They launched into their set with ‘Anti-Fetish,’ stepping onto the stage as its eerie synth intro filled the venue. After a brief pause and a moment of darkness, they erupted in a sea of purple light, with their low-tuned string bends quickly rattling the room. The intensity only escalated once vocalist Megan Targett began to unleash her unrelenting screams, sending the pit into a frenzy as moshers went to war with one another.
As their set progressed, VEXED ripped through a few more tracks from their latest record, Negative Energy, each one as crushingly heavy as the last. They also managed to weave in a few deeper cuts, playing songs from their debut, ‘Culling Culture,’ towards the end of their set, with the haunting guitar leads of ‘FAKE’ further adding to the eerie atmosphere that their performance had rapidly established. VEXED hit like a freight train, doing a brilliant job of riling up the crowd for the rest of the night.
The penultimate band of the night was the legendary Like Moths To Flames, a band that, despite crushing it for over a decade, still remains massively underrated. Their set was a perfect blend of melodic and progressive metalcore, making them the perfect bridge between VEXED and Silent Planet. They took to the stage in a haze of red light, with an ominous backing track building suspense before they exploded into action, tearing into the first verse of ‘Habitual Decline.’ The entire band thrashed around on stage, with their relentless energy setting the tone for what was to be an adrenaline-fuelled performance.
Two tracks in, vocalist Chris Roetter paused the show to tell a short story about the band’s previous visits to Manchester. He exclaimed that this was already the best crowd that he had played too in the city, with each of their previous visits lacking this same energy. Naturally, their performance was centred around their latest record, ‘The Cycles Of Trying To Cope‘, but they also managed to leverage their vast discography, playing songs from five separate releases, ensuring that fans new and old left satisfied.
Generally, bands choose to place their more intimate songs around the midpoint of their set, giving moshers a rest and building up to an explosive finish. However, Like Moths To Flames chose to save two of their most melodic tracks, ‘Bury Your Pain’ and ‘Kintsugi,’ for last. While unconventional, this decision worked brilliantly, as it allowed them to shred through their set with blistering guitar riffs and visceral, textured screams while giving fans the opportunity to connect with the band on a deeper level just as they exited the stage, leaving them hungry for more.
With one final changeover behind them, the crowd, still charged from the energy of Like Moths to Flames, eagerly anticipated Silent Planet‘s cerebral and immersive headline performance. With the bar set high, the anticipation was palpable, as fans readied themselves for a set that promised to be nothing short of a sonic journey. Much like the night’s openers, Silent Planet arrived on stage to a synth-based backing track, shrouded in light. This time, however, they were accompanied by trance-like visuals projected onto the back wall, adding an extra layer of mystery to the moment.
Once the stage was set, the American four-piece launched into the first verse of ‘Off-Worlder,’ the opening track from their latest record, ‘Superbloom’, which is the focus of their ÜK/EÜ tour. After performing three more tracks from this release, vocalist Garrett Russell invited Megan Targett of VEXED back to the stage to help perform ‘Anti Matter,’ a song that propelled them towards the mainstream last year thanks to its success.
Around the midpoint of their set, Silent Planet unleashed one of their older crowd-pleasers, ‘Panic Room,’ before treating Manchester’s crowd to an unreleased track titled ‘Wick.’ Both songs sent the mosh pit into another frenzy, followed by four more tracks from ‘Superbloom’. While the album was undoubtedly excellent, speaking to a few fans in the venue, there was a noticeable desire for more older material to be woven into the set.
The night came to a close with their titular track, a five-minute ballad that gradually built in scope and heaviness, creating an even more immense soundscape in the live setting. As is common with today’s performances, the band made a planned exit from the stage, only to return for a brief encore featuring ‘Trilogy,’ one final fan favourite from their 2021 album ‘Iridescent’.
The crowd quickly split into two groups: those eager to rush the merch stands and those looking to head home, but everyone left satisfied after a night that offered something for every type of metal fan.
The tour continues:
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