Live Review : Dark Angel + Schizophrenia @ Academy 2, Manchester on June 9th 2025

The prevailing wisdom is that when thrash emerged in the early 1980s, it was a unified entity. A unitary sub-genre with a singular sound and context. This fits the narrative of thrash as the rejuvenative power that transformed metal, but if we are honest is more myth than solid historical fact. The truth is that thrash was a broad term used to describe an emerging hodgepodge of styles that shared a belief that metal was becoming too bloated, comfortable, and mainstream. Some purveyors hitched themselves to the emerging hardcore punk scene whilst others mined the back catalogue of NWOBHM luminaries Diamond Head, Satan and Venom.

Live Review : Make Them Suffer + Resolve + Conjurer + If Not For Me @ Academy 2, Manchester on May 10th 2025

Genres like metalcore and deathcore actually cover such an eclectic range of bands that it’s sometimes hard to find a balanced bill. Tonight, we have as close as you’d get to that balanced bill, with four exciting bands that while slick and cohesive, are all different in their own way. Make Them Suffer have evolved from a deathcore band to something much more creative, and headliner tonight’s offering with a couple of ROCKFLESH favourites Resolve and Conjurer in tow. All the bands tonight have evolved but never skimped on passion and raw energy.

Live Review : Lordi + Sick n' Beautiful @ Academy 2, Manchester on April 5th 2025

Tonight the Academy 2 looks and smells like I imagine the inside of Alice Cooper's wardrobe would. It’s dark, and there are strange beings looming in the gloom. The smell is partly of musty clothes not worn often, but mostly it’s the smell of fear. Monsters walk amongst us, and not all of them are on the stage. Finland’s Eurovision winners Lordi most definitely are on the stage though, and their elaborate set covers an awful lot of the available space on it.

Live Review : Queensrÿche + Night Demon @ Academy 2, Manchester on February 11th 2025

Up until now, those who have been ordained to persevere in preserving Queensrÿche’s legacy have opted to avoid the trappings of retrospection. They have left this to their erstwhile frontman and one-person publicity magnet Geoff Tate, who has mined the nostalgia gravy train for all it is worth. Instead of looking back, the post-Tate incarnation of the band (now fronted by the equally golden larynx Todd La Torre) have chosen to surge forward with a flurry of decent releases, culminating in 2023’s rather spiffing “Digital Noise Alliance”.

Live Review : Alcest + Svalbard + Doodseskader @ Academy 2, Manchester on December 12th 2024

And here we are, yet another intriguing package tour bringing together three bands that exist within this genre but are doing decidedly different and inventive things within its conventions. Alcest, Svalbard and Doodseskader all distinctly exist within our world, but all feel duty-bound to stretch and contort its conservative confines. The former act as headliner for this jaunt, and even though they last dropped anchor in this very room just over 12 months ago, this distinctly unconventional cavalcade draws a mighty impressive crowd for a Wednesday night this close to Christmas.

Live Review : Dying Fetus + Chelsea Grin + Despised Icon + Vitriol @ Academy 2, Manchester on December 4th 2024

On a wet and windy Wednesday night, the unassuming Student’s Union bar at the Manchester 2 is flooded with devoted death metal fans embarking on a peculiar pilgrimage. Positioned in a dimly lit room tucked away up a staircase and around a forgotten corner; Dying Fetus lead the charge on this unruly bill, with Salt Lake City’s Chelsea Grin, deathcore collective Despised Icon, and opener Vitriol. Before the show, the PA system pulsates out strictly cheesy dance and disco, the bass reverberating, tantalising the crowd with what’s to come. The excitement is infectious; a legion of black shirts emblazoned with scrawled, hard-to-decipher names, the echoes of the genre’s underbelly, dancing to Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’, a fitting prelude to the chaos about to unfold.

Live Review : SOiL + (hed)p.e. + Nonpoint + The Union Underground @ Academy 2, Manchester on November 9th 2024

The early Noughties gave us nu-metal and alternative metal in the bucketload, and tonight we travel back to that era with four big hitters of that time taking to the stage in Manchester. SOiL were one of the names you’d see on all the tours, festivals and magazines, and they’ve endured long enough that they headline this collection of riffing and metalling from back when.

Live Review : Tyketto + Little Caesar + Dan Byrne @ Academy 2, Manchester on September 20th 2024

If ever there was a band made of teflon, you would probably call it Tyketto. For over 30 years the lineup changes have come and gone, the fashion for their kind of music has circled around, and the great and good have risen past them only to fall by the wayside. Yet through it all this band remains solid, powerful, uplifting and entertaining. If there have been Issues they just slide away like a freshly-fried egg in a well-seasoned pan. Tonight they are back in Manchester for the umpteenth time, bringing both a local(ish) lad and a not-often-seen band as support.

Live Review : Lordi + All For Metal + Crimson Veil @ Academy 2, Manchester on April 1st 2024

Metal’s inexplicable love affair with Eurovision seems to be baked into our psyche. In recent years many “big” names from our world (The Rasmus, Blind Channel, Voyager and Lords of the Lost) have taken part and even bigger names (Avantasia and Keep of Kaslin) have unsuccessfully tried to be selected for their respective home nations. This is alongside the fact that every Baltic state entry seems to sound like Evanescence and Italian alt-rockers Maneskin triumphed in 2021 with a ditty that sounded all the world like a shunt job between Rage Against The Machine and Jane's addiction.

Live Review : Dirty Honey + The Heavy North @ Academy 2, Manchester on February 8th 2024

Liverpool’s The Heavy North are a little crowded on the Academy 2 stage tonight. Squeezed in front of Dirty Honey’s drum riser, they are shoulder-to-shoulder and it’s a good job they’ve not brought any cats as there’s no space to swing them. Drums, 3 guitars, bass and keyboards make for a full sound but also a very full stage.

Live Review : Therapy? + Bokassa @ Academy 2, Manchester on December 8th 2023

Out on a Friday night? Near Christmas? Yep, but I’m not going any closer to central Manchester than Oxford Road. I’m not mad (and I don’t want to get sent to Whamhalla)! We arrive just after tonight’s support band Bokassa have walked on-stage. It is quiet, much quieter than expected, so I’m guessing everyone is still in the pub or making their way over for our headliners. I’ve heard of Bokassa but am not sure I have heard them.

Live Review : SKYND + Zetra @ Academy 2, Manchester on November 30th 2023

Main support on this tour are Zetra, and to be honest they have a tough slot to go on before such a dynamic and unique headliner…but they themselves are no ordinary band. The London two-piece are nominally Adam (guitar and vocals) and Jordan (synths and vocals) and they’ve been knocking about since 2018. In that time they’ve gathered a collection of supporters from successful bands across the scene, including Sammy from Employed to Serve.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Matt Fraser3 December 2023Manchester Academy 2SKYND, Zetra, Academy 2, Manchester, 2023, Live Review, Matt Fraser, Ryan HicksonComment

Live Review : Alcest + The Devil's Trade @ Academy 2, Manchester on October 15th 2023

Manchester has become a veritable post-metal paradise. Alongside its own burgeoning scene, we’ve got Alcest tonight, Cult of Luna passing through on Thursday and Damnation festival taking up residency in under three weeks, bringing with them Nordic Giants, Maybeshewill, and the emotionally wrought juggernaut that is Amenra (if you haven't done so, get your tickets now). However, if I'm honest I will be struggling to find 45 minutes more scintillating and mind-blowing than the ones I get to spend with tonight's opening act, The Devils Trade.

Live Review : The Winery Dogs + Scarlet Rebels @ Academy 2, Manchester on October 6th 2023

What do you call a supergroup made up of members of other supergroups? Well it turns out that the answer is The Winery Dogs. For the uninitiated, this is what Ritchie Kotzen, Mike Portnoy and the legend that is Billy Sheehan do when they are not noodling around with other projects. It is very much a muso's project, pitched at those who like their rock complex, luscious and full of virtuoso flourishes.

Live Review : Dare + FM + Tyketto @ Academy 2, Manchester on May 21st 2023

You could think of far worse ways to spend a beautiful sunny day in Manchester on a Sunday evening. It wasn't just the heat outside that needed turning down, the heat is turned up to boiling point inside the Academy 2 with blistering performances all-round from perhaps some of the most underrated AOR and melodic bands still performing and going strong some 30 plus years after their inceptions. It’s certainly a mouth-watering affair and one that goes down better than the obligatory pint of overpriced lager from the bar. If value for money is your thing, then you’ve certainly got that in spade loads on the music on offer tonight.

Live Review : Counterparts + Kublai Khan + Paleface + Dying Wish @ Academy 2, Manchester on May 5th 2023

First up are hardcore metallers Dying Wish, and I must say, it's not quite hitting the mark for me. What disappoints me the most is the lack of interesting songs and structure. Dying Wish's set feels like one continuous blur, with tracks blending together in a repetitive manner. There are no standout moments or memorable hooks that grab my attention or make me want to get lost in the music.

Live Review : Delain + Xandria @ Academy 2, Manchester on April 21st 2023

After years and years of tireless touring and recording, it looked like 2020's “Apocalypse & Chill” was going to be the record that finally propelled Delain into the big league. It had the songs, it had the exposure and it had the momentum. And then the pandemic happened and not a month into its promotional cycle we all went to hell in a handcart. Then just as the world was starting to righten itself again word came that Delain had fallen apart.

Live Review : Bloodywood + Lake Malice @ Academy 2, Manchester on March 28th 2023

There’s just the one support band tonight, but oh my what a band. It’s no secret that I’ve been championing Brighton’s Lake Malice ever since I saw them support Hacktivist last May. They blend a variety of influences and styles in a fresh, enthusiastic, characterful way both musically and visually. Once again I’m eager to catch them live and tonight they don’t disappoint.

Live Review : Haken + Between The Buried And Me + Cryptodira @ Academy 2, Manchester on March 24th 2023

Well, it's all happening this evening at the student’s union. In the main Academy, the regions punk pensioners are on day release from their respective nursing homes in order to witness the umpteenth miraculous resurrection of Stiff Little Fingers. Upstairs in the pokey Academy Three, Indie upstarts The Rolling People are repackaging Britpop for the next generation and downstairs in the club Academy…. Well to be honest I'm not sure what the fuck is happening downstairs, but it has attracted a gaggle of younglings young enough to be my grandkids, in various states of undress and off their tits on Ketamine. It's a rare beast when the metal crowd is the normal bunch, but those of us winding our way up to the old debating hall for a Haken and Between the Buried and Me double-header seem positively conservative in our attire compared to some of the revellers cavorting around the building.

Live Review : Karnivool + The Ocean @ Academy 2, Manchester on February 7th 2023

If you're looking for a band that blends the perfect mix of atmospheric and progressive metal, then look no further than The Ocean. As a band they’ve been plying their trade for over a decade with a sound that blends heavy, driving riffs with complex arrangements and a cerebral approach to song-writing. The German-based quintet are established as one of the most innovative and captivating acts in modern metal, and tonight is no exception.