Even if some people came out for the sole purpose of getting in the moshpit for their infamous song Bodies, Drowning Pool, with the help of Spineshank and (Hed) P.E., put on a show that blasts Nu Metal nostalgia from every beer-soaked gap in the O2 Academy Islington’s only slightly ageing crowd.
Drowning Pool – Spineshank – (Hed) P.E.
O2 Academy Islington – 20 November 2025
Words: Lucy Dunnet
Photography: Ash Nash
(Hed) P.E.
Despite having a respectably packed room for their opening set, (Hed) P.E. are not impressed with this London crowd. Vocalist Jared Gomes waits until their third song to express his outrage: “Yo yo yo! Nobody wants to start a pit? Come on, London, all it takes is five fucking people.” As they restart Peer Pressure, roughly eight people charge into the centre for an enthusiastic bout of moshing that lasts almost as long as the 44-second song.
Raise Hell, the angry anthem that Jared dedicates to his neighbour who is always asking him to turn his music down, is a particularly messy treat and gets the crowd responding with “get the fuck out” to his every rasp of “bitch”. Flat caps off to them, (Hed) P.E. are tackling a crowd keen to preserve their energy reserves, as well as facing some tedious speaker and mic malfunctions. But they do so with just enough reggae swagger and grit that their show still finishes with a hell-raising outburst for Renegade.
Spineshank
It is clear when Spineshank come on who the crowd has been preserving their energy for. When the first Industrial charge pours out of the speakers, it sucks everyone within a 100ft radius to the front. Vocalist Jonny Santos is full of gratitude to be here, after some passport issues stopped him from being able to play on the first few dates of this tour, and he sure shows it with his furious slaying of the O2 Academy Islington.
Jonny introduces Tommy Decker Jr to the crowd, one of their new guitarists who also happens to be drummer Tommy Decker’s son – and the “only good looking one in the band because everyone else is old and ugly.” He points to the grinning Jason Hagar, previously of Chimaira, who has also joined them on guitar, before announcing, “Rumour has it, if you scream loud enough for Rob [Garcia, bass], there will be more music.” The screaming mutates into singing as Spineshank’s melodic, angsty anthem Smothered begins, a track that earned the Industrial Nu Metallers a Grammy nomination at the 46th awards for Best Metal Performance.
Their set is a searing, strobe-lit vacuum of blistering tempos and distorted textures. From Asthmatic to Violent Mood Swings, Spineshank tear through their setlist like a bullet train tunnelling through a crumbling mountain that culminates in a triumphant wall of death. What Santos refers to as their “pissed-off, garbage music” won London tonight, and might even have convinced the Download haters in the crowd to pay the festival a visit if it means not waiting another 22 years to see Spineshank in the UK. 
Drowning Pool
Drowning Pool came to party, and while it may be a slightly sloppy, slightly breathless crowd that stands before them, it is a Nu Metal rock show full of singing, crowdsurfing carnage (one crowdsurfer in particular is stuck on loop), and even features a conga circle pit.
Hard rock-infused Step Up sees a tumbling pit embody Drowning Pool’s reality-checking lyrics: “If you wanna step up, you’re gonna get knocked down.” Sometimes the best parts of a Metal show are falling down, just to realise the strength of the community around you. When they slow things down for 37 Stitches, Ryan’s gravelly melodies wash over the O2 Academy Islington with sultry levels of calm before the Billy Idol storm.
Their cover of Rebel Yell is a magnificently growly version of the rock classic and gets everyone jamming along, as the sweat on Ryan McCombs’ brow and his slicked-down hair show just how much he is enjoying yelling for London. Drummer Mike Luce is also a sight and sound to behold, chopping out beats like a beastly octopus whilst screaming throat-pulsing backing vocals.
In the 29 years of Drowning Pool, they have seen four vocalists, but with the return of SOiL’s Ryan McCombs, they feel as strong a unit as the band has been in a long time – thank god SOiL and Drowning Pool know how to share.
When whispering hallucinations begin to take form, you know it’s time for THE finale. The intro to Bodies begins in the silence, and just as the anticipation becomes too much to swallow, the hushed words of “let the bodies hit the floor” transform the crowd and the band into one bouncing entity, excited to celebrate this iconic track that has transcended time, space and genre. McCombs spends half of the song singing it from a protected cage built of fan limbs and security wariness, sharing the microphone with as many mouths as he can.
A pulsating dance remix, Bodies Hit The Floor, means exits from the venue are hindered by the inescapable need to turn mosh instincts into making shapes, and the Thursday night Nu Metal party comes to an end with nothing but grins on faces and some rogue beach balls in hand. 
