Bleed From Within, Disembodied Tyrant, Baest – Epic Studios, Norwich –

Has modern British metal gone soft? If you could time travel back to the mid-2000’s, the country was blessed with a magnificent selection of bands pushing out the heaviest, rawest deathcore, death metal, mathcore and combinations of these and other sub-genres. Fans of a heavy riff and even heavier breakdown were spoiled for choice.

It’s undeniable that many of the bands who made it out of the 2000’s and since gone on to have successful long-term careers have added complexity and melody to their songwriting. And maybe the increased accessibility this brings has directly contributed to their success. Twenty or so years after their inception, bands like Architects, Asking Alexandria, Bury Tomorrow and Bring Me The Horizon have blended sub-genres of metalcore into musical offerings capable of filling arenas and headlining major festivals. For all that their early fans may bemoan what some see as chasing a Dollar at the expense of musical integrity, metal as a whole is a far richer seam for new fans to mine than it was before these bands evolved.

Bleed From Within (@bleedfromwithin) and the bands supporting them this evening, represent just this stylistic journey. Heavy, heavier and heaviest, you could say.

The spellcheck-challenged Baest (@baestband), a five-piece from Aarhus in Denmark, represent a brutal, old-school death metal infused aural assault. The band bring a variety of their heaviest tracks taken largely from their two most recent albums, 2021’s Necro Sapiens and 2025’s Colossal.

Frontman Simon Olsen bounds around the stage with endless energy inciting the crowd to ever greater pit shenanigans as the audience builds. They’re having fun and giving a performance that is exactly what the headliner wants from a support band.

Disembodied Tyrant (@disembodiedtyrant) come with a reputation as one of deathcore’s hottest talents. Having signed to Nuclear Blast last year, it’s perhaps natural that this four-piece from St Louis, Missouri should be touring with stablemates Bleed From Within given the latter’s early back catalogue. For someone who hasn’t come across them yet, Disembodied Tyrant combine brutal deathcore riffs and breakdowns with a symphonic, almost cinematic, presentation. Tracks like Winter, from their 2024 EP The Poetic Edda, demonstrate how wide their ambition is and, in some ways, the versatility of the deathcore genre.

It’s a standout set from a support act, showcasing the band’s incredible technical ability, feel for music and the emotion that the heaviest of metal sub-genres generates. Lead singer Blake Mullens possesses an outstanding vocal range, complimented by Dominic Petrocelli’s stunning lead guitar. They pound the crowd with an intense and compelling wall of noise – and then thank us all for listening.

Bleed From Withins’ The Dying Sun Tour continues last year’s Zenith Tour which took in cities across Europe and a limited run in the UK. As the band acknowledge in the film wrap up of last year’s tour, they are now playing venues as headliners that they had previously only played as support (in some cases several times).

It’s a measure of how far they have come in the last three years since the release of 2022’s Shrine and a clear illustration both of progression in their songwriting and the rise of metalcore generally. An example of the old maxim that a rising tide lifts all boats.

They open with the title track from 2025’s Zenith. It’s a roar of frustration and call to arms, exhorting the listener to rise and defy. They follow this with The End of All We Know, a track which perfectly encapsulates the classic modern metalcore elements of heavy screaming verses, clean vocal chorus, melodic hooks and monstrous breakdowns. Frontman Scott Kennedy rips through verses and chorus with guitarist Steven Jones providing the counterpoint clean vocals. It’s a song that deals with resilience, overcoming adversity and self-reflection – subjects which the band has returned to regularly in their music.

As you would expect, the set leans heavily on their most recent album but with a mix of earlier tracks mostly taken from Shrine and 2020’s Fracture. The band is brimming with confidence, evident in the fact that they include two tracks, Invisible Enemy and A Depth That No One Dares, that are having their first live outing with this tour. Never one to hold back, Kennedy is on fire and loving every minute.

On this evidence, they might be the smiliest band in metal!Smiley or not, they’ve included some of their heaviest recent work in songs like Violent Nature, Dying Sun and God Complex. These heavy hitters are interspersed with the more melodic singalong choruses of Levitate and Alive. The evening ends with In Place Of Your Halo, a track whose bagpipe-laden hook perhaps shows their direction of travel more clearly than almost any other.

It’s a performance that is summed up perfectly by Kennedy in two words: “Fuck yeah…!” And it’s asentiment with which the crowd wholeheartedly agrees. Has modern metal gone soft? These three bands would big to differ…