Trivium (w/ Arch Enemy, While She Sleeps, Fit For An Autopsy) @ The Palladium (Worcester, MA) on Nov 4, 2017 [Photos & Show Review]

Fresh off the release of their latest album The Sin and the Sentence, Florida metallers Trivium are in the midst of a massive co-headlining run with the mighty Arch Enemy, with support from the UK’s While She Sleeps, and opening act Fit For An Autopsy. We caught up with the tour as it hit the historic Palladium in Worcester, MA on Saturday, November 4th. This night in particular was special because, for lead guitarist Corey Beaulieu, this was as close to a “home” show as he’d have this tour. Beaulieu hails from my own home state of Maine and many Mainers were in attendance on this night to see a hometown hero slaying it with his band.

Fit For An Autopsy started the night out strong with a heavy set that heavily featured material from their 2017 release The Great Collapse. The band got the crowd moving and moshing from the very start with “Hydra,” and “Heads Will Hang.” It was definitely worth showing up on time, FFAA are a band I’d been dying to catch live and they did not disappoint. On almost any other bill they would’ve been the most satisfyingly heaviest band of the night, but alas there was still more to come.

While She Sleeps were up next with their brand of thrashy melodic hardcore. They picked up where FFAA left off and got folks moshing (including a wall of death) and crowd surfing! They were definitely the odd men out on this bill but it really seemed to work–those in the crowd whether familiar with them or not were mostly won over by the end of their set. The band started things off with the anthemic “You Are We,” before launching into several other tracks including “Silence Speaks,” and “Hurricane.” It’s awesome to see these guys touring stateside again, they are truly an underrated band–here’s hoping this helps boost them into higher spots on US tours or perhaps even headlining tours here!

As Trivium are coheadlining this run, they are alternating with Arch Enemy. On this night they opted to take the earlier slot, taking to the stage with “The Sin and the Sentence.” From the get-go it was clear this was going to be the tightest Trivium set I’d ever witnessed. Their new drummer Alex Bent is a force to be reckoned with–he was flawless throughout! Trivium have eight albums now–that’s a lot to choose from when crafting a setlist. The band put together a pretty decent set that while missing a few songs I would’ve liked to hear, had something for every era of fan to love, including deeper cuts like “Rain,” and “Like Light to Flies,” from Ascendancy and “Kirisute Gomen” and “Down from the Sky.” At the same time they also hit a bunch of the stronger tracks on their latest album, including “Betrayer,” and “Thrown into the Fire.” Frontman Matt Heafy was his usual fun self onstage, tongue out, flexing, engaging the crowd in banter (Heafy tried out some newly-learned New England Vocabulary–“Wicked Pissah”), and seemingly feeding off of the energy of the crowd. By the end of their 75-minute set, fans were ready for the last act of the night.

After a bit of a wait to change the stage over, Arch Enemy emerged one by one, with frontwoman Alissa White-Gluz emerging last and leading her band in the heaviest set of the night. I’d seen White-Gluz with her former band The Agonist before, but this was a whole new experience in that she seemed so much more intense in her vocal delivery and overall stage presence. She didn’t hold back as the band launched into “The World Is Yours,” whipping her hair around and belting out the lines from atop a stage riser. Indeed she went so hard that she managed to break her in-ear monitors within the first two songs. The band went on with the show despite the technical setback–it didn’t seem to affect her stellar performance.

Their set featured a several of the older fan-favorites, including “Nemesis,” “My Apocalypse,” “We Will Rise,” and “Dead Bury Their Dead.” At the same time, there was also plenty of recent material, including several tracks from their latest release Will To Power like “The Eagle Flies Alone,” “Blood In the Water,” and “The Race.”
There is plenty of time left to catch these two titans of metal on tour! Check out the remaining dates below!

Remaining Tour Dates:

11/11 – Kansas City, MO – The Truman
11/12 – Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall
11/14 – Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theater
11/15 – Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
11/17 – Denver, CO – Summit Music Hall
11/18 – Salt Lake City, UT – The Complex
11/20 – Calgary, AB – The Palace Theatre
11/21 – Edmonton, AB – Union Hall
11/23 – Vancouver, BC – Vogue Theater
11/24 – Seattle, WA – Showbox Sodo
11/25 – Portland, OR – Roseland Theater
11/27 – Sacramento, CA – Ace of Spades
11/28 – San Francisco, CA – The Regency Ballroom
11/29 – Los Angeles, CA – The Wiltern
12/01 – Phoenix, AZ – Marquee Theater
12/02 – Albuquerque, NM – Sunshine Theater
12/04 – Dallas, TX – Gas Monkey Live
12/05 – San Antonio, TX – Alamo City Music Hall
12/06 – Houston, TX – Warehouse Live