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Live Review: Alexisonfire – OVO Wembley Arena, London

24th June 2026
Support: Billy Talent, Touche Amore
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin

With the UK in the midst of an incredibly uncomfortable heat wave, descending on our capital feels like a bit of a mistake. 37 degrees outside and god knows what it was on the tube, but alas the crowds are very much heading towards Wembley area tonight; whilst Harry Styles sells out the stadium, the arena gets invaded by a Canadian double team.

Opening up for the co-headliners is American post hardcore legends, Touche Amore. Most concerts have a very much preset schedule of energy levels that grow as the night goes on, however Jeremy Bolm and gang don’t seem to have that memo. ‘New Halloween’ hits as the second song of their set and means we are dragged into peak performance mode already. There is no let up through ‘Come Heroine’, ‘Displacement’ and ‘Hal Ashby’ as the energy was kept at a solid high.

The ten song set flew by, even with the odd bit of conversation between songs, including the crowd being thanked for letting them take the stage for thirty minutes whilst they shouted at them.
To some it probably does just sound like shouting, but you can certainly feel the emotion put in the songs, the shouting just heightens the passion coming through Jeremy’s voice. 

‘Flowers and You’ is the perfect song for Touche Amore to end on, a song that certainly carries the same energy as the rest of their songs, however also brings sections that slow down the pace a bit. 

It is ridiculous to know that ‘II’ from Billy Talent is twenty years old this year, an album and band that helped shape an entire generation. The moment they took the stage the whole, sold out, crowd erupted with the anticipation of the whole album being played in full.

‘Devil in a Midnight Mass’ has one of the most recogniseable riffs of that generation, and hearing Ian D’Sa rip it out as perfectly as it was recorded is something else. That fuzz effect is just spot on, and hearing ten-thousand people chant “Whisper, Whisper, don’t make a sound” is something else entirely. 

Following that up with ‘Red Flag’ keeps the energy up that Touche Amore started earlier in the evening, it certainly does not feel like it being the hottest day of the year has any effect on the show. 

Continuing through ‘This Suffering’, ‘Fallen Leaves’ and ‘Surrender’ absolutely cement the consistency of Billy Talent, twenty years on and every song is performed flawlessly. The latter, alongside ‘Perfect World’ still carry just as much emotional weight as they did all those years ago.

There were a few gems thrown in for good measure, the unforgettable melodic bass intro for ‘Worker Bees’ causing another cheer in the crowd as they joined in the chanting at the start of the song.

With it being a co-headline Billy Talent also graced us with an encore. ‘Rusted From the Rain’, ‘Devil On My Shoulder’ and the explosive ‘Viking Death March’ seal the deal on what has been an incredibly high bar for Alexisonfire to top.

And now the moment that everyone has been waiting for, Alexisonfire. The band casually strolled on to the stage in a manner which would make you think it was going to be less energetic than the last two bands of the evening.

‘Drunks, Lovers, Sinners and Saints’ soon changed that opinion, the whole band instantly exploding with an energy that translates straight to the crowd, I dread to think just how warm it was in the centre of the floor. Chris Steele on bass just doesn’t stop either, he is like Angus Young on speed. 

With this also a twenty year celebration, this time for ‘Crisis’, with the opus also played in full. This meant there were some treats in the set, both ‘We Are The End’ and ‘Keep It On Wax’ have not been played since 2012.

The stage presence of everyone in the band is incredible, they all seem to have different styles of performing yet all match perfectly. With George Petit’s voice sounded just as good as it always has done.

With tracks like ‘This Could Be Anywhere in the World’, ‘Boiled Frogs’ and ‘We Are The Sound’ all sparking sing a longs from the attendees that could clearly be heard outside of the arena. Then on the flip side of that, ‘Rough Hands’ and ‘Crisis’ reminded every one that brutally intense Alexisonfire that I imagine most people here fell in love with has not diminished one ounce. The combination of George Pettit’s visceral vocals, alongside the cleans that effortlessly came from Dallas Green re-imagined the magic of twenty years ago when this album first hit the shelves.

Alexisonfire hit us all with an encore, one of which ‘Throne’ has never been played live before. A special treat for these fans that have stuck by the band for so long now. Ending the sweatfest of the night was ‘Happiness by the Kilowatt’”’, a title that feels incredibly appropriate for the evening.

Twenty years on and both these bands can still put on a show for the ages, the match up of the pair of them was nothing short of perfect. A night of high heat, high energy and incredible performances. They could have easily cancelled due to the temperatures, but instead they showed up and gave everything they could. 

Photo credits: Tom Atkin

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Live Gallery: Alexisonfire – OVO Wembley Arena, London

24th June 2025
Support: Billy Talent, Touche Amore
Photos: Tom Atkin

We look back at the epic Alexisonfire show through the eyes of our photographer Martin Hingley!

Alexisonfire

Billy Talent

Touche Amore

Photo credits: Tom Atkin

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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Newcastle/Mulubinba five-piece Horse have unveiled their highly anticipated debut EP, Ask me again next year. Entering 2026 as one of the country’s most intriguing new bands, their debut EP is a culmination of influences from garage rock, to post-punk to Midwest emo, forging an almost undefinable genre. Embarking on their first headline tour in July […]

Warning – Rituals Of Shame (Relapse Records)



There are few times I remember visibly weeping in front of others. Once was when my grandmother passed away and the other was when I saw Warning playing Watching From A Distance in full at Damnation Festival.

In the latter I wasn’t the only one as Patrick Walker’s aching vocals and emotional doom sound has a way of touching everyone, even the guy in the corpsepaint, there’s just a overwhelming sadness to it all that swallows you, taking you to the point where the only release is tears and an outpouring of emotion where his grief becomes yours, an entire room full of people linked by lost loved ones, indulging in a public display of sadness, holding each other, in that moment all sharing one emotion.

The more important side of this was that many in the audience though Warning was done, starting in 1994, their debut album The Strength To Dream, came out in 1999 and was one that suited the doom scene at the time, but it’s with 2006’s Watching From A Distance they solidified themselves but thats were it ends in 2009 it seemed that Warning were no more, Walker starting 40 Watt Sun, the band he has been much more prolific with a lean towards alt rock and post-gaze, slow unfolding atmospheric rock, still rooted in the doom world but brighter.

In recent years 40 Watt Sun has been Walker’s sole pursuit, but with the reunions to play that seminal second album in full, gaining traction, especially with the performance at Roadburn committed to record as a live album, it was time for Warning to return from the ether with another emotional gut punch that will expose the rawness and pain in the world, setting to work on their first album in 20 years.

The entire studio process put on to celluloid (or more likely digital by filmmaker Geert Braekers who released a short documentary chronicling the recording of the album, capturing every intimate moment, every rewrite, every unscripted moment of a band reconvening again to recapture what made them 20 years ago.

From that last line up only Walker and guitarist Wayne Taylor remain, Marcus Hatfield and Andre Prestidge joining on bass and drums, Rituals Of Shame was written over three months in early 2025 and recorded in a former 140-year-old church with Chris Fullard (Idles, Sunn O))), Ulver), Rituals Of Shame is inspired by a “transformative period” in Walker’s life and also from the reflected love and reverence that the people have for the band and their music.

We begin with the title track and any wonder whether this may just be a 40 Watt Sun record under a different moniker is dispelled with the massive opening lament of a echoed drum beat and a glacial moving riff that irks forward until this distinctive vocals from Walker come in. The song builds throughout it’s massive run time, the repeated use of “I Can’t Close My Eyes, To It” will become a major part of their live show I’m sure, sung with that powerful fragility.

This is definitely Warning, the heaviness, the pathos, the underlying mixture of hope and despair that carries through every song, the title track firmly establishes that this is Warning back to their atmospheric best with long, read very long, form songwriting, the first part of the track shifting into a different groove that comes from the solo section and leads into the last part of the song.

These shifts are subtle never going full prog madness but also acting as a new chapter in these journeying stories Warning create. With the rebirth of Warning begun things get heavier with the downtuned dirge of Stations, another cavernous set of riffs underpinned by the sterling drum work, where fills are used to great effect.

I realise I go on about Patrick Walker’s voice but it’s so unique, emotionally resonant and heart breaking, somewhere between Sivert Hoyem of Madrugada, Gord Dowie of The Tragically Hip and Steve Hogarth from Marillion, seeing that Walkers took a lot of influence from that band was a very pleasant surprise for me due to my own love of Marillion.

You can hear it, in the choruses, those pace shifts, and the lead guitar breaks that only need a few chords to prove this point, tracks like Night Comes Down, owing as much gratitude to Marillion as they do the likes of Sabbath, it’s a shorter piece but still just as effective while with Landing Lights the spirit of Rothery and Hogarth burns brightly, showing that while doom Warning are storytellers with a love of prog, they just make everything heavier.

The chorus on Landing Lights is one of the tracks that if you haven’t had a good sob yet, this one will break you, as the transition into Teacher will keep the levels of emotion high, a keening, baring of the soul that closes this return from Warning, even the most stoic, unfeeling of human will be brought to their knees with this one, the last refrain of “And I Can’t Count To The Ways I Love You” carrying a deeper meaning to the listeners who have begged and pleaded for this band to return.

Whether Rituals Of Shame will carry the same cult status as Watching From A Distance I don’t know, that will all be revealed in time, however it’s a magisterial return from Warning after 20 years. 10/10

RILEY! recently announced their new EP To Live And Die In The American South, which is set for release on July 17, 2026, via Pure Noise Records. Now the band have released their second single, Two Bucks ft. Eric Egan from Heart Attack Man. “As a touring musician, you miss out on a lot of […]

Following the release of their lauded debut album Deuterium last month, Blindead 23 are back with a new video for standout single You Are The Universe. Blindead 23, formerly known as Blindead, is the new Polish avant-metal juggernaut led by ex-Behemoth guitarist Mateusz “Havoc” Smierzchalski, with a stellar lineup also including Roger Öjersson (ex-Katatonia) and […]

Album Review: Coprolith – Putrescence

Reviewed by Sam Jones

We’re taking a look at a younger band today. Formed out of Toronto, Canada in 2023, we have Coprolith who seek to unleash their debut studio album for a July 3rd release date. Unveiling their 2023 Demo, it’s taken the band three years to finalise this opus though a signing with Me Saco Un Ojo Records foretells promising things in Coprolith’s future. With an eye and salivation towards gore and all things unsavoury, Coprolith are poised to plunge audiences into their nightmare world, one I was excited to bear witness to.

Right out of the gate Coprolith showcase a massive slab of tone that’s sure to become the backbone to the record; there is little hope or reprieve embedded within their tone as one is hurled to the back of their seat. It’s the kind of guitar attack that hits you square on the scalp but possesses this lingering, miasmic pungency that sees notes lasting longer than other acts’ similarly cavernous onslaughts. interestingly the production has given audiences just enough space to breathe and absorb what’s happening as opposed to bludgeoning them entirely. This will aid people in appreciating what’s on display and ensure they can come back without having to mentally endure their weight.

Though Coprolith sport a crushing tone that doesn’t mean the pace is some glacial tempo. There are numerous sequences herein where the band’s performance picks up dramatic speed with little hint the songwriting is about to change up. The fact that their tempo can change at all is a blessing given the mass and strength their riffs entail, but it helps audiences by breaking up the sheer weight their sound has so there’s no instances we’ll be enticed to move on quickly. Coprolith want to subject us to this deluge provided our heads just rise above water, and whilst the greater tempo is just as virulent and ferocious it’s great to acknowledge Coprolith wanted to do more than just one kind of attack.

I love how the drums have been incorporated into the record. Rather than keep the drums to the back of the mix, or place particular emphasis on riffs alone, the drums have been granted this crashing and seismic quality where their chaos is allowed to shine. The band can throw their heaviest moments your way and these drums will instil themes pertaining to the end times; cymbals wail like angels in death throes whilst the snare is the equivalent to receiving one fiery punch after another. As you listen you’ll find the drums often hang over the rest of the band as a fiery firmament, containing their sound so little escapes.

At no time throughout Putrescence will you ever believe the band are on the brink of losing control; in fact control is an ever present feature here as Coprolith demonstrate exquisite care over every minute moment. Whatever the songwriting throws at us there’s always the indication they know what they’re doing and for what reason. There’s purpose behind every shift in songwriting and track direction or why this approach to a riff is employed etc. These tracks are consistently upwards of seven minutes long but there’s never an indication the band want to rush you along; as aforementioned they’re content to see you wallow in their depravity for as long as it takes for these tracks to reach their end.

In conclusion, Coprolith’s debut album is a massive opus that hurls you into the netherealm and keeps you there until it’s finished with you. It’s a record that reaches the zenith of its onslaught early and refuses to wane or slow for you; there’s little mercy within and given how their tempo can suddenly climb to blistering degrees it gives Putrescence a searing presence. It’s a great demonstration on how to do cavernous death metal right without beating down audiences’ capacity to enjoy such crushing extreme metal. Though the band be mighty with riff it’s far from their sole, shining feature since bass and drums are equally commanding and riveting for keeping audiences in place as their songwriting bowls over us. Given that this is the band’s first album it’s exciting to contemplate what the future may store for them. Highly recommended.

For all the latest news, reviews, interviews across the heavy metal spectrum follow THE RAZORS’S EDGE on facebook, twitter and instagram.

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On Anomaly, the debut LP from shrewdly named Danish duo, Gradience, the usually clear-cut boundary between apocalyptic, sludgy blackened death metal and dark urban trap-rap is thrillingly pulverised. Lines of musical convention are further blurred by disarmingly emotive and intimate vocal lines and a vibrant sound picture heaving with glacial synths and hypnotic sonic details. […]

Videography byKyle Watson – @CounterfeitFilms If there’s one thing better than going to a metal festival, it’s chatting with the bands backstage before, during, or after their set. Backstage is where the magic happens, and it’s also where bands can be at their most vulnerable – and exciting… HEAVY has just finished doing the rounds […]