“This is going to be the metal tour of 2025,” Bullet For My Valentine’s Matt Tuck stated when the Welsh floorfillers announced the Poisoned Ascendancy run with American mavens Trivium. Call it cockiness if you like, but the facts paint a promising picture: the metalcore-era co-headliners will play their venerated 2005 albums in full and fill the kind of venues their respective legacies have long deserved.
For all their similarities – they ‘broke through’ almost simultaneously, affirming the rise of snarling and thrashy riffs after the decline of nu metal – the pair present themselves in polar opposite ways. TRIVIUM’s London stage-show is a full-throttle throwback, introducing the night’s Metallica-style ‘snakepit’ format, which lets the bands perform surrounded by their fanbases. Midway through their set, they double down on the 80s worship: a massive effigy of the demon on Ascendancy’s cover inflates behind drummer Alex Bent as an ode to Iron Maiden’s Eddie.
The nods all feel appropriate, given Ascendancy updated those pioneers’ galloping speed and harmonising guitars for the 21st century. A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation demonstrates the power that that revival still holds, as a full-to-bursting O2 Arena jumps to the opening chords, then moshes with abandon before screaming their lungs out.
The mightiest voice in the house, however, belongs to Matt Heafy. Though the frontman’s famously suffered vocal setbacks during the past two decades, tonight sees him recreate Ascendancy’s raw, Hetfieldian singing and all-out roars spotlessly. He also nails the album’s smoother moments, especially the depression-themed Departure, which he precedes with an earnest and emotive speech thanking the fans for their unwavering love.
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE are less reflective despite the obviously nostalgic occasion. The Bridgenders host a modern extravaganza, endowed with video screens on both the backdrop and risers. They’re also the more transformative act of the evening, most notably when generational anthem Tears Don’t Fall gets kickstarted by a quasi-acoustic jam of the first verse and chorus.
Fellow career highlights Suffocating Under Words Of Sorrow, 4 Words (To Choke Upon) and Hand Of Blood inevitably populate the quartet’s The Poison playthrough as well. The songs’ emo edge gave Bullet a mainstream advantage 20 years back, and that accessibility translates to nonstop movement from the London masses.
However, it’s closing deep cut The End that heralds one of the most memorable sights of the night. Over its gentle arpeggios, singer/guitarist Matt Tuck commands everyone to hold phones and lighters aloft. He follows the spectacle by declaring that, the next time the capital sees his band live, he’d love for it to be a standalone headliner back in this very building.
It’ll take 10 months to decide whether or not The Poisoned Ascendancy was the true “metal tour of 2025”, but it’s a sure bet that Bullet and Trivium will be in contention for the honour. Two of the 2000s’ greatest metal albums got the victory laps they deserve, stuffed with high-end production and audience goodwill. And, perhaps even more importantly, both bands proved that they can shine in a setting this huge, planting the seeds for a future that holds even greater triumphs.
Trivium setlist: O2 Arena, London – February 1, 2025
Rain
Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr
Drowned And Pulled Asunder
Ascendancy
A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation
Like Light To The Flies
Dying In Your Arms
The Deceived
Suffocating Sight
Departure
The Deceived
Encore:
In Waves
Bullet For My Valentine setlist: O2 Arena, London – February 1, 2025
Her Voice Resides
4 Words (To Choke Upon)
Tears Don’t Fall
Suffocating Under Worlds 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
Encore:
Knives
Waking The Demon
