Metalheads everywhere are in the mood to scream along to their favorites, because the Poisoned Ascendency tour officially kicked off Sunday night in Wales! Bullet For My Valentine and Trivium stunned with career-spanning setlists that paid tribute to their own respective brands of metal. And fans in the audience couldn’t help but devour every moment.
“This is a celebration for the old fans that were there at 9 am at Ozzfest to catch a couple songs from a band in Iron Maiden shirts,” Trivium said last year when announcing the trek. “It’s for the new fans that have been listening to the deep cuts but never caught them on a recent tour. And lastly, it’s for both BFMV and us to take a moment to reflect on how amazing these 20 years have been, how fast they’ve gone, and how important these albums are for both of our bands.”
Trivium took the stage first, paying tribute to both the 2005 album that this tour is named after, Ascendancy, and the rest of their exciting discography. For the 20th anniversary of their sophomore project, the band performed “Like Light to the Flies,” “Pull Harder on the Strings of Your Martyr,” “A Gunshot to the Head of Trepidation” and more to perfection. They even played “Dying In Your Arms” for the first time since 2017!
Other songs were also revived for this Trivium set, with “Departure” making a comeback after 13 years and “Declaration” re-live-debuting for the first time since 2007. Yes, 2007! After closing out with an encore of “In Waves,” Trivium fans everywhere were left satisfied. And how could they not be with such a wave of intensity from the Grammy-nominated metal band? It was just the beginning of the evening too, as Bullet For My Valentine took the stage shortly afterward.
Can you believe it’s been two decades since the Metalcore giants released their debut album, The Poison? They can’t either, and it was evident with every screaming chorus and drum solo. Bullet For My Valentine fearlessly worked through favorites like “4 Words (to Choke Upon),” “Suffocating Under Words of Sorrow (What Can I Do),” and the chart-topping “Tears Don’t Fall.” Additionally, just like their co-headliners, they brought quite a few deep cuts and old favorites back from the dead!
Wales got to hear “Hit the Floor,” “Cries In Vain,” “The End” and “Room 409” all for the first time since 2016! And unsurprisingly, these metal anthems hit just as hard live nearly a decade later. Other songs on the 14-song setlist included “Hand of Blood” and “All These Things I Hate (Revolve Around Me)” before the 2-song encore, in which all the Metalheads in the room flashed their sign of the horns as the heaviest symbol of “goodbye,” ever.
The Poisoned Ascendency Tour is off to a great start, set to transform Europe before making its way to the US. Do you have your tickets yet? Check out the full Wales setlists from Bullet For My Valentine and Trivium here and here.
