By Laura Jane.
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Tonight we’re heading to the O2 Ritz for an absolutely stacked lineup featuring Life Cycles, Distant, Revocation, and headliners Sylosis. Walking into the venue, my first reaction was mostly curiosity. With Manchester hosting several shows tonight throughout the city centre and neighboring areas such as Crowbar at Rebellion, Between the Buried and Me playing a small an intimate show at Band on the Wall, and local band Wailing Banshee just a stone’s throw away at Holy Diver in Stockport — I genuinely wasn’t sure how busy this one would be. Choosing between all those gigs is no easy task to say the least. There were undoubtedly plenty of other gigs happening across Manchester tonight that haven’t been mentioned above; the scene right now feels genuinely thriving, with both underground acts and international touring bands bringing their sound into the city centre.
My favourite thing about this venue—aside from the consistently great sound—is how easy you can get there by public transport. Being located opposite Oxford Road train station and a variety of bus stops within a short walking distance, this venue is one that when bands play you don't feel rushed to leave afterwards and find it comfortable to stay for the whole set.
Opening the night to a steadily filling room were Life Cycles hailing from San Antonio, Texas. Life Cycles were the one band on tonight’s bill that I hadn’t really experienced or knew much about but that unfamiliarity turned into a sensation of going away having felt that I'd just found a band that I would be keeping an eye on in the future. Their blend of hardcore and thrash carried that same riotous energy you’d expect from Municipal Waste.
What stood out most for me from their performance was the level of confidence that radiated whilst they stormed around the stage. While some acts can appear meek or hesitant, Life Cycles delivered the exact opposite energy. It was fantastic to watch with their set notably hitting harder as it progressed.
Upon departing the stage, you could tell they'd given it their all in the kindest way possible, they all looked bloody knackered and a massive credit is due for this performance. Nothing about their performance suggested ‘opening band’ and their set didn’t feel like an opener in the slightest. With this level of energy and precision, you can easily imagine them taking the same momentum into a headline slot of their own once their following grows a little more. The future for Life Cycles is definitely exciting.
Following that high‑energy set, and with a shift in genre, Distant took to the stage. Grounded in their deathcore origins, Distant came through with perhaps what was arguably the heaviest set of the night. Having seen Distant play multiple shows in the past from supporting bands such as Lorna Shore and Enterprise Earth I would honestly have to say I believe that tonights performance was possible the best I've seen Distant perform.
Their set was tight, aggressive and most of all during the performance there were times where you could physically feel the room vibrating. Distant delivered a performance brimming with confidence, unleashing blast beats, gutturals, and breakdowns with sheer, unrelenting brutality. They delivered exactly what you’d expect from them — the sound and intensity they’re renowned for. During their set, this was the moment the crowd‑surfers surged forward, as if those double cans of Monster finally kicked in.
Toward the end of the set frontman Alan Grnja had everyone crouch low until the beat kicked in — and when it did, the room exploded into a frenzy of bodies jumping in unison. The moment carried a hint of nostalgia, echoing the kind of crowd‑prompts Corey Taylor made famous during Slipknot’s peak years.
The night was only two bands in and what a show they had brought to the stage so far, things could only get better... right?
With the genre swinging back toward thrash and echoing the energy of openers Life Cycles, Revocation stepped onto the stage. Compared to most of tonight’s lineup, Revocation’s set was far more static in terms of movement, yet their charisma carried the performance so strongly that you couldn’t help but stay fully engaged. Their set featured some of their most popular discography such as "Sarcophagi of the Soul", "Existence Is Futile" and "Galleries of Morbid Artistry". Although skipping a little ahead apart from Sylosis's reaction from the crowd I would have to say that Revocation got possible one of the evenings best reactions from the crowd with the crowd amorously cheering and almost a feeling of sadness coming from the audience when they had concluded their set.
Echoing back to my first thought upon entering the venue this evening, the crowd had certainly filled out with bodies spread thick wall to wall. The pure heat right now was almost unbearable with staff frantically running round the venue with small cups of water handing them out left right and centre to parched members of the audience. Security kept the night running smoothly, staying focused on the crowd’s safety, from catching crowd‑surfers at the barrier to making sure people stayed hydrated. I did feel sorry for one lady who was almost crushed by a crowd surfer whilst catching them as they came over, I'll give her props she took it with good humour and got up laughing it off but not going to lie it did look like it may have hurt a little.
As the final act of the evening, headliners Sylosis stepped forward to bring the night to a close. Formed in 2000 in Reading, United Kingdom Sylosis are not a new face to the music scene. I think my first personal experience with Sylosis was back in 2007 at Hull Metal fest and it's been an honor being able to see the growth this band have made throughout the years.
Opening their set up with "Erased" from that moment the energy onstage and in the crowd was at 100%. Before stepping into the photo pit, I found myself wondering whether Sylosis would keep things fairly static on stage or bring more movement — and my god, it was definitely the latter. This is the most energy and motion I’ve ever seen from them in all the times I’ve had the pleasure of shooting their shows. Their set continued throughout the evening with energy high and a tight, well rehearsed performance, other tracks featured throughout the evening were "Heavy Is the Crown", "Eclipsed" and "Teras".
Throughout the set it was tight and highly polished with a great level of production in the stage aesthic, it was simple yet impactful. The energy remained high from both the band and the audience with consistent chants from the crowds and singing along to each and every song that was featured on tonights set list.
The band ended their set with their recently released track "The New Flesh", the crowd went wild and when I say wild... they went for it. It goes to show that Sylosis material both old and new can firmly be told 'slaps' and has gone down really well with fans with Manchester giving it their all to the full set of both the new and older discography.
As the last note rung out there was a couple of people stood by who started booing in an admirable way showing verbal expression that they didn't want the show to end. I'm always 50/50 when this sort of admiration is shown it's both a sign that the fans want more but also sometimes find it a slightly bit disrespectful to artists who are on stage who have given their all and deserve that rest for after tonight shows, Sylosis definitely deserved it.
One thing that really stood out tonight was how the bands handled the changeovers. As they unloaded their gear at the side of the stage, plenty of fans approached them at the barrier — and every single member who stopped to chat showed genuine appreciation and greeted people with a smile. They spoke with fans proudly, taking the time to connect even during the busy hustle and bustle of moving equipment off stage and honestly it was really wholesome to see these bands.
Additional praise that I feel should be mentioned was the attention to detail from the staff who took care of people in the access seating area - staff were often noticed taking orders for drink and merchandise from people in access. It’s something that doesn’t get talked about enough, but accessibility at venues is often lacking. It was genuinely a feeling of a step in the right direction to see the O2 Ritz making a real effort tonight to support disabled fans who needed it.
Reflecting back on the evening, the experience was another solid gig for the start of the year having gotten through January with some solid gigs so far this show can proudly be added to the growing list of ‘shows that just hit on another level’ for the year. 2026 really is starting out to be something special.
Although there are no remaining dates for this tour with the conclusion of this leg officially ending on 22 February 2026 in Dublin if you do get a chance to catch a show of any of the bands featured on this line up tonight, I would highly recommend doing so.
If you’d like to check out any of the bands from tonight’s lineup, the links are below:
Revocation
Photography by Laura Jane Photography on behalf of Get Heavy UK. Images are not to be redistributed, reproduced, or used elsewhere without prior permission.
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