Live Review: Employed to Serve - KK's Steel Mill, Wolverhampton
26th March 2026
Support: Cage Fight, Tooth & Dagger
Words: Cat Finch
Photos: Tim Finch
There’s something about KK's Steel Mill that brings out the best in a lineup, and this stacked bill was no exception. With Tooth & Dagger, Cage Fight, and UK heavyweights Employed to Serve, the night felt like a showcase of modern metal in all its ferocious forms.
Opening duties fell to Tooth & Dagger, who wasted no time in setting a confrontational tone. Their blend of metallic hardcore came across raw and unpolished in the best possible way, with jagged riffs and punchy rhythms cutting straight through the early crowd murmur. There was a sense of urgency to their set, like every second counted, and by the time they wrapped up, the room had filled out nicely, drawn in by sheer intensity alone.
Cage Fight took that energy and amplified it tenfold. From the moment they launched into ‘One Minute’ the floor erupted into movement, with a surge of bodies colliding in a tightly packed pit. Their sound melds part hardcore stomp and part thrash-laced aggression with each track landing like a hammer blow.
Despite missing Will Chain on bass, their performance was tight, commanded from and centre by vocalist Rachel Aspe. Her presence, her vocal growl, the menace in her eyes adding to the intensity of the performance.
Much like the other nights on the tour, ‘Pig’ featured Justine Jones of Employed to Serve on vocals, her performance adding weight to the important lyrical content. Songs like ‘Respect Ends’ and ‘Guillotine’ showcased their ability to balance groove with outright hostility, while ‘Pick Your Fighter’ and ‘I Hate Your Guts’ leaned hard into their no-nonsense attitude.
Closing on ‘Hope Castrated’, Rachel joined the fans in the pit, the fans circling her as her growls hit peak venom. Cage Fight left the stage having firmly cemented themselves as one of the most exciting live acts in the UK heavy scene right now.
By the time Employed to Serve hit the stage, the atmosphere inside the sweaty small room at KK’s was electric. Opening with ‘Treachery’ they immediately asserted dominance, whilst ‘Atonement’ and ‘Beneath It All’ kept the momentum surging. The crown now crowd fully locked in, a sight to behold as the room sang every lyric back at them.
Mid-set cuts like ‘Force Fed’ and ‘Sun Up to Sun Down’ highlighted the band’s dynamic range, and ‘Familiar Pain’ and ‘Good for Nothing’ drew particularly strong reactions, with the crowd throwing themselves into the pit with abandon.
As the set pushed into its latter half, ‘We Don’t Need You’ and ‘Breaks Me Down’ ramped up the intensity even further, before ‘Now Thy Kingdom Come’ and ‘Mark of the Grave’ brought a darker, more ominous edge.
Closing stretch ‘Whose Side Are You On?’ into ‘From This Day Forward’ was nothing short of explosive. Sammy’s razor sharp riffs, enhance the threat of the back line, whilst Justine stands tall, driving the live performance forward.
At The Razor’s Edge we’ve seen a lot of Employed to Serve shows over the years, from opening arenas for Gojira, to the main stage at Bloodstock and the pyro heavy performance at Damnation. Yet tonight, in the finest heavy metal venue in the country, they raised their game further, this was something special and we were lucky enough to witness it.
Photo Credits: Tim Finch Photography
