Beartooth bring Pure Ecstasy to Brixton Academy

Beartooth | Silverstein | Kingdom of Giants
O2 Academy Brixton, London | 3 October 2026

There are some gig line-ups that just make sense, and Beartooth bringing Silverstein and Kingdom of Giants to London was certainly one of them. Three bands with very different takes on heavy music came together at O2 Academy Brixton on 3 October for a night that had everything you could want from a metalcore show: huge riffs, screaming vocals, plenty of crowd surfers, circle pits and a crowd that seemed determined to make the most of every second.

For Beartooth, this was part of their Pure Ecstasy world tour, following the release of their sixth album in August. The London show sat towards the end of the European and UK run, with Leeds and Glasgow following later in the week.

Kingdom of Giants

First up were California’s Kingdom of Giants. A Sacramento metalcore band formed in 2011. Their sound brings together heavy metalcore, post-hardcore, and electronic elements with intricate guitar work, breakdowns, and plenty of melody.

The band have built a strong following over the years, particularly around albums including Passenger, while their 2024 Bleeding Star EP continued that heavier direction.

Opening a show of this size is never easy, but Kingdom of Giants didn’t hang around waiting for the crowd to warm up. Their set went straight into the heavier side of their sound, with breakdowns and harsh vocals getting people moving early.

There was an added challenge for the band that night, as their drummer was unable to make it into the UK because of visa issues. Instead, the band performed with pre-recorded drums. Despite that, they still put plenty of energy into the set and made the most of their short time on stage.

By the end of their set, the floor was already starting to come alive, setting the tone for what was still to come.

You can follow Kingdom of Giants here:

Silverstein

With 25 years behind them, the Canadian post-hardcore veterans didn’t need much introduction. Formed in Burlington, Ontario, in 2000, Silverstein have spent more than two decades developing a sound built around melodic post-hardcore, emotional songwriting, aggressive vocals, and huge choruses.

Their 2005 album Discovering the Waterfront remains one of the defining records of their career and has since been certified gold in Canada.

They’ve also managed something that plenty of bands from the early 2000s scene haven’t: they have continued making relevant new music without abandoning what made people fall in love with them in the first place. Their 2025 double album project, Antibloom and Pink Moon, showed that they still have plenty to say after all these years.

Live, Silverstein were exactly what you’d expect from a band with that much experience. Shane Told worked the crowd throughout the set while the rest of the band kept things moving between older favourites and newer material.

There was a real sense of familiarity when the biggest songs came around. The crowd knew them, screamed them and gave Silverstein the kind of response you’d expect from a band who have been part of the scene for so long.

You can follow Silverstein here:

Beartooth

The lights went down and the atmosphere in Brixton immediately changed. The stage filled with noise and movement as Caleb Shomo and the band launched into “Pure Ecstasy”, the opening track from their brand-new album.
It was a fitting way to start.
Released on 28 August, Pure Ecstasy is Beartooth’s sixth album and marks a new chapter for Shomo, both musically and personally. The album moves between the aggression Beartooth have always been known for and a more open approach to themes of growth, self-acceptance and moving forward. It also marks the band’s first album with Fearless Records.

The set moved quickly from “Pure Ecstasy” into “Bullshit”, “Beaten in Lips”, “Hated” and “In Between”, giving the crowd plenty of opportunities to lose their minds early on. The setlist covered the band’s history while giving the new album a substantial place in the show.
And the crowd was absolutely relentless.
Crowd surfers were coming over the barrier constantly. There seemed to be a new one every few seconds at points, with security having to keep up as people made their way towards the front. One particularly memorable surfer was dressed as Where’s Wally, complete with the instantly recognisable red-and-white outfit. Somehow, in the middle of all the chaos, Wally managed to make it over the barrier too.

And then there were the singalongs.
Beartooth have built their reputation partly around songs that take deeply personal experiences and turn them into something a whole room can shout together. That was particularly noticeable during “Hated”, “In Between”, “Disease”, “The Lines” and “Might Love Myself”. When the audience didn’t just know the words. They absolutely screamed them.
Caleb Shomo has always been at the centre of Beartooth’s sound. The project began in his Ohio basement in 2013, with Shomo initially writing, producing, and playing the instruments himself. Over the years, it grew into the full band performing on stages like Brixton, but that original sense of personal confession remains a huge part of what makes the music connect.
That connection was obvious throughout the night.

Shomo’s vocals were particularly impressive. There was plenty of screaming, but also the melodic side of his voice came through strongly during the bigger choruses. The newer material sat comfortably alongside the older songs, and there was no sense that the band were relying solely on nostalgia.
“Beautiful Again” and “Free” brought some of the newer material into the centre of the set, while “Sunshine!” and “The Past Is Dead” kept the momentum moving. The set even made room for a drum solo before heading into “Stadiums” and “Eyes Closed.”
“Free” in particular feels important to this era of Beartooth. The song arrived earlier in 2026 and helped introduce the direction of Pure Ecstasy, while Shomo’s songwriting throughout the album deals with a lot of the personal changes that have shaped this chapter of his life.

That was probably one of the strongest parts of the show. There were moments when Shomo could step back and let Brixton do the singing for him, and the crowd was more than happy to take over.
The band’s live sound was huge. The guitars were heavy without swallowing the vocals, the drums kept everything moving, and the bass added plenty of weight underneath the riffs. There were a few moments where the mix could have been cleaner, particularly from further back in the venue, but when the whole room was singing together, it was difficult to care too much.
By the time the set reached “Riptide”, “The Lines” and finally “Might Love Myself”, the crowd had already spent the evening throwing themselves around the venue. Somehow, there was still plenty of energy left.

“Might Love Myself” was a particularly fitting closer. The song sits at the heart of Beartooth’s newer story, dealing with the difficult process of learning to accept yourself, and hearing a room full of people scream those words back gave the ending a real sense of togetherness.
The final notes were met with a huge reaction from the Brixton crowd.
After an evening of crowd surfers, pits, singalongs, and more than one person probably leaving with absolutely no voice left, Beartooth had delivered exactly the kind of headline show you’d hope for from them.