LIVE FROM THE PIT: Future Palace, Luna Kills and Defences

Midway through their expanse of EU dates, German metal band FUTURE PALACE embarked on the UK leg of their Deep Blue tour, named after the opening song off their latest album Resurgence. They made a stop at Manchester’s Academy 3, with LUNA KILLS and DEFENCES completing the stacked line-up of rising metalcore bands.

DEFENCES were first to take the stage, starting off strong with Lithium Kiss, a single release from last year. This was the perfect song to start with as it perfectly showcases what you can expect from the band. The contrast between Cherry Duesbury’s soaring vocals and William Young’s screams, is perfectly complimented by the accompanying instrumentals. The following songs continue to pick up the energy, getting the crowd moving from start to finish. Their latest track Death of a Dream was a popular track with the crowd, alongside their collaboration with Benji Webbe of SKINDRED, More Of Us (Than There Are Of Them). These new songs give us an insight into the direction the band is moving in as they close out the Shadowlight era, a thematic album which focused on topics like shadow work. Their newer tracks focus on topics including injustice and looking towards the future.

After playing various European festivals this year including RADAR Festival, LUNA KILLS finished their busy year with a supporting slot alongside DEFENCES on the Deep Blue tour. The Finnish metal band led by Lotta Ruutainen are making their presence known in the metal scene, blending metalcore with elements of nu metal and game soundtrack inspired electronics, alongside vocals which range from softer singing to harsh screams. Their set came complete with synchronised headbanging to songs like slay ur enemies. While most of the tracks they performed were off their 2025 album DEATHMATCH, we were also treated to two new songs, supervillain and LOWER, both of which were sandwiched into the middle of the set, before retreating back to their debut and closing out on the singers favourite song from the album, LEECH.

FUTURE PALACE played a stacked setlist, performing their latest album Resurgence almost in full, mixed in with some popular tracks from previous albums Run and Distortion. The night follows a theme of songs which deal with mental health struggles, this is especially relevant as before playing Ebb and Flow, vocalist Maria Lessing discusses with the audience her own dealings with imposter syndrome as the band has gotten bigger, even after being a band for eight years and touring for six. This theme is discussed throughout the night, with the singer announcing that all of their albums relate to mental health in some form whether it be depression, adhd or even trauma, and it just goes to show the impact that music has and how music can be used as an outlet, both for the musician and the audience who can listen and connect on a deeper level.

The band managed to strike the perfect balance between lyrics which feel raw and emotive, with hard hitting instrumentals which sound fit for festival and arena size stages, however the Manchester venue felt like a good middle ground, plenty of space for crowd movement while still keeping that intimate feel. Paradise was a stand out song from the set as it covers themes of hopelessness and Lessing even describes it as the band’s theme song, calling for a ‘wall of hugs’ as opposed to a wall of death due to venue rules not allowing it. The band closed out the night strong with Malphas, a song loaded with heavy riffs and screams that radiate raw emotion.

Words and photos: Libby Percival