Defenders of the Faith- Southampton Guildhall, December 1st 2011

It’s December 1^st and Christmas is a mere 25 days away. The season of good will is upon us and for the next five hours – as a sweet, sweet gesture of said good will – Southampton Guildhall is playing host to Metal Hammer’s Defenders of the Faith Tour, which tonight hits our shores fresh from slaying Europe.

The magazine calls it a collection of today’s ‘biggest, best and brightest’ metal talent, and Rise To Remain certainly have the potential to be all three. Despite their front man sharing his blood with a bloke called Bruce Dickenson, there can be little comparison to his father’s legacy in Iron Maiden as, at times, Rise To Remain are ball-crunchingly heavy. A suave and exciting set ends with half the Guildhall head-banging in sync, suggesting plainly and simply that there are brighter things to come.

If you find yourself in the pit knowing nothing about Swedish melodic metallers Ghost, then their arrival will be somewhat of a shock. Entering the room to a Rammstein-esque instrumental track, Swedes Papa Emeritus and his five ‘Nameless Ghouls’ in black hooded robes leave many a baffled face with what can only be described as satanic gloom rock. Tracks like ‘Elizabeth’ and ‘Last Ritual’ go down with an odd sense of success and totally captivate those who are watching. The clerical-clad front man may dance like the pope’s drunken uncle at Christmas, but ignore the bizarre, tongue-in-cheek and somewhat bloody terrifying fancy dress and what Ghost provides is half an hour of catchy riffs and blissfully satanic choruses. It’s not clear what faith these guys are defending but it’s a sermon that isn’t entirely forgettable.

In Flames are cited as an inspiration to many big names in the business and tonight Matt Heafy of Trivium fame will himself label them ‘the greatest band in the world.’ Their 10 albums and two decades of experience are evident through a fantastically heavy half hour, but you can almost feel Anders Fridén’s frustration at the short set time as he bitches about his crappy day and makes a well justified crack at the dismal English weather. It sounds like boredom. It’s probably just banter. But all is forgiven when the Swedish five-piece unleash a set of tight-as-hell classics like ‘The Quiet Place’ and ‘Take This Life,’ proving they could easily continue for hours more.

However tonight is Trivium’s and, launching into the colossal title track of their latest album In Waves, they nail it to the atmosphere as crisply as it sounds on record. What follows is a set as relentless in quality as it is in brutality and there’s barely a moment of quiet as their award winning Ascendency beauties ‘Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation,’ ‘Dying In Your Arms,’ and ‘Like Light To Flies’ are played to perfection. There’s the odd tune that slows the crowd and it’s evident that it’s taking longer to warm to the new record, but within seconds there’s a flawless pace change and the crowd once again opens up. It’s genuinely touching to see the next generation of metal heads – some who look as though their GCSE worries are still years ahead of them– being battered, crushed and embraced in the pit, armed only with relentless smiles and pre-pubescent devil horns.

As they launch into closer ‘Throes of Perdition’ – almost an odd choice considering the calibre of what’s been played before – Matt’s comments about “Trivium returning home to England again” are at constant risk of being filed under ‘ancient cliché.’ But the Floridians took the UK scene by storm on the main stage at download back in 2005 and they have clearly not forgotten their roots. “We will always come back to your beautiful country, my friends,” Matt swoons before laying into their anthem; the absolutely incredible ‘Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr.’ And we’ll always have you, sir.