LIVE FROM THE PIT: Carnifex, Despised Icon, Suffocation and Only Pain

This bonfire night didn’t need any fireworks to get heated as Manchester Club Academy was more than ready for this killer triple headline line up of CARNIFEX, DESPISED ICON, SUFFOCATION and the up and coming ONLY PAIN for the EU/UK Death Dominion 2026 tour. We were taken on a journey of new and nostalgic death-core through some of the biggest pioneers of the genre.

Each show of the tour opened with a local support band and for the Manchester leg of the tour we had ONLY PAIN. Formed in 2024, they have been rising through the UK Deathcore scene supporting bands such as PENG SHUI and PINTGLASS and earlier this year have released their first EP Beneath Hell. The energy of the night was properly set with a massive early turnout from the home crowd and a taste of new deathcore before the line up of headliners.

Starting off the headliners were “Montreal Deathcore's”, DESPISED ICON. Marking just over one year since the release of their 2025 album Shadow Work after six years of not producing new music, DESPISED ICON showed us exactly why they’ve been in the forefront of deathcore for the last twenty-four years. With the combined vocals of Steve Marois and Alex Erian and Eric Jarrin on lead guitar, the energy on stage was high, heavy and truly immeasurable which was mirrored by the crowd in their shouts to the iconic MVP, circle pits to older staples such as Retina from their first album, The Healing Process, and modern favourites like Over My Dead Body from their newest album, Shadow Work. There were crowd-surfers throughout this entire set, however, the biggest crowd reaction came in the form of a venue wide mosh pit during their final song, Purgatory.

Next on the night's bill was New York's SUFFOCATION, who are the longest running band of the three headliners. Although the original setup isn't the same as it always was, Ricky Myers has proved himself a worthy frontman after taking over from Frank Mullen in 2019, and expanding the fanbase with fans loyal to him, even down to the crowd copying his iconic hand movements to match the epic drum beats. This tour helps to mark thirty-five years since the release of their first album, Human Waste, and having the original lead guitarist, Terrance Hobbs, still playing all songs old and new made it feel all the more special to witness, as they opened the set with Thrones of Blood and Seraphim Enslavement, and closed the set with their first album’s opening song, Infecting The Crypts.

The final headliner of this night of the tour was, of course, CARNIFEX. From forming in San Diego to opening their set in Manchester, the fans have always been absolutely brutal, especially as they opened with the 2014 album's title track, Die Without Hope and 2007’s newly resurrected favourite, Slit Wrist Saviour. Although CARNIFEX have been together for the least amount of time out of the co-headliners, they certainly have the highest following and in the room that night they certainly had the crowd going the hardest. Luckily, there was only one showstopping incident in the pit, and after the band checked that everything was safe and good to carry on, the pits were back in full force.

More Than Misery, CARNIFEX’s tenth studio album, came out at midnight, around an hour and a half after the show had ended, but nobody left disappointed, as they played Roses & Rotting Corpses during the set, which only riled the crowd up even more. The highlight of the set, however, was the unity of the band and crowd, as Scott Ian Lewis introduced the sixth song of the set. All he had to do was tell the audience that “he knows he didn’t choose hell but…” and the volume of the response “Hell Chose Me” almost shook the room itself, as they played the 2010 title track Hell Chose Me.

This was a night chock full of deathcore nostalgia, new favourites and feral pits. CARNIFEX, DESPISED ICON and SUFFOCATION have been on everyone's heavy radar for a long time and thanks to them, we also have ONLY PAIN on our radar too. The Death Dominion tour is still ongoing throughout the EU and we can't wait to see how much the bands enjoy it.

Words: Alexandra Winterbottom

Photos: Anton Smeeton

With thanks to Boolin Tunes.