LIVE REVIEW Machine Head & Amon Amarth @ AO Arena, Manchester

September 20, 2022 James Weaver

Whenever a band of our world takes the step up to perform in arenas, it feels like a monumental occasion. Whilst the likes of METALLICA, IRON MAIDEN and SLIPKNOT have cemented this position for many a year now, whenever a ‘newer’ band takes the step up, it is equally anticipated as it is celebrated. Viking horde AMON AMARTH and Bay Area beasts MACHINE HEAD have enjoyed equally long careers and are both considered two of metal’s biggest names, so as they join forces to lay siege to arenas across the UK, we take our spot at Manchester’s AO Arena to see two of metal’s powerhouses cement their place as arena-level performers.

The Halo Effect live @ AO Arena, Manchester. Photo Credit: Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography

They might be considered a new band but for THE HALO EFFECT, the experience within the Gothenburg’s ranks stretches to a similar length as tonight’s co-headliners thanks to their stints in IN FLAMES and DARK TRANQUILLITY. Tonight, their vast experience combines with the energetic bounce of a fresh-faced band as they perform with a vigour and vitality that works wonders in warming up the crowd. Material from recently released debut album, Days Of The Lost, sounds fantastic on the big stage as the likes of The Needless End and Gateways are guaranteed crowd-pleasers with the biting riffs and commanding vocal performance from frontman Mikael Stanne. As fantastic as the band were, and they can leave Manchester feeling a job well done, what was a slight blemish was the sheer sparsity within the large setting of the AO Arena. Perhaps it’s the early stage time and many are still making their way towards the arena, or perhaps we are seeing the impact of the cost of living crisis first hand, but for a band of their musical quality, THE HALO EFFECT deserved many more eyes in front of them.

Rating: 8/10

Amon Amarth live @ AO Arena, Manchester. Photo Credit: Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography

The live performance of AMON AMARTH has long balanced the bombastic and fist-pumping melodic death metal of Viking sagas with the stage theatrics that visualise their stories and in the setting of an arena, this is AMON AMARTH cranked up to the max. A thunderous opener in Guardians Of Asgaard sets the tone right from the off as an inferno of pyro, hard-hitting riffs from guitarists Olavi Mikkonen and Johan Söderberg and the recognisable growls of frontman Johan Hegg announces the band to the stage with the utmost conviction. From there, AMON AMARTH proceed to run a victory lap across their expansive discography with all the bells and whistles that guarantee this is a live performance to remember.

Pyro regularly flares and threatens to singe eyebrows, Viking warriors fiercely duel on stage and an eye-popping stage set-up and plumes of flame help set closer Twilight Of The Thunder God close their set in the most grandest of fashions. Newer cuts from this year’s The Great Heathen Army (Heidrun and the title track) hold their own as typical AMON AMARTH material, a resurrection of Free Will Sacrifice (played live for the first time in five years) or Cry Of The Black Birds is superb throwbacks to the records that caused the band to erupt in popularity and standalone single Put Your Back Into The Oar commands the crowd to re-enact their finest rowboat skills. It has felt that AMON AMARTH have been on course to this lofty position for some time now, and based on their striking outing in Manchester, they have more than earned their keep as an arena-level band for years to come.

Rating: 9/10

Machine Head live @ AO Arena, Manchester. Photo Credit: Sabrina Ramdoyal Photography

MACHINE HEAD have been enjoying somewhat of a resurgence this year. Following the mixed reception to 2018’s Catharsis, this year’s ØF KINGDØM AND CRØWN has been heralded as a return to form and a not-so secret set at this year’s Bloodstock Festival has catapulted MACHINE HEAD back to the forefront of many a metal fan’s minds. In Manchester, the band are simply on scorching form as they seek to remind those who are still on the fence why they are considered such a heavyweight of our world.

BECØME THE FIRESTØRM, the only cut from their latest record to make a live outing, is one hell of a set opener as Robb Flynn delivers his vocals with absolute venom and the dual-pronged guitar onslaught from Flynn and DECAPITATED‘s Vogg incites many heads across the arena to bang before a one-two punch of Imperium and Ten Ton Hammer causes jaws to drop as the band replicate two of their biggest hits with fine fettle. Whilst MACHINE HEAD might not boast the same theatrical showboating as AMON AMARTH, save from an arsenal of pyro that bolsters I Am Hell (Sonata In C#)‘s live impact, the magic of MACHINE HEAD tonight is in the songs themselves.

Darkness Within is Robb Flynn at his most vulnerable, taking the time in the song’s sombre openings to reflect on the pure magic of music, Now We Die retains its place as one of the band’s more recent hidden gems thanks to its pulsating riffage, a quick blast of SLAYER‘s iconic Raining Blood is a chaotic surprise which causes the pit to swirl, and the execution of the expected Davidian and Halo closes MACHINE HEAD‘s time on stage with a euphoric high. MACHINE HEAD have rode their career on proving the naysayers wrong time and time again, and based on their performance in Manchester, they have done so once again, reminding those that they are one of metal’s greatest exports.