LIVE REVIEW + PHOTOS: BLEED FROM WITHIN AT THE O2 FORUM KENTISH TOWN, LONDON 10/10/25
The London O2 Forum Kentish Town gig, part of their ZENITH Tour, just made history, marking a pivotal point in Bleed From Within’s career. This wasn't just a sold-out show, but marked Bleed From Within's biggest headline show to date, part of their most successful tour to date, as shared by vocalist Scott Kennedy. Flanked by two pioneer names in modern metal, After the Burial and Great American Ghost, the night was a perfect storm of technical mastery and overwhelming gratitude from the headline act.
Boston's Great American Ghost hit the stage and immediately turned the venue into a controlled riot. The power of their performance was incredible, turning the floor into an immediate battleground. They were a perfect opener, or what was a fantastic three-bill of incredibly talented artists, instantly setting the standard for the night’s intensity through their incredibly engaging and highly interactive approach.
Vocalist Ethan Harrison proved himself a masterful conductor of chaos, and the highlight came during 'Kerosene', when he descended into the pit with a terrifying decree: "When I drop my hand, this place becomes a fucking warzone." The beat dropped, the floor exploded into a massive moshpit, and Harrison, true to form, crowd surfed back to the stage - a true spectacle midway through the show. For a moment of contrast, 'Writhe' saw the mosh traded for a beautiful shower of gentle lights from the audience. They sealed their explosive set with a final demand before the last song, 'Forsaken': "This is our final song and I need a favour... spin this room! I want the biggest circle pit of the tour”.
Their seven-song setlist heavily focused on their latest album, seamlessly blending tracks from TRAGEDY OF THE COMMONS with the earlier ‘Altar of Snakes’ from POWER THROUGH TERROR.
Next up was After the Burial, pioneers of djent and a modern contributor to the development of djentcore, a subgenre of deathcore. Thanks to their technical, intricate, and rhythmically complex sound, their signature style of distorted, palm-muted guitar makes them one of contemporary metal's leading voices.
Starting with songs from their latest 2019 album EVERGREEN, 'In Flux' and ‘Exit, Exist’, the band established a compelling sense of groove. After their second song, they introduced themselves and asked who was seeing them for the first time, immediately thanking the crowd for being there. The energy ramped up further when vocalist Anthony Notarmaso commanded the entire floor to jump after the iconic riff and beat drop of ‘Behold the Crown’ – also one of my favourite songs of theirs. After this song, Anthony took a little bit of a break to share a little story delivered in a humorous way for not-so-humorous news - "You'll notice something different on stage. It's either that we grew an inch, or our bass player is missing. Surprise it's our bass player" confirming he broke his arm (ulna bone). This unity shone brightly as they revealed that Anthony and Grayson from Great American Ghost had been stepping in to cover bass. We wish Adrian Oropeza a speedy recovery, and we can’t wait to see him deliver phat bass on stage again soon!
The crowd was absolutely ecstatic (myself included) when they launched into ‘Lost in the Static’ – their most popular song to date from 2016’s DIG DEEP. This setlist seriously had no breaks. All energy - beginning to end. The band even teased their impending new record, performing their latest track 'Hum from the Hollow', which immediately saw the vocalist commence a moshpit.
The technicality of their songwriting and expertise is incredible, and their ability to maintain energy was phenomenal. The night's biggest spectacle was their second-to-last track, 'Death Keeps Us From Leaving', which they declared as "the crowd surfing song of the tour" - and so it definitely was. London delivered a constant, never-ending wave of bodies; the amount of crowd surfing was almost to a fault, as members of the crowd could barely focus on the performance at one point. The vocalist was genuinely moved, declaring this the best crowd of their tour so far, and gave big props to the security for their active efforts in catching people at the barrier. They concluded with 'Collapse', a perfectly fitting song after the crowd's energy had completely collapsed from the intensity of the prior tracks.
Before the headliners took the stage, the crowd decided to become the pre-show entertainment. The atmosphere was electric, spontaneously erupting into a mosh pit during the playlist's inclusion of Limp Bizkit's 'Break Stuff', only to then switch gears to a sing-along for Bon Jovi's 'Livin' on a Prayer'. This was the perfect high-energy crowd warm-up for the main event.
Oh, and Bleed From Within – they left it all out there, a proper Scottish metal headline performance charged with emotional triumph. The humility and gratitude were overwhelming. The vocalist Scott Kennedy confessed his disbelief at selling out the O2 Forum Kentish Town, saying, "We've been a band for 25 years... there’s been ups and downs, but now we're seeing our dreams come true, and without you, this wouldn't be possible. This is our most successful tour and today is our biggest headline to date". This was a clearly emotional moment for the band, and they deserve all the praise after all of the work they’ve been putting in over the years. This sentiment, coupled with the vocalist’s constant engagement with the crowd, including handshaking fans after crowd surfing over the barrier, affirmed the band's appreciation and intention to make this a memorable moment for the fans in attendance.
It also must be said upfront that Scott delivered some of the best vocals of the night, demonstrating incredible versatility and power. Equally impressive was the phenomenal talent of guitarist Steven Jones, whose soaring clean vocals provide a fantastic contrast to Kennedy's screams, enticing the audience to sing alongside him. Jones currently possesses some of the best clean vocals in the modern metal scene, adding depth to the songs with his vocals.
The set started with the song ‘Violent Nature’, followed by the title track ‘Zenith’ and ‘Sovereign’, which was labelled as “a little heavy” slice of Glasgow. Highlights included 'I Am Damnation', an absolute killer live track, and they kept the energy soaring by demanding the audience scream "Out for war" during 'Stand Down'. "Who listened to our new album?" asked the vocalist before looking quite surprised at the number of people that already knew their newest record’s lyrics, before launching into 'A Hope in Hell'. After this, he immediately reinforced their commitment to community safety: "We here to have a good time, but if you see someone falling, help them up. We're a community and we need to stick together."
The band's support for the openers was also heartfelt, noting that being a support slot is difficult, but Great American Ghost "absolutely tore this place apart." They also celebrated their deep history with After the Burial: "We first toured with After the Burial in 2011 and we’re so happy we are able to have them on this tour... two bands we love so fucking much." They also gave a special thank you to Hannah Boulton for joining the tour and providing her angelic backing vocals, which are prominent on SHRINE and ZENITH. The band shouted out their crew, stating again that this was their most successful tour they had ever done, thanks to the support of the fans and crew.
The crowd participation during 'Levitate' was incredible, with everyone singing along. The ultimate mosh command came during 'God Complex': the vocalist commanded the entire audience to sit down (including those in the balcony) before they erupted into a massive pogo mosh pit on the beat drop.
We were even spoiled with two special guests! For the track 'Hands of Sin', they brought out Josh Middleton (Architects, Sylosis), and during ‘Edge of Infinity’, we were introduced to legendary guitarist and YouTube sensation Rabea Massaad (Toska, Dorje).
The night concluded with a spectacular, emotional declaration of identity. Closing with 2025’s Grammy-nominated “Best Metal Performance” 'In Place of Your Halo' from ZENITH, the band amplified the track's traditional Scottish instrumentation by bringing out two bagpipe players and two Scottish snare drummers. As a massive Scottish flag was waved from the audience, the moment became a magnificent, career-defining end to their biggest headline show.
It’s clear that Bleed from Within is not taking shortcuts, and they have cultivated a very loyal fan base because of it - a fan base that knows their music and is here to have a good time. They are definitely a band to watch in the UK scene. This may be their largest headline show to date, but they are definitely destined for even greater heights.
Words by Vlad-Paul Ghilaș (Platform ‘96)
Photos by Julia Jevzikova
Full setlist below:
Living on a Prayer
Violent Nature
Zenith
Sovereign
I Am Damnation
Stand Down
A Hope in Hell
Crown of Misery
Levitate
Night Crossing
Drum Solo
Dying Sun
God Complex
Hands of Sin
Edge of Infinity
The End of All We Know
In Place Of Your Halo
