LIVE FROM THE PIT: Lorna Shore, Whitechapel, Shadow Of Intent and Humanity’s Last Breath

We joined LORNA SHORE as they played their last UK date in Manchester, on their tour, following the release of their latest album I Feel The Everblack Festering Within Me. This comes with support from fellow deathcore heavyweights in the form of HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH, SHADOW OF INTENT, and WHITECHAPEL.

With HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH taking to the stage first, the Swedes setting the tone for the night. Shrouded in darkness, the set began slow and steady with Väldet before picking up the intensity with Abyssal Mouth and Human Swarm. Frontman Filip Danielsson’s stage presence was almost haunting, the cloaked man commanding the stage like a relentless onslaught and the band cramming nine songs into their thirty-minute set.

SHADOW OF INTENT brought a more symphonic approach to deathcore, whilst still having brutal intensity as the backbone of their offerings. The rapid-fire nature of the evening continued as the barbaric They Murdered Sleep lead the procession of songs from their 2025 album Imperium Delirium featuring everything from choral moments to blistering breakdowns, rounding off with the chug-heavy Feeding The Meatgrinder, a song which appropriately features CORPSEGRINDER. The band concluded their set with the Halo-inspired The Heretic Prevails, a song which was a clear favourite amongst fans in the audience.

American deathcore titans WHITECHAPEL were the final support to round off this intense lineup. This year marks the twentieth year of the band, with WHITECHAPEL remaining key figures of the genre, and that was entirely evident through the audience's reaction to every song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJIPepGa07M

Following suit from SHADOW OF INTENT, WHITECHAPEL’s first half of their setlist comprised of songs from their 2025 release Hymns in Dissonance, including the title track, the audience even got the appearance of the iconic mask from the album cover, with singer Phil Bozeman placing it on his head before returning it to the drum kit where it remained for the rest of the set. This was broken up with an intense instrumental Necrotising before diving headfirst into some of their older tracks. They truly delivered a masterclass in raw deathcore excellence, proving they are still top of the game twenty years on.

After the supports concluded, the crowd was thoroughly warmed up, and so was the venue. The duality of metalheads resulted in everyone belting along to BONNIE TYLER’s Total Eclipse of the Heart before the headliners commenced. It was now LORNA SHORE’s turn to take to the stage, and as the music began, the curtain displaying the band logo dropped, and the fans cheered and watched in awe.

LORNA SHORE’s growth in the scene with the addition of Will Ramos has been amazing to behold, going from a sold-out Club Academy show four years ago to a sold-out Victoria Warehouse. Despite the frontman having the flu and announcing to the crowd that he was going to need their help, he still commanded the stage with unrelenting fury, powering his immense vocals. With plenty of pyrotechnics, epic guitar solos from Adam De Micco, and Will’s signature pig squeals, this show was testimony to the impact that LORNA SHORE is having within the deathcore and metal scene as a whole.

The setlist featured mostly songs from their latest release, beginning with Oblivion, straight into the powerful and inspiring Unbreakable. After this, it was drummer Austin Archey’s time to shine with War Machine, a song which the band announced they would be filming the music video for. These were broken up with songs from Pain Remains, which included the ferocious Sun//Eater with guest vocals from photographer Nick Chance, and, of course, the emotional trilogy titled after the album, played in full. The band closed out the set with an encore of To The Hellfire, appropriately surrounded by fire.

Words and photos: Libby Percival