Lorna Shore, Whitechapel, Shadow Of Intent, Humanity’s Last Breath – Victoria Warehouse, Manchester – 10th February 2026
As soon as this tour was announced, there was a lot of excitement and it sold out very quickly. The package brought together four bands, all rooted in deathcore, with each one bringing a different variation of the genre and despite the early doors, the converted industrial warehouse venue filled up quickly and was packed by the time Sweden’s Humanity’s Last Breath took to the stage.
HUMANITY’S LAST BREATH
Opening with Väldet, the band played in near darkness for big chunks of the set as they delivered a no-nonsense, hypnotic set of deathcore with big chunks of doom, djent, death metal and even post black metal (to my ears at least!) thrown into the mix giving a claustrophobic wall of glorious noise which rumbled around the venue. Vocalist Filip Danielsson was enshrouded in a cloak, but despite the anonymity commanded the room, and it was impossible not to be drawn into their oppressive world. I made my first trip of the evening to the merch stand and was not alone.
SHADOW OF INTENT
After a quick turnaround, there was a change of pace for Shadow Of Intent and They Murdered Sleep which got things going. The band brought a more aggressive approach with big chunks of technical death metal being incorporated into their sound. Their relentless battery woke up the crowd surfers who started coming over the barrier in earnest keeping security busy as one track led effortlessly into another resulting in an imposing barrage. The band were energetic as they delivered the set, which was taken almost exclusively from their fantastic latest album Imperium Delirium, giving a very impressive account of themselves and winning over the neutrals in the crowd with their crushing weighty tomes.
WHITECHAPEL
There was barely time to recover before fellow American’s Whitechapel were opening with Prisoner 666 unleashing their more direct variation of deathcore. The crowd was lively from the start and an endless stream of crowd surfers kept the photographers on their toes as Hymns In Dissonance and A Visceral Retch flew by. Phil Bozeman prowled the front of the stage, crouching down in his trademark stance, engaging with the front rows. Hate Cult Ritual was a midset highlight as guttural growls combined with dark melodies, layered atop pounding rhythms delivering a relentless aural battery, but in honesty one song blended into the next with the set becoming a no frills, solid wall of aggressive Deathcore, further building the band’s already impressive reputation.
LORNA SHORE
A white curtain with the Lorna Shore logo obscured the stage from view while the stage was turned around for the headliners, with guilty pleasures such as You Give Love A Bad Name and Heaven Is A Place On Earth being played over the PA as the crowd found their collective singing voice culminating in Total Eclipse Of The Heart. The curtain then dropped as the band launched into Oblivion with a wall of pyro making a statement of intent.
Unbreakable and War Machine followed before a spectacular Sun//Eater which saw Nick Chance join the band on guest vocals. At this point, I found myself reflecting that what sets Lorna Shore apart from their peers is the epic, symphonic melodies which serve as a backdrop for the distinctive vocals which push the boundaries of what human vocal cords are capable of! Glenwood saw the crowd singing along, before Will Ramos joked that the sentimental stuff was over and it was time for some “ass beaters” before a magnificent Prison Of Flesh. The band then announced that there was only one song left before responding to the boos and reassuring the sold out crowd that the song was actually a trilogy. Of course this led into the breath taking Pain Remains trilogy and lots more pyros. Finally things were brought to a close with To The Hellfire.
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES
Lorna Shore are truly something special and are really pushing the boundaries of deathcore and extreme metal in general. They retain brutality while incorporating majestic, sweeping melodies, and while music like this should not appeal to the masses, I fully expect Lorna Shore to be headlining arenas before long, and it would be thoroughly well deserved.
All photography by Andy Pountney (Event Photography Awards Winner 2024 and 2025). You can check out more of his work on shot_in_the_dark_photography2 on Instagram.
Lorna Shore: Website
Whitechapel: Website
Shadow Of Intent: Website
Humanity’s Last Breath: Website