Metal titans Bullet for My Valentine and Trivium teamed up to celebrate the 20-year anniversary of some of their fan-favorite records: BFMV’s The Poison and Trivium’s Ascendancy. Together, the bands dubbed their current run The Poisoned Ascendancy Tour, which stopped by a packed house at the Fillmore Detroit, with strong support from Bleed From Within and August Burns Red. Here are five moments that stood out from the show:
Bleed From Within Bring the Energy to the Crowd
By the time doors opened, the line to get into the venue already stretched down the block, with fans showing up early and in force to mosh from the get-go. Scottish metalcore rockers Bleed From Within proved up to the task of getting the crowd moving, with their set culminating in a powerful rendition of “In Place of Your Halo.” With the stage shrouded in darkness, the band was illuminated in time with the crunching opening guitar riff, while in the back half of the track, vocalist Scott Kennedy crowd surfed while delivering his guttural growls over a pummeling breakdown accentuated by bagpipes.
Waves and Waves of Crowd Surfers for August Burns Red
August Burns Red followed in the next opening slot, thrilling from the jump with a crushing cover of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey!” and later bringing forth waves and waves of crowd surfers on “Exhumed.” The Pennsylvania metalcore outfit finished strong with a one-two punch of “Mariana’s Trench” and “White Washed.” On the former, a sea of lights illuminated the room, swaying in unison to the track’s shimmering opening guitar riff; on the latter, the crowd jumped along one more time to the track’s thunderous drum beat and driving guitar riff.
Trivium Set the Scene
Throughout the tour, BFMV and Trivium have alternated between who plays first. For the Detroit stop, Trivium went first, getting off to a blisteringly fast start with “Rain.” After an impressive rendition of “Ascendancy” and a walloping drum solo, the tapestry behind the band changed, and the stage was flanked by a giant inflatable that brought to life Ascendancy’s monstrous album art. “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation” proved to be an early set highlight, with the crowd jumping to the track’s driving riff and drum beat, while “Dying in Your Arms” featured a huge audience singalong keyed by Matt Heafy’s strong clean vocals. Their album playthrough ended on a high note with guitarist Corey Beaulieu’s searing guitar solo on “Departure” and the crowd pumping their fists in unison over the chugging riff of “Declaration.”
BFMV’s Time Capsule
BFMV’s intro brought the crowd back in time two decades with archival footage of the Welsh rockers’ early days, as the crowd eagerly chanted for “Bullet! Bullet! Bullet!” Like Trivium (for the most part), BFMV went for a sequential set for The Poison, launching into the ferocious “Her Voice Resides” to start the performance in earnest. Other early- and mid-set highlights included the skittering opening guitar riff from Michael “Padge” Paget on “Tears Don’t Fall,” which gave way to a frenetic drum beat and guitar solo; the crowd singing along to the anthemic chorus of “Hit the Floor”; and the crunching, intense breakdown of “Room 409.”
“The End”
The back half of the set kept the electrifying energy flowing till the end, with the crowd thrashing along the rest of the way. Fans punched their fists in unison to the pummeling guitar riff of “The Poison,” while a raucous mosh pit opened for “10 Years Today.” Next, “Cries in Vain” featured another memorable interplay between its spacey opening riff and its heavy riffs, while the crowd roared along to lead singer / guitarist Matt Tuck’s strong vocals. Fittingly, the main set finished with “The End.” The track started as a slow burn, but when it kicked into gear at its midpoint with Tuck’s roaring vocals and its fierce guitar riffs, a big circle pit opened to help bring The Poison’s playthrough to an emphatic close.
