Opening on ‘Lower Purpose’, Fit For An Autopsy waste no time getting the crowd moving while they’re washed with an ever changing glow of colourful lighting. Powering through ‘It Comes For You’ and ‘Hostage’, the band are obviously enjoying their time in the Wembley spotlight as grins fill frontman Joe Badolato’s face between screams and Guitarist Tim Howley’s windmills of hair and beard get ever more dramatic. ‘Pandora’ and ‘Sea Of Tragic Beasts’ follow, as the crowd is whipped into a frenzy before a victorious set is ended with ‘Saviour Of None’ and ‘Far From Heaven’.
With CO2 jets, an inflatable backdrop and presence by the bucketload, Hatebreed are right at home on the arena stage as an intro track of Kiss’s I’ Was Made For Loving You’ drops out, and ‘I Will Be Heard’ kicks in. ‘Live For This’ and ‘Empty Promises ‘follow, as a raucous but polished performance gets London bouncing, moshing, and singing out. Crowd favourites ‘Destroy Everything’ and ‘Perseverance’ sound as huge as ever as the band show why 30 years in, they remain rightly as popular as ever. Frontman Jamey Jasta commands the audience with aplomb before a much too short set (despite the 11 songs aired) are brought to a close with ‘This Is Now’ and ‘Looking Down The Barrel Of Today’.
Taking the stage and exploding straight into ‘Strength Of The Mind’, Killswitch Engage flex perfected musicianship and soaring vocals from Jesse Leach straight out the gate. ‘Rose Of Sharon’ follows, guitarist Adam Dutkiewicz almost looking out of place in a metal band sprinting about with grins and comical expressions, his obvious pleasure at performing only matching his virtuosity in playing.
‘Reckoning’, ‘Aftermath’, and ‘Numbered Days’ follow, before ‘This Is Absolution’ sees the crowds’ singing turn up to 11, as track by track is perfectly laid down. Other highlights come in the form of ‘Hate By Design’ and ‘The Signal Fire’. It’s a faultless performance with some of the best metal vocals I’ve seen, it’s just a bit of a shame that following Hatebreed’s theatrics before them and a production that could rival the best in Parkway Drive’s tour that hit the same venue the week before, the lack of any kind of pyro or sfx beyond the ever changing back screen make Killswitch’s set seem a bit subdued in Wembley’s cavernous space.
Thankfully, for the thousands of assembled fans, Killswitch Engage have killer tracks in spades, and the final six songs of the night could go toe-to-toe with any band in the genre – ‘The Arms Of Sorrow’, ‘My Curse’ and ‘The End Of Heartache’ sounding as mammoth as the day they were released, and guaranteeing that few in the room will be left without horse voices upon waking in the morning. ‘My Last Serenade’ closes a triumphant night of the good stuff to rapturous applause. Killswitch let the music and musicianship do the talking, and few could argue with their clinical precision while doing so.
Photos by Matt Higgs – Instagram
Hardbeat – Instagram