A View From The Back Of The Room: Nothing More (Alex Tobias)

Nothing More, Catch Your Breath, Solence & Ankor, O2 Academy, Bristol, 06.12.25

Nothing More finish up their European tour dates in Bristol with support from Catch Your Breath, Solence and Ankor to a very close to sold out crowed in the O2 Academy tonight. My first time seeing all four bands so this was going to be a interesting night of firsts for me. 

I have been a fan of Nothing More since I came across the their 2022 album Spirits and from there I have caught up on the back catalogue and last years release of the bands fifth album, Carnal I found myself playing over and over and is still in heavy rotation for me now. I always love seeing new bands live but its a bonus if you like the band and know of them before hand, so lets get to it.

Ankor (7) fall into the I have not heard of them before category for me, so I was intrigued to see what the band hailing from Catalonia, Spain come onto the stage as the lights go down to a already ram packed O2 Academy.

Vocalist Jessie Williams asks everyone "are you ready for tonight" and we get a huge roar from everyone in attendance. The first song we get is Darkbeat a song from the bands last album, 2024s "Shoganai", a song that straight away gets everyone here moving and going crazy with its pounding low tuned fast chuggs and feet stomping drums, with nicely complimented electronic synths and a chorus that is one of the catchiest break downs and melody's I have heard this year. 

The band continue on through their set with some really good heavy songs that vocalist Jessie screams her way through with such beautiful contrasts of dreamy singing then switching to a demon from hell when screaming. Ankor have good stage presence and chemistry with each other, bouncing off each other with drummer Eleni Nota really impressing with how hard hitting and tight throughout while keeping the biggest smile going the whole time. 

Alternative metal is to small of a definition for all the influences and styles this band have, a very good performance, a band I will be listening to more of based on what I have just seen. 

A small break for the bands to get off and on for the next performance, a band I also have never heard of before called Solence (7), coming from Norrkoping in Sweden. The band come to the stage with the intro to their first song blasting out, a song called Angels Calling from the bands latest album of the same name, the title track is fast paced metal riffs mixed with a real dance inducing beat, straight away I get hints of pendulum and Linkin Park vibes with sprinkles of those great heavy djent style breakdowns that have that extra spice of having the electronic synths that just give the overall sound a nice edge to it. 

Whatever my thoughts on the music the crowed here tonight absolutely love this band from what I can see, majority are singing back all the lyrics and we have our first pits of the night especially when the band kick into the next song Good Fucking Music from the bands 2021 album Deafining, a song that makes you want to jump the whole way through that also shows off a nice solo from Johan Swärd on the Keyboard.

Tight, good crowd interactions and just a really enjoyable band to watch live, catchy songs, songs that force you to move about with that feeling of euphoria, another band I will be keeping an eye out for in the future for gigs and music, would be happy to see Solence again and would recommend you go check them out for fans of electronic rock-metal..

Quick note before our next band of the night, it is so funny to watch a capacity metal crowed singing along to Another Levels song Freak Me Baby and other pop songs in between bands.

Everyone here is just loving life tonight and that only gets more amped when the intro kicks in for our next band, Catch your Breath (8), who come on to the stage in darkness before the build to the first song. That song being Savages from the bands only album to date, 2023s Shame On Me.

Savages has that great big Architects sound and drive with really good breakdowns that flow effortlessly into faster paced chugs, a really nice synth tone behind the guitars on the choruses also just fills that epic sound coming from the stage. Catch Your Breath are a big deal here tonight, this crowed cant get enough of them, the screams and cheers they get are the loudest of the night so far, the Texas band are a long way from home but are very much appreciated tonight in Bristol. 

A stand out song for me though was 21 Gun Salute a song that digs deep in your soul and leaves you thinking about the lyrics, a very catchy song that was sung perfectly by vocalist Josh Mowery, the crowed sang along with every note and made this a real statement song from the set that this is a band to really take notice of. Go check them out if you are fans of this genre as they are a band that will have you coming back for more and more. 

We arrive at the main act for the night, Nothing More (8), I have been really looking forward to catching this band live for a long time and seeing a few clips that social media forces on you, because we cant avoid spoilers anymore, I have seen bits of live performances and was really impressed, something that did not change in person. We get a long intro that starts way before the lights go down or any movement happens on stage which builds this crowed up to a frenzy by the time we get darkness and flickers of strobe lighting. 

The band walk onto stage to a huge roar from the crowed and we get underway with the first song of the set, House Of Sand from the bands excellent album from 2024 Carnal, a perfect opener that immediately gets everyone here bouncing around. Such a great blend a mix of aggression and dreamy vocals into the dirtiest breakdown you will hear for a while. 

We crash straight into the next song without breaking, Angel Song again from Carnal, a song that features David Draiman from Disturbed, one of my favourites from their last album, having that stomping circus feel tempo a chorus that you cant help to sing along to. 

We get a few older classic songs by the band in the shape of Don't Stop and Go To War then we come to Freefall also from Carnal which send everyone hear into anthem mode, what a song and what a reaction and response from the crowed here tonight, vocalist Jonny Hawkins looks so happy and amazed by how loud everyone is in here tonight saying "This may be our last night in Europe but this is crazy loud tonight" and I would have to agree with him, it felt like a thousand strong choir sang along to Freefall. 

We then come to the solo spectacular that is shared about with each member getting a piece plus the drums that are always set up for Jonny on the stage get the now famous front row treatment. I wont spoil it as you really should check the live performance out as its very entertaining and fun, so glad I could finally catch them live and see it for myself. 

Hit after hit including Jenny, Stuck and Fade In Fade Out we get to our last song of the night which is the first song off the bands 2014 self titled album, a song called This Is The Time (Ballast), by this point everyone here is in such a happy mood that this song just puts the icing on this already delicious cake of a set from Nothing More, you can feel the love and appreciation from the band at the end after another successful European tour comes to an end. I really was not disappointed by seeing this band live, they lived up to the reputation of being a really great band live and went even further in impressing me not just musically but just how good they make it sound by their performance on stage. 

I highly recommend you get listening or go and catch them anywhere near you asap, or just DO both.