LIVE FROM THE PIT: Beartooth, Silverstein and Kingdom of Giants

After a short stint in Europe, BEARTOOTH’s Pure Ecstasy Tour comes to the UK after 2 years, the last time the band came here was for their monumental show at Alexandra Palace; this time the band opted for something more intimate, for a show bursting with a sense of love, community and representation. 

Opening up the show were KINGDOM OF GIANTS, these American metalcore veterans were stirring up quite the crowd for their very short but very impactful set. Kicking the set off with their explosive song Asphalt, which slams you with intense riffs, drums and Dana Willax’s impressive, dirty vocals which were absolutely setting the bar for powerful voices during this show. Their energy did not falter through their seven-song set, only slowing in their melodic choruses led by their clean vocalist JT Guiterrez; more often than not, these choruses were broken up by some absolutely nasty solos and breakdowns - their set definitely set the bar for the rest of the night. 

Next up were SILVERSTEIN, who delivered an extremely entertaining set exploring their mix of emo and metalcore songs. Starting off with their newer more metalcore material in the songs Negative Space, Drain The Blood, with heavy riffs and instrumentals every metalcore fan just lapped up before shifting to full emo with Smashed Into Pieces of their debut; this song really showed the range in their discography with a song littered with emo-rasp, heavy basslines and plenty of sounds to get you headbanging back to the times of your teens. SILVERSTEIN really showed their experience during this set with impeccable crowd control, consistent energy and masterful playing. 

Then finally, with a room stacked with fans, BEARTOOTH donned the UK stage for the first time in a long time, and they wasted no time getting stuck in. Opening with the title track from their newest album Pure Ecstasy, which absolutely set the precedent for what this show will mean to frontman Caleb Shomo and the fans, this is an album about acceptance, representation and letting go. It seemed the perfect to ensnare an audience into BEARTOOTH’s new era; an era of love, community and self-love. It’s really amazing to see a singer so unapologetically himself and really coming into his own, the amount of passion and energy Shomo gave during this set was really quite incredible, playing a real mix of their discography to create a real musical journey.

This new style has brought back a lot of their heavier tones seen on the first album to give a new context and meaning to it - if anything there’s an aggression to it, pleading to its listener to disregard what others think and be yourself; it’s really quite beautiful and means a lot to us here at Out Of Rage. 

A truly special moment arrived later in the set as Shomo revisited some of the famous ‘Woahs’ from their song In Between but instead opting to drop the mic and belt it at the top of his lungs to an impressive degree; the audience reciprocated with an incredibly loud response. It’s truly admirable the relationship the band have with their fans, the air of love was immeasurable making for a really beautiful set.

Words and photos: Ben Blisset