LIVE REVIEW: While She Sleeps @ Alexandra Palace, London

This show has been a long time coming for WHILE SHE SLEEPS. The Sheffield metalcore band have been building their way up through the ranks of music venues since their inception in 2006. Thankfully, all that hard work has paid off as they bring out all the stops to the ten thousand fans who have travelled across the world to see them play their biggest headline show ever.

First up are Australian metal band POLARIS, whose performance is poignant as it’s one of the few after the sudden death of lead guitarist Ryan Siew at the age of 26 earlier this year. While the back of the venue is slowly filling up with people, the band play a short but entertaining set, with opening song Nightmare from their most recent album, Fatalism, kicking things off in style. The rest of the crowd go wild as the band run through seven of their hits, most of which are from Fatalism and 2020’s The Death Of Me, although they end on The Remedy from their 2017 debut album The Mortal Coil. The production is mostly restrained, with strobe lighting doing most of the heavy lifting. However, the band themselves are on top form, and vocalist Jamie Hails is in top form, unleashing some utterly fantastic guttural vocals. They dedicate the song Overflow to Ryan Siew, which is a touching tribute to a guitarist who is dearly missed, and earns a lot of cheers from the crowd. Whatever the future holds for POLARIS, tonight proves that there is a lot of love for the Aussie band.

Rating: 8/10

Judging by the reaction from the crowd, BURY TOMORROW could have very well been headlining this venue. Fresh off the release of their critically acclaimed seventh album The Seventh Sun, the Southampton band open with Boltcutter, which sends the crowd into an absolute frenzy. They don’t stop moving throughout the hour set, as the band play through some of their greatest hits. Whilst it is a missed opportunity to bring out Loz Taylor on Heretic, the rest of the set is a celebration of the band’s past and present. However, it is closing song DEATH (Ever Colder) that make the crowd – who never seem to stop moving – dance as if it’s the last time they can. Circle pits open, and the band end on a high. It won’t be surprising if the next time BURY TOMORROW come back to Alexandra Palace, they are the headliners.

Rating: 9/10

Speaking of headliners, the anticipation before WHILE SHE SLEEPS take to the stage is like a rubber band being pulled back. As soon as the opening notes to Sleeps Society play, the crowd snap. They are one living organism who are moving together. This sense of community is felt throughout the night. Friends and strangers cling to each other as if they were holding onto a life raft during Our Courage, Our Cancer, whose lyrics about loss are so powerful and vivid, some of the crowd are moved to tears.

However, this is isn’t an evening of sadness; it’s one of celebration. Despite the energy dipping a little as the band play new song Self Hell, which has been polarising since its release due to the change in sound, the rest of the set is non stop movement. However, this set is mostly about looking back. A lot of older songs make up the setlist, such as fan-favourite Silence Speaks, whose guest vocalist is Dani Winter-Bates from BURY TOMORROW instead of Oli Sykes from BRING ME THE HORIZON.

WHILE SHE SLEEPS have never sounded better. They pull out all the stops production-wise, with pyro, lasers and strobe lights. However, what’s most impressive is the metal scaffolding that the band built themselves, which allows the audience to see all the members. Guitarists Mat Welsh and Sean Long play some face-melting riffs, as bassist Aaron Mckenzie darts around the stage. Unfortunately drummer Adam Savage is sometimes obscured due to all the chaos happening on stage. However, it’s frontman Loz Taylor who really steals the show. From the moment he walks on to the stage, he has the audience under his spell. Despite suffering from voice problems in the past, he’s in top form tonight, unleashing more guttural vocals than ever. As the closing screams of Anti-Social ring out across the room, tonight proves why WHILE SHE SLEEPS are the new kings of Alexandra Palace.

Rating: 10/10

Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Serena Hill Photography here: 

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