TRIVIUM and BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE, two powerhouse names in modern metal, announced their 20th Anniversary Tour for both “Ascendancy” and “The Poison” albums. With the Swedish support ORBIT CULTURE, they had a stop in Berlin on Valentine’s Day, February 14th, 2025, at Max Schmeling Arena.
Unfortunately, because of mismanagement, we could not cover ORBIT CULTURE, but you can read about their show in Madrid here…
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE broke ground in 2005 with their album “The Poison,” which was in the playlist of every average metalhead back then. 20 years later, they still create high-quality music. This night was about “The Poison.” The intro comprised a 2-minute long video on the screen with materials from 2005 including interviews, backstage, and the band’s Kerrang win. With a full arena consisting mostly of millennials, including myself, it was an hour and a half of nostalgia and remembering those teenage angsts and emotions. Matt Tuck is not the youngster with dyed black, straight long hair, but he performed the songs with heart and they still sound the same, but with a flare of maturity. Jamie Mathias’ vocals were complimenting and filling in the songs with power. The crowd was singing along to every song, moshing, crying. It was a beautiful sentiment to experience “The Poison” live. They closed with an encore of “Waking the Demon” and “Knives.”
TRIVIUM released “Ascendancy” the same year as BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE‘s “The Poison.” What a year it was for kids back then. TRIVIUM is always a joy experiencing live. Matthew Heafy‘s energy is unmatched—jumping around, hyping up the crowd, sticking his tongue out, and shredding the guitar. Matthew learned a couple of sentences in German and hyped the crowd to create the biggest circle pit on the tour. The vibe and style of TRIVIUM differ from BFMV, although they share similarities in their musical influences. Nevertheless, the arena was going crazy for both bands. For “Departure” Matthew said he wrote it as a 19-year-old frustrated about the world around him, and thanked the fans for being a part of his dream of playing a full arena one day. Fans lit up their phones and the whole arena was bright, like a starry night. For the encore, it was the iconic and meme-worthy “In Waves.”
Overall, the night was a time machine back to simpler times, when the world was frustrating, first break-ups made your tears crush and the only real problem was the upcoming exam you didn’t study for. Check our photo gallery of the evening here…
BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
TRIVIUM
