Live Review: In Flames / Arch Enemy - Academy, Manchester
Support: Soilwork
4th October 2024
Words: Dan Barnes
Photos: Tim Finch
The Rising from the North tour makes a stop at Manchester’s Academy for a Sold Out show in front of about two and a half thousand baying punters. Some of the best and most popular melodic death metal Sweden has to offer is in this room tonight and it’s no wonder even early on, there’s a palpable sense of excited anticipation.
Having two power houses of melo-death locking horns in a sumptuous prospect, yet having the whole thing warmed up by one of the scene’s undisputed veterans means Nuclear Blast – who are curating this trek – could well have the tour of the year on their hands.
It’s an early start for Soilwork but the room is already full of punters expecting a bruising evening’s entertainment. Stalwarts of the Swedish scene since the mid-nineties, when bands like At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity and both of tonight’s touring partners were putting their country on the musical map.
The tone seems to be set early on from the openers as this is an opportunity to showcase material from across their history, rather than focus on a specific record. As such, Soilwork use their short time upon the stage to revisit key moments of their past. Opening with the brutal title track of the Stabbing the Drama record, the musical timbre is set with the punishing, yet melodic tropes of classic Swedish melo-death. There’s a Lamb of God energy to the start of the set, one that dissipates into a more Scandinavian model through the Exile and the soaring melodies of Distortion Sleep. A combination of these facets comes to the fore in the performance of new tune, Spirit of No Return, filled with swelling melodies and down and dirty riffs.
Sadly, nothing prior to 2003’s Figure Number Five is played, with the end of the set looking at Soilwork’s catalogue after 2015’s The Ride Majestic. That’s not to say the stomp of Death Diviner, or the folk-infused Övergivenheten, were in any way inferior; it would have been nice to hear some of the old shock and awe from The Chainheart Machine. But, with three decades work of material to choose from, something is always going to have to be sacrificed.
The revolving nature of the headlining sets means In Flames is up next and, true to the nature of the tour, theirs is a full stage production, with drums risen and keyboard elevated. I realised that this is the first time of seeing In Flames under a roof, as all the other times have been festival affairs. Meaning, I’m seeing the band in a wholly new light this evening, one which finds their sound contained and focused, lending it a far more visceral aspect.
They go hard early with the deceptively measured Cloud Control’s massive chug and Katatonia-style vocals; Take this Life crashes the mood with its uncompromising bull-in-a-china-shop rampage, an early outing for one of the band’s defining songs, followed by the electronic-opening of Deliver Us.
It’s another trip through the creative landmarks of the band, stretching back as far as 1997’s Whoracle for Food of the Gods, Colony’s Coerced Coexistence and Clayman’s Only for the Weak, bringing with it an eye-popping light show and a stomping groove.
An early In the Dark and appearances from Meet Your Maker and a superb rendition of State of Slow Decay, with it’s spastic opening section and aggressive low end, all taken from last year’s Foregone record, show the band are more than capable of mining those rich seams of creativity and power.
The back-to-back presentation of A Sense of Purpose’s Alias and The Mirror’s Truth has Anders calling for Manchester to make him proud, with the challenge to make this night the best night of the tour.
Blood-red light wash the stage for I am Above which, while relatively recent, received a rousing reception; its unstoppable riff, bouncing and grooving, is so infectious that it’s hardly surprising. Closer My Sweet Shadow has Anders thanking Manchester “from the bottom of his cold Swedish heart” for letting In Flames be part of their life. Those bass drum kicks and psychedelic interludes can hit you in the head as well as the stomach.
There was a time when Arch Enemy were everywhere – or at least on most of the festival bills I was going to. The last time I caught the band in this venue was on the first Defenders of the Faith show, back in 2008, with Opeth, Devildriver and 3 Inches of Blood; however, Arch Enemy fronted by Alissa White-Gluz, has not been so ubiquitous and I tend to still think of the band fronted by Angela.
Last (and only) time I saw this iteration of Arch Enemy was at Bloodstock 2017 and I wondered how, tonight they would fare taking the stage after In Flames.
But, boy… was I wrong to have such concerns. As excellent as In Flames were, Arch Enemy were better – to the point that all but blew the roof off the Academy.
Kicking off with a trio of more modern tracks: Deceiver, Deceiver, The World is Yours and House of Mirrors, locks the band into their familiar melodic cacophony. Soaring riffs and sweet harmonies are to be expected from ex-Carcass man, Michael Arnott and his new guitar-partner in crime, Joey Concepcion. Alissa even refers to House of Mirrors as her new favourite song from the band, and the multi-layers show why that is the case.
A twenty-year old My Apocalypse, with its raw vocals and rawer riffs, is greeted like an old friend and reminds me why Arch Enemy were everywhere back in the day. The gently refraining strings of the mid-section’s break could have been taken from The War of the Worlds. The title track of War Eternal sound like what Bolt Thrower might have sounded like if they’d been born in Sweden, rather than Coventry, and it is bookended by two new songs from the just-announced Blood Dynasty album, coming next spring.
The second being Liars & Thieves, a power metal structure with speed metal credentials, it demonstrates the band will be contenders again next year. But, for me, it was the previous new song, Dream Stealer, unveiled with little fanfare, that was the highlight of the set – if not the whole night. A bombastic opening, rampaging guitars mixed with more traditional passages, form together into a near perfect whole. Cannot wait until Blood Dynasty is released to hear what this one will finish up as.
The dominance of Deceivers and Will to Power means the second half of the set is largely made from those records. Sunset Over the Empire, Handshake with Hell and The Eagle Flies Alone all receive rapturous receptions, but it’s the closing duo of Nemesis and a truncated instrumental version of Fields of Desolation from the Black Earth debut, that shows the history of the band is alive and well. It’s a shame the Johan-era of the band isn’t regarded as much as it should, as those first three records have some magnificent music waiting to be (re)discovered.
Rising from the North was a genius piece of thinking from the promotors; putting three of Sweden’s most established, yet contemporary bands on a single bill was inspired. Selling out was all but guaranteed and only the Anthrax/ Kreator/ Testament shows next month will change Rising’s position as the tour of the year.
Photo Credits: Tim Finch Photography
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