Live Review: Bodysnatcher - Club Academy, Manchester
6th March 2026
Support: Ingested, Psycho-Frame, Big Ass Truck
Words: Dan Barnes
Floridian deathcore outfit, Bodysnathcer’s first headlining show in town feels a little like the cumulation of a loose, 2026 trilogy started by Slaughter to Prevail in January and continued by Lorna Shore in February. Those shows were over at the Victoria Warehouse in Trafford Park, and tonight we’re in the intimate surroundings of the Academy’s basement, but the script bears many echoes and calls-back to those earlier shows.
Four extreme bands playing to a packed crowd looking to cut loose; the opening acts having less of a touring presence than the main two; and utter musical carnage from the get-go marks an invisible connection between three disparate tours.
Metallic hardcore mob out of San Berdino, CA – and not to be confused with similarly named rockers from Tennessee – Big Ass Truck mark their first jaunt across the pond with a short, sharp, and slamming thirty-minutes or so. Opener Beef has a forceful low end and some skipping drums, giving the whole thing a heavy hardcore feel; From the Grave comes with groove and bounce and some classic death metal licks, while Corn-Fed has seismic breakdowns and a whole lotta Hatebreed energy. New tune, Pushed Beyond the Brink is for the 2-Steppers and features a huge beatdown section; earlier material Big Ass Beer is infectious, Big Ass Dog slams big, and Big Ass Truck hits oh, so hard with chunky, cranking guitars. Just enough for the band to make a load of new friends and Manchester to warm-up those muscles after the working week.
Existing at the point where grindcore, deathcore and hardcore converge into a singularity, another Florida band – this time Florida, Missouri – have come to make their Mancunian debut, leaving no one in the room with any doubt as to what Psycho-Frame is all about. Last year’s album, the nihilistically-titled Salvation Laughs in the Face of a Grieving Mother is their first, following a couple of EPs back in 2023. Still Water Salvation starts things with a slamming hardcore vibe, that stamps all over the stage; The Portal is chaotic 2-steppin’ rhythms. Older tune, The Plot to Nuke the Midwest is as insane as its name suggests, while the merciless Blueprints for Idol Genocide switch between grunts and squeals, low rumbles and mammoth breakdowns. Dragging Nazarene comes with an instruction to jump, the chunky guitars of No Revives and I Won’t be There to Watch You Go demand some audience participation, as set closer, Remote God Seeker’s 24 Hours Left wrings the last drops of energy from the front of the crowd; it was exhausting from where I was situated, taking notes, so what it was like in that cauldron, who knows? I am willing to say that Psycho-Frame is my new favourite band.
Local lads, Ingested, have a history dating back to their 2007 split with Crepitation and Kastrated, with a total of eight available full-length albums, and a nineth, Denigration, locked and loaded and ready for a May release. Playing the experienced special guest role in tonight’s deathcore extravaganza, theirs feels a more measured, old-school helping of death metal, that isn’t without those brutal elements as required. Going as far back as 2018’s The Level Above Human album, for the late set Better Off Dead and Invidious, has the former attracting heavy use of a fog machine and an definite gothic undertone to things, though not without its slamming chugs and mandatory breakdown; the latter switches from the gruff to the squeals and is almost – dare I say – reminiscent of a certain East Anglian extreme vocalist named Filth. The singles Nefarious Tongues, Altar of Flesh and Impending Dominance create a grim and grizzly beginning to the set, Paragon of Purity and Penance have some earworm energy going on, with the only new tune aired tonight is the forthcoming brutally technical Merciless Reflection.
Floridan deathcore / beatdown bullies, Bodysnatcher are making their debut Manchester headlining show after a few supporting appearances at the Rebellion Music Bar over the past, post-Covid years. With three albums and a host of EPs already in the can – and with a new record Hell Is Here, Hell is Home set to release on 10 April, now seems the perfect time to get on the European road and remind fans on this side of the pond what Bodysnatcher is all about.
Going straight into the new album’s slamming opener, The Maker, finds the three Kyles and one Chris that are Bodysnatcher, on unforgiving form. There have been long lines at the merch tables throughout the night, but it’s eerily quite back there now, as all the bodies are compressed into the staging area. Wired for Destruction and Behind the Crowd, both taken from the Bleed-Abide record, mix flailing riffs with meaty beatdowns, turning the pit into a hive of frenzied activity. Vocalist Medina admits to being heavily influenced by the British bands he listened to in his youth; guitarist, Carter, combines big breakdowns with up tempo riffing, leaving third-Kyle – Shope - and drummer Chris Whited to build the robust foundation.
Being this is the first time the band have been in front of their very own Manchester audience, they take the opportunity to showcase their talents; going back to the beginning and the Death Of It record, we get Open Wounds; from 2020’s The Heavy Void comes Black of My Eyes and Twelve/ Seventeen; and from 2024’s the Vile Conduct EP, we’re treated to both Infested and Murder8. Lockdown singles Take Me to Hell and King of the Rats intersperse the set, with newbies Violent Obsession and Blade Between the Teeth being lifted off the incoming record to whet the appetite even more.
I was in the fortunate position to have received a review copy of Hell Is Here, Hell Is Home the day before this show, so I was at least a little familiar with the new material – keep your eyes peeled for that piece. Bodysnatcher’s new record is not out to reinvent their wheel as, frankly, it doesn’t need messing with.
If this show was the conclusion of the loose trilogy of Manchester deathcore shows for the spring of 2026, it was as much of a blast as its predecessors. The venue might be different, but the energy and the commitment from all involved is unwavering.
Photo Credits: Rich Price Photography
