Whilst Sheffield favourites While She Sleeps were away, the rock and metal community waited patiently for the ferocious five-piece to come back. And come back they did, in glorious style with their long-awaited album âYou Are Weâ, a visceral and raw punch. In the three days that it was released, it had sold more copies than their 2015 effort âBrainwashedâ and looked to continue with brilliant sales. But what everyone really wanted was for Loz and co. to come back and tear up stages like they once did; their patience was rewarded with tonightâs second sold-out show at The Dome.
But before While She Sleeps can have a chance to destroy the stage, Leeds quintet Fizzy Blood are given the task of warming up tonightâs eager crowd. Their quirky guitar work and melodic hooks, combined with fantastic vocals, makes for a great opener.
Theyâre quickly followed by Australian metalcore outfit In Heartâs Wake, who really up the ante. Great slabs of power and doses of fun sees the group dish out huge riffs and thunderous drumwork; ending their set with vocalist Jake Taylor crowd-surfing on top of their inflatable crocodile Chester is always a great laugh.
Throughout both the sets, both the temperature and excitement has been mounting as the clock ticks ever closer to tonightâs headliners. And when While She Sleeps take to the stage, it all becomes a beautiful and sweaty chaos.
Speed and aggression are crushed together, creating absolute anthems in the form of âCivil Isolationâ and âWide Awakeâ â such tracks whip the crowd up into a frenzy, with circle pits constantly opening and closing, and people climbing on top of one another to reach the stage and bellow the lyrics back to the band. The harmonies are huge, the guitar licks are fast and furious, and the vocals⌠the vocals are something else entirely. Itâs during the likes of âThis Is the Sixâ and âFour Wallsâ that you see just how much Loz Taylor has allowed his vocal range to grow; theyâre frenetic and drip with power and vitriol.
Single âSilence Speaksâ simply smashes through the crowd â itâs powerful and colossal and, when Bring Me the Horizonâs Oli Sykes jumps on stage for his part, it becomes a layered beauty. The difference in vocals between Loz and Oli adds depth, as well as giving the crowd another shot of energy.
While She Sleeps sign off with âHurricaneâ, a track that unites the crowd during the massive chorus of âItâll take a hurricane / To clean up all the mess we madeâ. Looking around and seeing sweaty, smiling faces across the length of The Dome, itâs clear to see that the return of While She Sleeps has been very, very well-received. And, going based on tonight’s success, something will be very, very wrong if âYou Are Weâ isnât the bandâs ticket to something far bigger and better.
JESS TAGLIANI
