Despite it being a Monday night, the crowd is large and growing even as the doors open at 6:30pm for The Amity Affliction’s return to the UK. This is no surprise as TAA have always been well liked and supported on these shores, with every gig I’ve attended of theirs being packed to the rafters. I make my way up onto the balcony as Californian openers SeeYouSpaceCowboy take to the stage. I saw them for the first time at Outbreak Fest 2022 and was immediately captivated by their sound, writing and performance. I’m excited and thrilled by them once again tonight as they enthusiastically leap and bound about the stage delivering a unique brand of hardcore and metal. When Every Time I Die called it a day I thought I’d never find a band again that does something genuinely alternative, ferociously passionate and an artistically driven take on hardcore…but then I found SYSC. They mix mathcore, hardcore, alt-punk and metalcore into what they themselves have described as Sasscore. The vocals from lead singer Connie Sgarbossa are at times dirty and harsh like sandpaper ripping through your soul, then spoken with deadpan calmness, or at times wailing and howling cleans. It’s a vocal array that is immediately recognisable and stunning. Fans of The Locust and Converge need to do themselves a favour and get into this band now. But also, there’s something there for fans of early Funeral for a Friend and Waterdown too. I’d say there’s lots of time changes, but it feels like there isn’t a time signature to hold onto, nor a key to change from, as it’s deliciously chaotic. Discordant guitars gnaw away and jaggedly strike and punch as the drums pound and thunder. Follow them, watch them if you get the chance, listen to them and give them a chance, because even if they don’t hook you on the first listen you owe it to yourself to let them click eventually.

Second on we have Gideon from Alabama. They cut a visual mixture of broad-shouldered cowboys and metalcore aficionados, and they hit heavy and hard from the off. Delivering an awesome mix of melodic hardcore and metalcore, every track bases itself on a core of groove and bounce. aggressive, intense and emotive. The brutal elements sit perfectly alongside the more melodic structures, in the vein of Malevolence, Stick to Your Guns and Lionheart, and they really get the crowd pumped throughout. There’s plenty of crunch and power instrumentally, and prowling frontman Daniel McWhorter barks his vocals with an engaging pace and tone. Ultimately, most heads I can see are nodding or banging along to every song, and you can’t ask for much more than that.

Fit for a King aren’t as visceral or primal as the two openers, but that might owe to their high degree of slickness and professionality of this metalcore crew from Texas. Not that they aren’t enthusiastic and pack a powerful punch when they want to, and in fact Ryan Kirby effortlessly switches between mainstream cleans and vicious harsh vocals with surprising ease and effect. FFAK remind me a great deal of Wage War, but I’d say they actually have a better knack for hook writing and have more memorable hits in their set. It’s catchy, stompy and supplied with plenty of heavy beatdowns. This formula serves them well, and with the occasional intricate guitar riff thrown in too, they can rightly sit alongside Bury Tomorrow and some more recent Parkway Drive in delivering an excellent metalcore experience.

The Ritz is absolutely rammed by the time The Amity Affliction take to the stage, with the balcony three deep and the standing stalls full to the back doors. It’s no small achievement to have successfully stuck to their musical beliefs since 2003, but it’s paid off with a notably loyal and large fanbase. It’s no surprise then that the crowd are in good voice, and dancing form, with favourites ‘Pittsburgh’ and ‘All My Friends Are Dead’ kicking off the set. They balance melodic metalcore, post-hardcore and straight-up brutal metalcore very well, and never lose sight of the melody at the core of each song.  There’s something for everyone with heavy versus clean vocals switching over, beatdowns sprinkled in and anthemic choruses aplenty. Joel Birch can’t keep still, as he delivers his ripsaw harsh vocals, while Ahren Stringer croons smoothly with those high pitch almost pop punk cleans. They continue to effectively marry the harsh with the smooth, the brutal with the tender. The set is gleefully devoured by the whole crowd, and encore ‘Soak Me in Bleach’ sends everyone out in the cold night air more than satisfied.