Archers Return Victorious to London, 2026

Most of the people who are coming out are people who have been listening to us for years and years and years and just never thought they’d get the chance to see us. I get that. When you’re a smaller band, especially overseas, a lot of times your fans can feel like, “Oh, I love this band, but I’ll never be able to see them.” So just being able to break that for people has been the biggest throughline

Nathanael Pulley

The crowd at Downstairs at the Dome is obviously an in-group. The band T-shirts share a clear Venn diagram of metalcore, emo and heavy metal. People know each other. I can remember faces from last year’s show. A group of friends behind me sing along to Bad Omens‘ ‘Just Pretend’ so wonderfully, I’m about to turn around when the lights come down.

Tropic Gold

Looking like an early 00s fever dream and sounding like the band your mom warned you about, Tropic Gold (hailing from Essex) rage, rampage and break the audio system within a tight 30 minute opening slot. They’re the perfect complement to Archers, hitting a similarly heavy electronic blend of metal and melodic, with perhaps a hint of more darkness and unresolved unresolvable anger. It was wonderful to see that a good chunk of the crowd had come specifically to see them, as people around me sang along to the lyrics, moshed and headbanged knowingly in sync with the unpredictable breaks.

Archers

“They’re aaaaalll breakup songs” I hear a dude say as I shimmy through the crowd between sets. He’s not technically wrong, as the vulnerability exposed in the lyrics of Archers feels particularly tied to relationships and their dissolution, but he’s not all correct either. Break ups, mental breakdowns, emotional break-ins, there’s a whole spectrum of crumbled-to-the-floor states and their respective redemptive partners that is covered across almost 10 years of singles, three beloved EPs and now the hopeful hint of a full-length album. Whatever you’re struggling with, whatever stage of grief you’re in, whether you want to cry or yell, Archers are there, the cathartic partners to any nuance of heartbreak.

Opening with my personal favourite ‘Made for Love’, the band ploughs through their discography, pacing it ever faster with aplomb. In the confines of the Black Heart last year (read our review HERE), the crowd was packed tightly against the stage in what felt like intimacy in even the loudest moshiest songs. But the spacious Downstairs at the Dome in North London gives the UK crowd a taste of what their ever-larger sold-out shows in the US look and feel like. Bangers like ‘Drag Me Out’ and ‘Bitter’ send ripples of bass all the way into the soles of your feet, are mellowed by ‘Composure’ and kicked right back up a notch by their latest singles. ‘The Dirt’ is a pounding drums-in-your chest ponder on burnout while chasing your dreams (and has perhaps their heaviest heavy metal breakdown of the set). ‘Say So’ starts off aching (“What a shame”), but never pleads. It’s a song asking for clarity (a clear break, a brave confession) in progressively angrier, more done-with-you tones, reaching its natural conclusion to “just get your shit and go”.

New bassist and growler Drew holds the sonic low-end firmly heavy and distorted, but boy can Nathanael pull off some insane dynamics, moving between his super clean melodic lines to metal harsh vocals in a heartbeat. In a testament to the solid musicianship on stage, Ben Koehler also gifts himself mini guitar solos throughout the show that make my little jam band heart very happy.

In a nod to last year’s set, a fan helps Nathanael cool down with a handheld fan (the UK still hasn’t discovered the wonders of AC) before their encore, the warm and cozy ‘Blanket Fort’. Hands in the air, the words “build a blanket fort that only we can be in” on everybody’s lips, it sends us off back into the real twisted world with the comfort of a safe space to return to and feel like ourselves again.