Live Review: Paleface Swiss + The Acacia Strain + Desolated @ Electric Brixton (02/03/2025)

Following up from a major album release, Paleface Swiss are on their first euro headline ever – hitting insanely huge rooms and selling shows out left and right. The excitement around this band seems to be bigger than they are and I can very safely say I share in that excitement. Having seen them in this same venue 2 years ago on a support slot with Counterparts, I am beyond stoked to see what they’ll bring this time around with that coveted headline spot.

First up are stompy legends Desolated, a band I have heard of for years but never had the chance to catch. They waste no time in splitting the room in two and sending bodies flying – their unique blend of thrashy hardcore noise serves a treat to my ears and I am pleased. Chock full of downtuned groove and plenty of breakdowns primed to break your neck, Desolated absolutely killed it and warmed up the crowd nicely. I’m not even in the pit and I can smell the sweat from up here.

Covering the death side of core this evening are The Acacia Strain, a band I have heard heaps about and am surprised I’ve managed to miss up until this point. This is a band with a deep and rich history of music to draw from – the one common denominator being is that it’s all evil as fuck and chunky in ways I haven’t seen from ‘modern’ deathcore in time. I’m not usually particularly keen on most deathcore, I often find it derivative of what makes heavy music interesting to me – but The Acacia Strain have set a new standard for me and I find myself wanting to dive into the pool and see what I’ve been missing out on. 

This is a band who clearly excel live, their energy is fantastic and they keep me wide eyed and mouth agape for the full forty minutes. If a band can show me what’s great about a genre, especially when I have an albeit shitty predisposed notion about what I think – that’s a great thing and I am hoping to catch these fellas again soon.

Up last but certainly not least are the reason this venue is sold out tonight – Paleface Swiss in all their pissed off heavy noise – glory. There’s a sentence there for sure. One of the most exciting names in the core bracket. They come heavy and fast and within seconds I am looking at a huge hole in the middle of the crowd, upon those first few drum hits to their opening track ‘Hatred’ off of their new album bodies are flying and people are moving. 

The band waste no time in showing that they belong in this headline spot, between each brutal slam there’s a chemical reaction going underway – as much as I enjoy crowd watching each member of the band is going nuts on stage. Their drummer sat under a huge model noose is hitting each drum as hard as he can, their guitarists are running around and their vocalist is definitely not one tethered to the floor. Wide eyed and slightly drunk I watch in awe of this band who I thought were ‘too heavy’ to be on a stage as big as this.

I think we’re entering a new chapter of alternative music where it’s becoming bigger than a lot of us ever expected, and bands like Paleface Swiss are going to be at the front of it.

I love heavy music. If you missed this show, I’m sorry. Be there next time.