TRIVIUM and ARCH ENEMY
The Truman – Kansas City, MO – November 11, 2017
Photos by Thomas Woroniak Photography
“We’re all friends tonight, it’s about what unites us not what fucking divides us.” – Matt Heafy
Currently touring on a co-headlining run, metal juggernauts Trivium and Arch Enemy rocked Kansas City on Saturday, November 11, at the city’s newest music venue, The Truman. This newly renovated space fits roughly 1400 people, and features an open general admission area, and an upper balcony reserved for VIP guests. The venue offers a wonderful new sound system and stage lighting, great acoustics, and is quickly becoming a favorite spot to check out live music in the KC area.
Opening the evening’s entertainment was New Jersey deathcore band, Fit For An Autopsy. While the Truman’s capacity was not nearly maxed out at the start of the show, the guys in FFAA were more than capable of getting everyone’s blood pumping with a short but highly energized 6-song set that predominantly featured tracks off their March 2017 full-length, The Great Collapse. Starting off with “Hydra” and followed closely with “Heads Will Hang”, vocalist Joe Badolato and crew engaged the crowd with a non-stop aural assault before returning to a double shot of earlier tracks with the title track off their previous album, Absolute Hope Absolute Hell, followed by “Still We Destroy” from 2013’s Hellbound. The group returned to their new material to close out the set with the tech death stylings of “Iron Moon” and the memorable crushing groove of the politically charged “Black Mammoth”.
Next up was Sheffield-based metalcore troupe, While She Sleeps, and as the crowd began to grow, the English quintet kept the energy high throughout their 6-song set. Kicking off with the title track from their 2017 release, You Are We, the frenzy quickly gained momentum as the band launched into several tracks from the current album, including “Civil Isolation”, “Feel”, “Silence Speaks”, and “Hurricane”. At one point, bassist Aaran McKenzie jumped down off the stage and joined the crowd, getting into the mix in the mosh pit while maintaining the low-end thump of the bass guitar. Vocalist Lawrence “Loz” Taylor also did his share of crowd interaction with a turn at some bumpy crowd-surfing action. While She Sleeps packed an incredible amount of energy into a short set with their performance, and if these Sheffield lads come through your neck of the woods you should check them out! 
Trading headlining spots on this tour, Arch Enemy offered direct support for the headliner tonight. The Swedish melodic death metal titans played an extensive set of fan favorites, starting with the hugely popular “The World Is Yours” off of their recent 2017 Century Media release, Will to Power. Vocalist Allisa White Gluz is a formidable frontwoman with a roar that is unsurpassed, going toe-to-toe with any vocalist in the melodeath world. On a personal note, the dual axe-slinging madmen, Michael Amott and Jeff Loomis, are always a treat to watch as they move effortlessly through complex rhythms and mind-blowing fretboard shredding. I’ve been a fan of Loomis since Nevermore, as well as the amazing instrumental wizardry of Conquering Dystopia, so it is always a pleasure to watch him play any chance I get!
The fifteen-song set featured only four songs off of Will to Power; the previously mentioned opener “The World Is Yours”, “Blood in the Water”, “The Race”, and “The Eagle Flies Alone”. The remainder of the setlist consisted of a mix of early tracks that reached back as far as 2001’s Wages of Sin album with “Ravenous”, “Dead Bury Their Dead”, and the instrumental “Snow Bound”, along with more recent material like “Stolen Life”, “You Will Know My Name”, “As the Pages Burn”, and “Avalanche”, all taken from 2014’s War Eternal, including the titular track “War Eternal”. The band finished their set with “Nemesis” from their 2005 album Doomsday Machine. 
With the venue now fully-packed, Trivium kicked off their headlining set with the title track from their most recent album, The Sin and the Sentence, which was released this past October on Roadrunner Records. The crowd-surfers started almost immediately, and the venue’s security did a great job helping people down as they made their way toward the front of the stage. Next up was “Down From the Sky” from the 2008 album, Shogun, followed by another new track, “Betrayer”. Frontman Matt Heafy stopped the band during “Betrayer” to address the audience, specifically directing his comments to two rowdy moshers who were taking their aggression too far. After things were defused, the band jumped back into the song without missing a beat.
“Separate those guys. Hey, hey, hey! Nobody fucking hit anybody tonight, you gotta split that shit up, it’s not worth it. We good? You okay? Spread out, spread out. Boys, we gotta separate you two to two opposite corners of this room. You guys okay? None of that tonight. We’re all friends tonight, it’s about what unites us not what fucking divides us.”
The set also included two more from The Sin and the Sentence, “The Heart From Your Hate” and “Thrown Into the Fire”, as well as a mix of tracks from the band’s back catalogue. They dug deep into the past with a double shot from 2005’s Ascendancy with “Like Light to the Flies” and “Rain”, as well as another track from Shogun, “Kirisute Gomen”. The somewhat catchy track “Strife” was the only song from 2013’s Vengeance Falls, and “Until the World Goes Cold” was also the singular track that made the list from their previous release, Silence in the Snow.
This lineup offers a lot for every metal fan and the shows are selling out on most dates, so get your tickets early if you want to catch this tour. You won’t be disappointed with any of the bands on the bill, and fans of both Arch Enemy and Trivium will enjoy the range of songs both bands offer from their respective discographies.
SUPPORT. LIVE. MUSIC.
Arch Enemy
Trivium
