Review by Sheri Bicheno for MPM
There’s something about a blustery Autumn Sunday and going to see a live show. It’s that time where nights are drawing in earlier and there’s that scent of chilliness starting to creep in – going to a show that’s about to knock your block off around this time of year adds to the realization that it’s yet again, been a killer year for music – with more to come to catapult 2025 into shape.
With a new, impending album announced named Blood Dynasty, Swedish giants Arch Enemy bring with them, an offering of a trio Sweden’s most celebrated artists in Melodic Death Metal on the Rising From the North tour. Soilwork open things up with In Flames co-headlining – and tonight at the Hammersmith Eventim Apollo, it’s the last leg of the UK shows before taking over Europe.
I’ve not been to this venue since Motorhead was last here in 2011 and it’s without a doubt, a perfect fit for this scale of a show.
Getting to the Apollo for doors, the sight of the massive queue is something I never take for granted. That feeling of seeing a few thousand metal lovers congregate in one space all waiting and hyped to be part of something – more memories made between us and to show support for this monumental gathering of Swedish Melodeath that have had some part to play for everyone there.
Getting into the venue, a crowd already hyped and ready for Soilwork to open things up, the place is bustling and there’s a killer atmosphere in the air.
A beautiful tone of keys ring out from the darkened blue hue stage that trickles like digital clockwork tones into the crowd before a scratching of atmospheric beautiful riffs and suspense filled drums fill the air.
Adorned in a beautiful lightshow of purples and yellow, Bjorn ‘Speed’ Strid stands amongst the crowd on a platform at the front of the stage and shifts the energy, catapulting us into Stabbing the Drama with his visceral vocals.
The heaviness is set amongst the entwining riffs that launch through the track with the articulate tempo flitting from Bastian Thusgaard’s double pedals and melt into a beautiful melodic guitar section.
“Good evening, London!” Bjorn addresses the crowd with a huge grin.
“Well…this is f*cking nuts!”
These guys are genuine about their deliverance and the vibe that they create and by the measure of the screams back to the stage, the feeling amongst their fans is very much reciprocated.
We’re next launched into an anthemic Exile that exhibits dual vocals that range between beautifully clean to harsher roars whilst injecting some fist pumping energy into the crowd before Bjorn commands London on it’s feet and the roar of the audience welcomes in Distortion Sleep.
Playing with edges of metalcore in this track, the soundscape is hugely melodic set amongst fast paced chords and upbeat drum harmonies that underlays roaring vocals twisting into a clean singing chorus.
The keys on this track from Sven Karlsson adds a beautiful and subtle synth under the huge riffs and drums, making this hugely anthemic – and as a fan favourite, the whole of the Apollo sings back the lyrics to the stage.
“YEAH!” Bjorn cheers to the crowd. “We released a new single three days ago and you can mosh!”
Spirit of No Return sees a frantic riff fuelled pummeling morph to a tempo changing drop into a sea of melodic harmonies and subtle guitar interludes that make space for some killer hard hitting edges behind the kit.
The mosh pit under my feet opens up into an already packed crowd and see’s crowd surfers start to make their way down to the front.
A striking new offering from Soilwork, the power behind this is immense. The vocals use both light and dark tones amongst the stunning riffs and bass to draw in an uplifting but bulldozing energy – a welcome new addition to their setlist amongst the audience.
Contrast to the next track which flows in some truly beautiful strings into a balance of melancholic and light contour of moods, Övergivenheten is honestly an experience to witness.
A subtle build up during the intro of chorals and delicate suspense filled drums trickles through and opens up some absolutely breathtaking guitar work amongst the energy. Blending into the roars of Bjorn’s range, the dual guitars and drums shape the track into a spiral of aggression and beauty with Rasmus Ehrnborn’s bassnotes providing the depth of underlining.
There are soooo many moods going on in this tracks live setting and it’s one of my favourites from this set by far.
With Death Diviner providing punchy rhythm sections and chuggy riffs, the crowd claps along to the beat and soaks in the epic energies that Soilwork craft through this track. From clean vocals amongst powerful blast beats and a stunning midsection of crystal clear keys, the twist comes in fast but subtly to conclude into a soaring zeal of growling vocals and pummeling notes that leaves the audience going bonkers.
A beautiful guitar solo introduces The Ride Majestic with the audience clapping along until a metric tonne of brutal energy washes over the stage combining a sonic assault of brutal roars and thrashing guitars over an atmospheric thundering of riffs and drums.
The guitar work here is mesmerizing – going from progressive intricate riffs to winding melodies – totally encapsulating!
“London! Thank you so much for your hospitality. We’ll see you again soon!”
Stålfågel ends the set on chuggy riffs and uplifting moods amongst the heaviness of the bassnotes and epic growls that seep in between beautiful lighting and clean vocals. This is a heartfelt ending and leaves the bar high for the rest of the evening…
Amidst a super clever changeover where the stage suddenly shifts from Soilwork’s set up to revealing a backdrop and already set up kit behind the curtain, In Flames are raring to go – with the audience buzzing so much the whole place is moving!
Blue and white lighting engulfs the stage and a huge roar from the crowd erupts as In Flames step forward with chugging guitar rhythms and an energy that sets the pace for introductory Cloud Connected.
Anders Fridén carves his vocal range between clean, heartfelt tones into aggressive screams that trembles the floor of the Apollo. This start brings a more nostalgic feel of In Flames to the early 2000’s where the crashing soundscapes are dripping in scratching riffs and jumpy beats and is a great start.
A band that has shown through three decades of evolvement that they have as much energy as the start is something to behold when with them, they bring a set that caters to all of their fans and a powerful performance.
The mosh pit is absolutely packed already and we see pints flying in the air, people headbanging like no tomorrow and unifying under the heaviness of the performance on stage.
Take This Life serves up a fast and frantic plethora of riffs from Bjorn Gelotte and Chris Broderick. On top of Anders’ visceral vocals, Tanner Wayne is an exceptional drummer, delivering feral energy behind the kit that double pedals and thrashes beats throughout this track with sections of tempos that twist and turn to drag you through a path to the seven circles.
Once again, the mosh pit is untamed – and the crowd shouts back the lyrics to the stage.
“You guys alright?” Anders greets the crowd and is met with a deafening roar.
Suspense arises before a threatening set of riffs wind out from the stage with subtle synths to deliver Paralyzed in a melodic drenched mood and choral clean vocals. Some melancholic blends in this track before Anders delivers a death defying roar to fade out the track before a monstrous energy is churned out for In The Dark.
“Lets boogie! Scream for me Hammersmith!” Anders puts chest floor and belts out an astonishing roar as the guitars power into the crowd.
One of my favourite tracks on newest album Foregone, it serves as one of the heavier offerings in it;s live setting. A deep feel of the groove fuelled notes that In Flames carve on guitars and Anders’ powerful growls make this the perfect melodeath fusion with progressive touches.
“Lift your friends in the air! They’ll call you tomorrow morning and thank you for an awesome night. I wanna hear your voices!”
Voices serves as stunning combination of skittering rhythm sections and synths that crash into a drum fuelled blasting that sees crowdsurfers aplenty making their way to the barriers.
This is a fun track with elements of uplifting metalcore clean singing and bouncing energy twisting into a beautiful smokey synths and absolutely killer guitar solos. Anders’ injects sections of some of the best growling vocals I’ve seen from him to circle the sheer velocity of brutal tones into the audience.
“Its been a few years since we’ve been in this building…” Anders addresses the crowd and is met with another almighty roar.
“It’s good to be here with this Swedish groups of awesome riffs. You got the salty, spicy, deliciousness of Soilwork. You have the honey smooth soothing melodies of Arch Enemy and then you got this band. We’re like the meatballs and IKEA.”
Chants of “MEATBALLS” then echo throughout the Apollo and Anders laughs.
“This is a celebration and we wanna take you back to the very early days of naughties. We had goals, we had dreams and the internet wasnt around that much. These men up here are super cuddly… here’s an early one”
Leaping all the way back to 1997, Food For The Gods is purely unapologetic and for me, strips back to the bare bones of In Flames.
Liam Wilson’s skits through stunning depths of bassnotes and gives this track it’s ever raw and evil feeling. The guitars are solid and hold riffs with massive soundscapes of atmospherics and a touch of blackened edges to coincide with the power of the drums.
Running with its ferocity, almost 20 years later, this track is still powerful and by the reaction of the crowd, is one to get feral to.
“I wanna see each fist in the air!”
Trigger serves as a punchy and entwining riffs number that has the whole floor of the Apollo bouncing. Watching so many people create a headbanging wave to the rhythm was awesome.
The guitars overlapping eachother with their own leads show the tight musicianship between Bjorn and Chris and bouncing off eachother, they deliver intricate notes amongst harsh breakdowns set in motion by Tanner.
Meet Your Maker hurls thundering melodic and punchy riffs into the track which also exhibits another example of Bjorn’s melodies bleeding into eachother whilst State of Slow Decay comes as battering ram – both from newest album Foregone and both that has some exceptional brutality to them.
I’ve said it before but this track was a great example of how Anders’ range is absolutely so diverse and I love how they come together on this track.
Flesh melting roars, melodic tones and some clean beautifully heart piercing ranges, he has crafted his vocals through the power of the breakdowns and chuggyness of the drums in places that bring the whole song together as a powerful and cathartic track.
Prompting the crowd to form a circle and “Lose your f*cking minds!” Anders signals and the crowd opens up to the centre of the Apollo to I Am Above.
A quintessential In Flames track in many ways, these guys deliver their ferocity whilst keeping some cathartic edges to their performance of this track. Some core shaking moments spring through the chorus and we’re left with one final injection of ferocity before closing track My Sweet Shadow delivers a stunning end to one of the best sets I’ve witnessed this year.
Hyping up for the finale of the evening, Motorhead’s Ace of Spades preps the crowd for what Arch Enemy are about to bestow.
Shimmering chants and fading intro guitars bring a sharp drop into a tirade of storming riffs and drum beats that dissolve into a melodic speed bullet of chords.
Alissa White-Gulz scorches the crowd with an inferno of a roar and takes command over the stage.
Deceiver, Deceiver opens up the mosh pit and provides feral energy with bullet speed riffs and trembling rhythm sections.
New guitarist Joey Concepcion molds tightly with Michael Amott to deliver an astonishing vivacity of harmonies. Topping off the introduction with a maniacal laugh and smoke cannons shooting to the rafters beside them, Alissa addresses the crowd:
“Do you wanna have some fun with Arch Enemy!?”
Met with a vibrating roar from the crowd, we’re launched straight into the shred galore of The World Is Yours.
Chugging riffs adorn this track with the crowd headbanging ferociously, the pit is once again, completely nuts and somewhere, someone’s t-shirt has departed from their person and makes it’s way across the venue, being swung, thrown, lobbed and booted amongst the crowd.
London means business.
With an aggressive tone right off the bat that go hand in hand with the melodies around halfway through the track, these are absolutely mesmerizing snippets in between getting your face blown off.
“Its time to do one of my favourite Arch Enemy songs and this is such a beautiful venue!”
Shimmering melodic guitars swim through the stage lighting and blend into a powerful sonic assault of blasting double pedals and binding basslines amongst groundshaking vocals.
The harmonies in The House of Mirrors are some of my favouites of Arch Enemy. Elated riffs tumbling into aggressive rhythm sections topped off with some jawdropping solos is right up my street.
The dynamics of tempo changes behind Daniel Erlandsonn’s kitwork is incredible in the live setting of this track – he uses a blend of blast beats and double pedals with intricate cymbal work to deliver a spectacular shaping to the sound and balances a track like this perfectly.
Working through stinging track My Apocalypse, Alissa’s vocals take on a depth of growling straight from the abyss below, amongst threatning strings and Sharlee D’Angelo’s backbone of bassnotes.
Until about halfway through when a melodic and calm centre of guitars come to the forefront and catapult the mood into a cathartic ambience for the crowd to light up with their phones and lighters.
Some really stunning musicianship here.
Are you guys having a good time tonight?” Alissa addresses the crowd and is met with a cheer of a few thousand happy metalheads.
“We just announced a new album coing out for pre-order now.
I’m gonna do something a little unorthodox – we’re gonna play a song that hasnt been released yet!”
Queue one pleased crowd.
Liars and Thieves emits a powerful balance of melodic harmonies and blasting drums to start with a beautiful rhythm section and a speed bullet of facemelting riffs and stunning double pedals amongst a chugging backbone of bass that glues the track together.
Alissa’s vocals are raw and hold a melodic undertone in her growls.
There’s a tempo change of riffs that go into a catchy section amongst the chaos of the drums with elements of thrash and death notes entwining together to form an evolved style from Arch Enemy.
Chuggy breakdowns also make an appearance and melt into a drumming standoff as Alissa roars into the crowd and delivers a suspense filled energy before the guitars conclude into a beautiful rhythm section that lifts the drums into a crushing end.
Immensely looking forward to the release of this one!
First Day In Hell is one of my favourites of the day. It’s hypnotic as hell and entices a knowing of something brutal is about to happen but lulls you into a false sense of security with the beautiful and sensual tones of the guitar and cymbals.
As I understand, this track doesnt make many setlists but it fits beautifully with it’s intoxicating riffs and empowering moods.
Hammering through As The Pages Burn and Sunset Over The Empire, both of these tracks serve as speed bullet fuelled offerings and thundering melodics that knock the ground from beneath you. There’s some gorgeous sections in the latter that twists tempos amongst almost thrash infused solos to knock Arch Enemy’s diverse edge into their crowd.
That t-shirt has done the rounds and is still making its way around the venue, lacing in and out of the mosh pit.
Choosing someone from down the front, Alissa gets them to sing loudest amongst Michael’s guitar rhythm for Handshake With Hell.
The skill here with the frets is killer – an intricate section that explodes as Alissa and lucky chosen fan scream into the mic.
The biggest pit of the evening forms for Nemesis and the chaotic energy amongst the crowd is fed back to the stage. Alissa’s roars are monumental in this track, ranging from gutturals to high end screeching that tie in with the rhythm of heartstopping guitar sections and trembling basslines.
The melodics in this track are subtle but still there to keep the track brutal but with some beautiful yet deadly edges. Elements of anthemic moments rip through this song and sees the crowd headbanging and keeping the pit alive.
Ending on Fields of Desolation, the final call of brutality for the night comes in the shape of stunning guitar work dripping in groove fuelled notes and progressive tempo changes. The vocals are deep here and entwine with the brutality of the drums and strings to deliver a final blow to the crowd.
Red and Black inflatable balls are launched into the crowd and with smoke cannons firing to the rafters, we’re given an ending to a killer night that will be one to remember.
This show had so much energy, ambience and good vibes – a testament to Swedish metal. I had so much fun and look forward to the impending releases!
Photography by Jon Theobald for MPM
