The hills of eastern Kentucky echoed with the roars of The Poisoned Ascendency Tour. The co-headlining tour featured Trivium and Bullet For My Valentine, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their respective debut albums, Ascendency and The Poison. Accompanying the tour were metalcore masters, August Burns Red, and Scottish metal act, Bleed From Within. Before the first note was played fans lined the concourse of the Corbin Arena to secure their merch. Conveniently, they could also watch the show from the line.
Bleed From Within opened the evening with their intense blend of melodic death metal, metalcore and groove metal. Vocalist Scott Kennedy encouraged fans to ‘wake up’ and they responded with a wall of death and some early crowd surfing. Kennedy rewarded them with high fives as they made their way to the front and surfed himself during the finale of the set. Dustin Davidson, bassist of August Burn Red, joined the set for a moment in traditional Scottish attire, kilt and all. As the performance closed Kennedy said, “we’ll see you next year,” so another North American tour may be on the horizon as they support their latest release, Zenith. They are scheduled for a Europe and UK headliner later this year.
Pennsylvania metalcore veterans, August Burns Red opened their performance with a cover of “Chop Suey” by System of a Down. Guitarist Brent Rambler and bassist Dustin Davidson switched responsibilities during this song and another. 2025 also marks the 20th anniversary of their debut album, Thrill Seeker. The band released a re-recorded version of the album in January. Even as the years have passed August Burns Red hasn’t pulled any punches when it comes to their intensity on stage. They also don’t take themselves too seriously and are still smiling and having fun with the crowd.
“This is our music, these are our people,” Vocalist Jake Luhrs told the crowd as they illuminated the arena with their cell phone lights. Luhrs and drummer Matt Greiner came down to the barricade to chat with fans right after the set.
Along with 8 albums and numerous hits, Bullet For My Valentine(BFMV) have garnered support from devoted fans from all over the world. For one fan, Kaitlyn Y., this was her 35th time seeing BFMV in concert and the 6th time on this tour alone. The dedication and commitment is nothing but admirable. Before the band took the stage, a video featuring an early career retrospective played with old interviews and behind the scenes content. Lights danced on the walls of the arena as the production values for each set increased. BFMV had some pretty creative graphics playing behind them in the shape of their signature skull. The setlist included a front to back play through of The Poison with an encore including Your Betrayal and Waking The Demon. The fans sang along with the big choruses of the album and matched the raw energy of the music.
“It’s not often that a band gets to do this with their debut album 20 years later,” vocalist and guitarist Matt Tuck told the crowd. “It’s a fucking privilege and an honor to be here.”
The metal titans from Orlando, Florida, Trivium were set to close out the night. Their set also included a front to back play through of Ascendency. Experiencing the fervor of this album live made it feel like a timeless record. Vocalist and guitarist Matt Heafy engaged with the fans on and off the mic. Encouraging to let themselves get into the music, by moving around or standing and headbanging, while also emphasizing to take care of one another. After performing the title track, drummer Alex Bent kept the crowd's attention with an epic drum solo. At the end of it there was a jump scare with the reveal of Monte the Monster, the character on the cover of Ascendency, towering over the stage. Reminiscent of the Iron Maiden stage sets from the 80s.
Heafy explained to the crowd how he had been battling mental demons over the last year. Mirroring the emotions he felt while writing the debut album and how the music helped pull him through, providing an outlet for him and the fans. After the playthrough the set concluded with two favorites “Strife” and “In Waves”. Fans were instructed to get down and jump when the hammer dropped on “In Waves”.
Witnessing a big metal show in a small town that is over an hour away from a major city was special. The fact that a major production of a show is accessible to all fans, young and old, is what it’s all about. From singing along to crowd surfing, each band received a warm welcome and fans gave it their all from the back of the seats to the front of the barricade.
