O2 Ritz is the venue and tonight is the battle of pinched harmonics. Bleed From Within, After The Burial or Great American Ghost – who will win, you decide! But seriously, it's also a chance for me to once again catch a trio of superb metal bands that take tech, deathcore and metalcore elements and each create something unique in their own way.

First up are Great American Ghost, a hardcore band with…a giant GAG backdrop dominating the stage. They walk on to a pop song scratching in and out, layered with strobes and metal stabs – a chaotic, attention-grabbing intro that sets the tone perfectly. From the off they’re very much the metal end of hardcore, with pinched harmonics and hardcore vocals, piledriving their sound at the impassioned crowd. They sound like the heavy end of Bury Tomorrow, with some industrial elements thrown in, and fans of Fit For An Autopsy will love them – intense, tight, and captivating.

Frontman Ethan Harrison is enigmatic and brutal in his performance, yet undeniably charismatic – pacing up and down the stage-wide riser frantically, living every word he aggressively delivers to the crowd. Vocally, he’s very reminiscent of Chad Gray from Mudvayne. The guitar work is brilliant from Grayson Stewart (of Norma Jean fame) but it’s his beautiful clean vocals that are noticeable for being absolutely spot-on. Both he and Harrison own the stage, rocking the front stage-wide riser with confidence and energy. The entire band are excellent and engaging throughout, keeping the listener on their toes with clean vocal passages, thrashy elements, and even stompy doom sections thrown in for good measure.

Harrison eventually makes his way down to the front barrier and dives into the crowd, splitting it open before unleashing chaos for 'Kerosene' – a track that feels as much like early Pitchshifter as it does something akin to The Locust. I can’t see Harrison after a while, even though I can still hear him, but then mid-song I spot him crowdsurfing back to the stage, all the while still singing, never missing a beat. A fantastic opening to a highly anticipated lineup.

Main support tonight comes in the shape of juggernauts After The Burial. It’s a rare opportunity to see the Minneapolis band and they don’t waste any time getting into both their groove and technicality as they open with the intricate 'In Flux'. You might describe After The Burial as hardcore-tech-death-thrash, and it indicates just how many sub-genres and varied aspects they stitch together into their sound. More importantly, they pull it off well. Meshuggah-esque djent segments drift into fist-pumping hardcore, before snapping back to techy interweaving guitars and then beating out with bouncing, driving thrash.

Anthony Notarmaso’s vocals are brutal, but not in a brainless muddy way – instead, they’re delightfully sharp and jagged. In fact, much of the sound from the guitar, bass and drums follows suit. Everything feels purposeful and precise, delivering a violently staccato style that allows a hardcore aspect to align perfectly with the tech-deathcore elements of their music. If you want an example of what they excel at, just check out 'Lost In The Static' – it ably showcases their full range. There’s a stand-in bassist tonight due to injury (an arm break apparently), but it doesn’t slow them down.

They play their newish single, from was is set to be another awesome upcoming album, and it once again delivers the band’s signature filthy, djenty, downtuned guitar tone twangs through the venue. Shout out to the glow-in-the-dark guitars in different fluro colours as well for adding a visual flair to the blistering metal assault. Yes, they now sit somewhere between August Burns Red and ten56., but ultimately they still carve out their own space with a sound that’s as sharp as it is heavy.

Headliners Bleed From Within don’t keep us waiting, despite walking on to 'Livin’ on a Prayer', and immediately we’ve got the panache, energy and atmosphere of a massive band like Parkway Drive. The crew from Glasgow set their stall out perfectly, and when frontman Scott Kennedy takes to the stage and starts coordinating proceedings the crowd is obviously up for the task ahead. They open with ‘Violent Nature’ and ‘Zenith’ which immediately hit us with a cohesive and forceful wall of sound. Their mix of mainstream anthems with thrashy verses and core elements of djenty brutality is delicious yet fierce. Yes, they’ve long been one of the most exciting live bands currently climbing the metal ladder in the UK, for 21 years in fact, but tonight feels like an epiphany in what they really can achieve.

The way these guys can own the main stage at Bloodstock (and are due to sub-headline the Saturday in 2026) and now headline venues like this is testament to the engaging way they set about their business. As I’ve noted before - you don’t feel like they’re performing for you, more that they’re sharing their creation and passion with you. Their sound has evolved from their initial deathcore offering to something that fuses metalcore, anthemic groove metal, and tech-deathcore. It’s a holistically powerful wall of sound. The note-perfect professionalism of the band is a delight, with intricate technical guitar work laid across stomping drums and thundering bass. Craig Gowans’ technical guitar work in particular is resplendent with amazing tapping, and Steven Jones’ clean vocals are superbly on-point throughout.

Long-standing female vocalist contributor Hannah Boulton is even performing live on this tour and her vocals add that element of something special and different every time they are used. By the time the set gets to 'I Am Damnation', the sound is dialed-in and the crowd are also fully locked-in. The Glaswegians stride about the stage with confidence and pleasure, but never in an arrogant way. Kennedy points knowingly at supporters, grins frequently, and relishes the rapport he has with the crowd. Acoustic guitars and atmospheric passages build into a mid-set finish, and the eventual final finish includes bagpipes (for ‘In Place Of Your Halo’ not the usual closer 'The End Of All We Know') and leaves the crowd with a feeling of a proper arena performance. Watch their name rise up even higher and make sure to hang on for the ride.