Decapitated, Cryptopsy, Warbringer and Carnation – Club Academy, Manchester; 8th May 2025.

13th May 2025 0 By Laura Thomason

On tonight’s adventure, we set off to Manchester Academy 2 to see Decapitated, Great! I still have PTSD from the time I photographed Four Years Strong there. I approached the box office and got my tickets, and was informed it was “downstairs to the right”. It took me a minute whilst standing there, probably with the standard gormless look I usually have on my face: “… but Academy 2 is upstairs?” SYKE! The gig had been moved to Club Academy! Now, although this is probably a negative sign for the band due to this being a smaller venue than Academy 2, I can honestly say this was music to my ears, and I could not have been any happier in that moment. For anyone who has not attended a show at Club Academy, Club Academy is the smaller venue within the Academy “family”, having a capacity of approximately 460 people. With this being the case, the question to be asked is “Why?” The lineup for tonight consisted of some powerhouses of the metal world and left me wondering why it had been downgraded. My first thought was “That’s a shame”, but was shortly followed by the afterthought of, “heck yes! This is going to be a really cool experience – an intimate venue for these bands; let’s go!!!”. The lineup of bands featured this evening consisted of Decapitated, Cryptopsy, Warbringer, and Carnation – four bands ready to tear up Club Academy in Manchester.

Setting the tone for the evening, Carnation took to the stage. Carnation, hailing from Belgium, brought a classic death metal vibe to the stage with a twist of deathcore to their sound. I say a twist; by this I mean the equivalent of how the cherry in the new Dr Pepper Cherry tastes like, it’s not prominent, but it’s there – it’s identifiable. Unfortunately, due to traffic in the Manchester area, I did miss the first opening songs, but from what was caught of the set by the end, I was standing saying to a friend, “I enjoyed that!” This band has definitely piqued my interest, and I’m curious to get to know them more… a band that’s for sure been added to my watch list for upcoming things. It might be my lack of knowledge in the band due to when looking further into them, seeing their formation dating back to 2013, I’m honestly amazed I’ve never heard of them really before. It’s great to have found some new music and have witnessed it live (even better) that I can add to my ever-growing list of music.

Picking up where Carnation left off, Warbringer took to the stage. I’ll be honest – out of all the bands on the line tonight, this was one of the bands that I was least looking forward to, and I’d like to wholeheartedly say “I was wrong” in that judgment – Warbringer were astounding. Known for their high-energy, aggressive sounds, they did not disappoint; I adored the energy displayed during their performances and found their crowd interaction to be well executed. If, like me, you like a bit of drama on stage, it was a nice touch to bring out a sword during the performance of the track ‘The Sword and The Cross’. Loved to see and give major bonus points for this sort of stage act; it’s engaging, it’s fun, and it’s on tone with the genre – it creates a memorable experience for the audience, and this is what I love to see.

Just past the halfway point now, the room was bustling with people navigating through the crowd with what seemed a strong sense of purpose, be that heading to the bar or making their way to the merch stand located at the rear of the room. I decided tonight I will not be battling with the horrific cider that Club Academy has to offer (for anyone not familiar with my reviews, if you find any that I’ve visited Club Academy, you’ll find a running theme of my negative experience with the choice of cider available at this venue and the one that is available… well… I won’t spoil it, go check for yourself!). Anyway, I digress… Back to the music – the real reason I’m writing this.

Stepping up next to take the spotlight is a band I have wanted to see for a long time now, Cryptopsy. For those unfamiliar with this band, Cryptopsy is a Canadian technical death metal band that gives that “punch your nan” feeling. The crowd’s energy during this set was absolutely mind-blowing; seeing people fly over the barriers from crowd surfing was a sight to behold. I’m used to a couple of crowd surfers at Club Academy, but this was on another level for what I’ve witnessed in this venue. You know it’s sending security into a panic when additional bodies are sent through to the other side of the barrier to assist shepherding crowd surfers away from the stage. With a mention during their set of their soon-to-be-released album ‘An Insatiable Violence’ (Due for release 20th June), this left an echo of excitement knowing this would not be the only Cryptopsy experience I would be having in such a short duration of time (WATCH THIS SPACE…).

The act wrapping up this evening took to the stage: Decapitated. Decapitated is a band that I’ve wanted to see for a long time, and fulfilling that wish was definitely worth the wait. I can not tell you how long ‘Earth Scar‘ has lived in my head rent free and seeing this live now has filled a void I did not know existed. Decapitated’s technicality during live performances is outstanding, and the execution of their music is flawless. What a show, honestly… from start to finish, I was captivated and completely invested in every single riff that came from that stage. Off-stage it was great to see people giving their all to what was being unfolded in front of them, whether it’s headbanging, chanting along, singing word for word (if you can call it singing at a death metal gig, I mean… it is, right?), throwing out some shapes in the many pits that ensued throughout the evening or, in general, just being involved in what can only be described as controlled chaos.

Although their performance was remarkable and showcased why Decapitated are masters in their genre, I do feel personally that the award for band of the night would have to go to Cryptopsy (albeit very close to which bands got the biggest crowd reaction). I just felt the energy that was felt during Cryptopsy’s set was unrivalled for the evening – all bands were phenomenal; however, Cryptopsy’s set honestly has left a warm, fuzzy feeling deep within me, one that I shall not be forgetting any time soon. Overall, the lineup was an absolute beast choice, with all the bands on the evening bringing something unique to the stage that people could not get enough of. For anyone who has had the opportunity to see this lineup in the flesh, I’d like to hazard a guess that there was no disappointment.