Slaughter To Prevail at O2 Academy Brixton, London 2026

Oh, how far the mighty have come. Slaughter to Prevail are living every deathcore kid’s dream right now; elevating deathcore to new heights and bringing the OG’s along with them. The show they are bridging across Europe and the UK is like being kicked in the face with a breath of fresh air. After being in that room, surrounded by new and old lovers of the genre, it is clear that Slaughter to Prevail truly deserves to be up there with the best. 

Annotations Of An Autopsy

Beautiful, beautiful slams. 20 years in the game and they’re not letting up. Their riffs were filthy, their stage presence simple and concentrated, and their tones had the approval of the crowd. Unfortunately, not everyone got the chance to see them, but those who got in early soon came to understand the sheer weight coming from that stage. Pig squeals and banshee whales breached our eardrums and were followed by a beautifully tuned snare that cut through the sound system. Annotations of an Autopsy was the perfect opener for this show; catchy and predictable.

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Suicide Silence

This is a band that knows what it means to endure. They have been a pillar of the deathcore scene since their breakout album. Amidst the ever changing sound of heavy music, Suicide Silence have remained consistent with their classic deathcore sound. My last time seeing Suicide Silence was at Soundwave 2014, just before they dropped ‘You Can’t Stop Me’. Safe to say the crowd at the 02 was just as excited to see them as I was way back then. As soon as they raised the banner, the crowd erupted in hollers and hoots. 

They started with ‘Unanswered’, following with ‘Wake Up and Fuck Everything’. They have played these songs thousands of times at this point, but you could see they were having just as much fun as everyone else. Replacement guitarist Ian Waye was doing an amazing job, going riff for riff with the rest of the band. Mark would be proud. Suicide Silence has so many great songs on their roster, but they made sure to pick the ones that got people moving and feeling alive. ‘Love Me to Death’ had Eddie conducting the crowd like a moving orchestra. He split the room into a series of walls that collapsed against the weight of the other. You didn’t have to look too close to see the cookie monster and a giant banana going blow for blow before ‘Disengage’. They closed with ‘No Pity for a Coward’, but before that… 

‘You Only Live Once’. Such a powerful song. A song that made the whole room lock in. 

There was a great uplifting feeling in the crowd, and the room erupted once again and even though we were all in this massive room with thousands of others, for that one song, in that moment, it was as if we were back underground and nothing else mattered. 

Rest in Peace Mitch Lucker. 

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Dying Fetus

This band has such a brutal sound; it actually stunned me. The bass rumbled! I don’t know what Sean Beasley is plotting, but it sounds sinister. I have never heard a bass tone so rich with resonance. They opened their set with this epic fight riff that had me so tempted to run right to the centre of the pit and let loose. They went into ‘Unbridled Fury’, and their drummer made it look so easy to play with unbridled stamina. Sean and John are like wizards, performing solos and vocals in tandem, exchanging riffs and screams like a game of ping pong. All these years and Dying Fetus is still at the top of their game. They transitioned from one song to another, keeping that high energy flowing. I have never been a regular listener of Dying Fetus but god d a m n, ‘Praise the Lord’ brought out the animal in me. This is one of those bands that you just need to see live to truly understand. It makes me feel extremely honoured to have been in that room; to experience (un)Dying Fetus.   

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Slaughter to Prevail

Deathcore as a genre has been evolving and changing. Thicker guitars, chunkier bass, drums that sound like hellfire, all that jazz. Every now and again, something new comes along that changes the game; a new production direction, instrumental technique, vocal pattern or technique. It seems that a lot of other bands hop onto these trends, and that’s all fine and dandy, good for them. Pop off. I like Slaughter to Prevail because they just seem like they want to be their best version of themselves. Like Suicide Silence they have kept their own sound consistent, and I love that. They’re not afraid to try new things, but not because everyone else is doing them. They really want to bring deathcore to the worl,d and they’re doing a pretty good job at doing it. 

Despite the technical difficulties during ‘Bonebreaker’, I really enjoyed myself. I was happy to see people around the room still moshing and crowdsurfing, and Alex doing his best to offer apologies and keep spirits high. Technical difficulties are such a letdown, but how you deal with them can make or break a show. 

As soon as everything was good to go, the band bounced back in full swing, literally; I could see Mike flying in all directions with his bass swinging. You can imagine everyone’s excitement when V Man came on and started tearing up the place. Faith was fully restored at that point, and the show was back on track; people were all over each other. 

Despite all the heated energy in the room, Alex wanted to express that he was “Living my dream” and that “if you want to change something in this world, start with yourself”. 

Slaughter to Prevail is incredibly tight with their performance. It’s great to see the band enjoys playing together and putting on a memorable show for audiences. The giant bear with the ruby red eye is a testament to their animalistic playing and the nature of their song. The band has such a diverse range of core sounds that keep each song fresh and interesting, yet still familiar. 

Slaughter to Prevail has managed to really grasp a hold of who they are. They have captured that breakthrough Deathcore sound, like Anglemaker, Thy Art is Murder, Whitechapel and Suicide Silence before them, and they’re not letting up any time soon.

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