First rule of Trivax club, tell everyone you know about Trivax. They’re insanely good. Loved every second of them, incredible band with incredible stage presence. If that’s the only line you read, it’s still true, but this Sabbath Warm-Up at The Flapper was more than one band, it was a night where three very different acts carved their own mark, and Birmingham once again felt like the living, beating heart of heavy metal.
Cornwall’s Praesider (8) opened with a set that was nothing short of a revelation. Extreme metal done right: sharp, brutal, and performed with conviction. Nexziya proved herself a commanding presence, her vocals both feral and precise, pulling the room in from the first roar. Musically, they balanced raw heaviness and enough clarity to let riffs breathe, which is tough with extreme metal.
There were moments where the pace changed, dynamics played, but never so subtle as to lose the intensity. There’s a real sense with Praesider that they’re on the cusp of something bigger; the kind of band who can turn a support slot into an announcement of intent. For many, this was their first encounter, but it won’t be the last. They set a high bar for what followed.
Then Wyrdstaef (9) turned the room into ritual. Their blend of extreme metal and dark ambient isn’t just sound but atmosphere, evoking the prehistoric past in ways that feel both ancient and immediate. Fans came dressed to match the vision: furs, paint, chaos and at one point the whole room was marked with “blood”, sealing the pact. This wasn’t performance so much as shared experience, blurring the line between band and audience.
Also worth noting their recent signing with Apocalyptic Witchcraft, and the anticipation of their debut Primordial Bloodlines. That felt fully justified by what they delivered live: they have both the vision, the following, and the fire to match. Overall they were immersive, compelling, and made the darkness something you wanted to step into rather than shy away from.
And then Trivax (10). A headliner that didn’t just fill the slot but detonated it. The set leaned heavily into The Great Satan, a record already brimming with rage, defiance, and vision, but live it reached a new level of ferocity. To Liberation And Beyond and Operation Ramadan ripped the room open, while the live debut of Dar Akhare Donya added a haunting intensity that stopped the crowd in its tracks.
The cover of Black Sabbath was a perfect nod to the city that birthed heavy metal, received with ecstatic roars from a Birmingham audience who knew the weight of that moment. Few bands can balance brutality and beauty with this much conviction, but Trivax makes it feel effortless. Shayan was magnetic throughout, a frontman who doesn’t just perform but commands. Sully and Matt held the backbone tight, every note landing with precision and force.
The crowd, crammed into the Flapper’s small room, responded with pure electricity; chanting, headbanging, sometimes just standing transfixed in the waves of sound. It felt less like a gig and more like a statement, an act of defiance and celebration in equal measure
Walking out afterwards, ears ringing and faces still streaked with Wyrdstaef’s ritual markings, it was hard to shake the sense that this wasn’t just a warm-up. It was Birmingham remembering exactly what it gave to the world and why extreme metal is still very much alive here.
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