Live Review: Trivium – Goblins And Wizards Tour 2023 – O2 Academy Bristol

The band that doesn’t seem to stop touring, Trivium once again returned to the UK but this time they hit up venues they haven’t touched in years! Bringing the animated Bleed From Within and the insanely promising Orbit Culture along for the ride, Trivium wanted to give their fans a night they wouldn’t soon forget. Here’s what went down when they took over O2 Academy Bristol.

Sweltering heat awaited fans as they walked through the venue’s doors and this was only made more apparent as Orbit Culture took to the stage and brought the heat! Breakdowns, harsh gutturals and all the smoke you could ever want were what the promising band from Sweden brought to the table. Pits were flowing and the crowd quickly grew to the heavy sounds emitting from the stage. Stage presence can sometimes be a hard thing to master yet Orbit Culture made Bristol’s small stage feel like an arena-sized one.

Coming down from Scotland was Bleed From Within and to say they brought the energy would be an understatement. An unrelenting set captivated the sweaty crowd. Singer Scott Kennedy was incredible at interacting with the crowd through both word and action which only heightened the experience for everyone in the room. As I looked around the packed venue, I could see nearly everyone rocking out to the Bleed From Within groove to the point I wondered if they would be hitting up venues this size themselves soon.

A packed and sweaty room awaited the arrival of Trivium and as the sounds of ‘X’ loomed over the Bristol crowd, the excitement was at an all-time high. The pit opened in anticipation and it would erupt as ‘In The Court Of The Dragon’ was unleashed. The unrelenting assault would only become more ferocious as ‘Down From The Sky’ and ‘Becoming The Dragon’ scratched a nostalgic itch upon older fans of the band. Guitar hero veterans lost their minds as ‘Strife’ hit the airwaves while the Pit would hit its breaking point as ‘Pull Harder On The Strings Of Your Martyr’ echoed around the sold-out venue.

With 2023 marking the 15th anniversary of ‘Shogun’, Trivium delivered some deeper cuts from that album on this tour. ‘Kirisute Gomen’ and ‘Torn Between Scylla and Charybdis’ both received massive reactions while the newer song, ‘Catastrophist’ had one of the loudest sing-alongs of the night. Despite the unrelenting heat, Fans were not giving up as they moshed and sang their way through tracks such as ‘Poison, The Knife Or The Noose’, ‘The Sin And The Sentance’, and ‘Like Callisto To A Star In Heaven’.

Sweat dripping, and energy levels starting to fade, ‘The Heart From Your Hate’ served as a nice middle ground for many to regain what little energy they could before Trivium would unleash a gnarly performance of ‘A Gunshot To The Head Of Trepidation’. The lights faded to black but everyone knew that wasn’t all. ‘Capsizing The Sea’ consumed the entire venue and the opening scream of ‘In Waves’ sent the entire crowd into overdrive. Both the fans and the band left everything they had within the academy’s four walls and not a single face looked disappointed.

Trivium are the workhorses of Metal. Their unrelenting touring cycle gives them little time to recover yet they manage to put on outstanding performances night after night. They feel at home within the UK and the fans love it each and every time they come back. Here’s to the next tour!