Almost a year has passed since MetalTalk were invited to an event shrouded in mystery. Though a few dubious suggestions were thrown about, none other than Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine walked out into the intimate venue to announce their joint headline tour for this year. The tour celebrates twenty years since both bands almost simultaneously punched through the ranks and rose to the top of the heavy music scene. Albums Ascendancy (Trivium) and The Poison (BFMV) remain pivotal moments for both bands and their fans who arrived in their masses at the capital’s biggest music venue, the O2.
Trivium – Bullet For My Valentine
O2 London – 1 February 2025
Words: Monty Sewell
Photography: Antonio Giannattsio
Trivium
With a joint headline tour, the coin is flipped as to who will go first and last each night. This evening, it was Trivium who saddled up the evening with such power and style that it was damn fine luck the dome was not blown right off the roof of the O2.
The glory of an album play-through show is that the audience knows exactly what they are getting with all the added unexpected trimmings. There is no questioning as to whether the band will play this song or that, their beloved old material or their new. Even before Trivium stepped out onto the stage, the vast venue was pumped with adrenaline and love for what they knew they were about to witness.
Trivium burst out into view with their golden-as-ever lineup racing into the first track, Rain, after Ascendancy’s intro, The End Of Everything, was blasted out to the many wide-eyed fans. Matt Heafy on lead vocals and guitar, Corey Beaulieu on guitar, Paolo Gregoletto on bass and Alex Bent on drums.
The entire set allowed their audience to be drawn back in time to when Ascendancy was played front to back at every pre-gig party and Metal bar meet-up. Though this time, the grandeur of what Trivium have achieved blew the material open even wider.
Drowned and Torn Asunder, Like Light To The Flies, Dying In Your Arms, and everything in between was magnificent as the guys ate up every second with euphoric joy. This was more than a show; it honoured Trivium’s success and what they had given to their loyal fans.
The backdrop is immense, with a colossal demon matching that on the Ascendancy album cover standing tall behind them. From the first chord strung, the Metalhead audience flips on the moshing switch, with circled swirling and moving all through the stalls. Knowing when each thundering drop is about to happen, the energy is palpable and almost fiery to the touch.
Heafy’s vocals have never been better as he tears into each song with an undying scream howling from the back of his lungs. Even as the set dips into the more sombre-toned Departure, his abilities prove their weight in gold.
As they thank their fandom, it is a deeply emotional moment that brings the whole epic quality of the show back down to ground level. As though, for those seconds, Trivium is speaking to us individually, in awe of our dedication to the music they have brought to us for so long.
Vamped up, sweaty and glee-ridden, the O2 cheers with unbridled joy at what they have witnessed. Trivium truly outdid themselves and took the arena as their own. There was no face onstage or off that wasn’t wildly grinning with a nostalgia well satisfied.
Bullet For My Valentine
With jet fire spurting up from the stage and an untamable hunger to throw every doubter’s expectations into the pits of hell, Bullet For My Valentine dominates the O2. Matching Trivium’s energy on a night that will go down as one of the greats, the band bring The Poison to their fans like they have never done before.
Matt Tuck on lead vocals and guitar, Michael Paget on guitar, Jamie Mathias on bass and Jason Bowld on drums create the same unfailing heat as always but with an added punch which reaches far and beyond.
Her Voice Resides whips up a frenzy amongst the 20,000 fans already embalmed in music ecstasy before 4 Words (To Choke Upon) lives up to its name as I spot more than a few fans reach up and sing to the skies with almighty praise.
Top charter Tears Don’t Fall pumps the venue with sentimental bliss as Tuck laps up every second with the grateful prowess of a man who has done it all and earned it every step of the way. The band are a force of nature, merging elements of their more recent sound into their debut material.
The crowds rage on into the night through Room 409, 10 Years Today (let’s call it 20 Years Today for the sake of the anniversary!), Cries In Vain and the rest. Each mosh pit formed is as tireless as the last, and the snakepit stage gives the opportunity for fans to get right up close to BFMV as though they were part of the show itself.
An extended version of The End plays out ferociously. Though the tour was created to celebrate a time gone by, BFMV wraps around the song with such a dramatic modern tone that it defies all odds of the show simply being there as a play-through. It cements the band as a continuing genre pioneer with such growth over the last twenty years.
As the night beckons to an end, it is clear that though the night will be over, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine’s grasp on their adoring audience will never end. The screams of needing more ring out across the O2 as BFMV thank the crowds.
Coined as the ‘Metal tour of the year’ by the bands themselves, it can be indeed said that this tour will be written about in the books. Great then, and even greater now, Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine have settled into their status’ as legends and will no doubt continue to break boundaries wherever they go.
