Some tour line ups just catch your eye with their insane stacked billing of bands so much to the point where you are purchasing that gig ticket not just for the headliner. With this said, French metalcore band Resolve are no strangers to bringing the heat when it comes to packing out their tours. Having previously had UK tours with the likes of Siamese, they have now bringing a transatlantic collection of bands on their current UK run. Deservedly packing out the upstairs of o2 Academy Islington alongside their supports Ashen, Tropic Gold and Windwaker, Resolve wave a fond farewell to their Human album cycle with a sandstorm of futuristic vibes and metalcore chugs.
Ashen (7) is the first band on the stacked undercard we see this evening. Hailing from the homeland of headliners Resolve, Ashen filled their setlist with songs taken from their most recently released album Chimera including its title track. Ashen look poised, assured and confident for the first opener of the night.
Next up is one of the UK’s very own homegrown talents in the metalcore space, Tropic Gold (9). London based boys, Tropic Gold own the stage like they deserve to. Steadily focused with style and swagger, their modern meld of sleek metal pop and electronics combined with their passionate outpouring of addictive vocals. The vocals especially entrance you with their absorbing sultriness and heavy screams. Bringing out various guests throughout their set including nu metal artist Harpy and Windwaker’s Liam Guinane, Tropic Gold are going to be a band that will be on everyone in the metal scenes’ radars very soon, not just the people who are packing out this room tonight.
Hailing all the way from sunny Aus, Windwaker (8) are another shining testament to the talent coming from the other side of the globe. Easily in the same ranks as Northlane, Thornhill and Ocean Grove, Windwaker perhaps known for their beautifully heavy hitting album Love Language are performing tracks from that album tonight from Superstition Fantasy to Dopamine Freestyle. For their first ever UK show, Windwaker blast through a high energy, totally awakening brand of crazy hyper metalcore that will leave this London crowd buzzing for days.
Finally time for headliners, Resolve (9) to hit the stage and they start in the digitally futuristic fashion that their latest LP Human brings with it, whipping up a whirlwind of headbanging and pits with Sandman. Resolve bassist Robin Mariat, looking straight outta the Matrix with his silver oval sunglasses, looks to be on a mission to be the most cyberpunk band member in the metalcore scene. This adds to the view that Resolve have somehow amped up the anti and have gotten even visually and sonically sharper, despite perhaps for the first couple of songs singer Anthony Diliberto’s vocals getting lost in the mix.
Despite this being the end of an era with Human, with the boys giving a large portion of their setlist to saying au revoir to songs such as Death Awaits and Older Days potentially, Resolve threw it back for the older fans of the band too. Powering through tracks taken largely from older album Between Me And The Machine, Seasick Sailor and Forever Yours prove to be still firm fan favourites.
It’s a shame that Resolve is looking to shelve the majority of their Human era, but the technical, digital, futuristic world of Resolve had to come to a climax at some point in time and dimension. A fond farewell to Human but not to Resolve with another mega London headliner in their armour. It leaves the whole of the London crowd curious as to what these boys are going to bring to (perhaps deserved bigger?) rooms on their next album cycle.
Resolve’s album Human is out now through Arising Empire.
