Mitsubishi Electric Halle, Düsseldorf, Germany 4th October 2025
Architects - “The Sky, The Earth & All Between European Tour 2025” - Special guests: House Of Protection, Wage War
A mere three months after they opened in front of 40,000 people for LINKIN PARK, British Metalcore icons ARCHITECTS returned to Western Germany for a headlining tour stop in the Mitsubishi Electric Halle, promoting their 11th studio album ‘The Sky, The Earth & All Between’. With HOUSE OF PROTECTION and WAGE WAR thrown in, this billing alone made sure that the gig in the Mitsubishi Electric Hall was the first one to sell out on this tour.
House Of Protection
The task of opening up the evening fell on HOUSE OF PROTECTION, a congenial duo from Los Angeles, California. With their unique blend of Hip-Hop inspired Metalcore, they made waves with their incredible energetic gig at Rock am Ring & Rock im Park, which saw guitarist Stephen Harrison climb the scaffolding of the speaker towers, and continuing the gig from approx. 20 meters above ground. With their latest EP release ‘Outrun You All’, they successfully reinvigorate the genre Crossover. https://www.houseofprotectionmusic.com
Music & Performance
Right on time around 7pm the lights went low, and the stage was illuminated in purple, while a female computer-generated voice instructed the audience to lay back and enjoy the ride. Shortly after, the duo stepped on stage, with guitarist Stephen immediately demanding a big-ass mosh pit and kicking off their set with the song ‘Pulling Teeth’. Witnessing HOUSE OF PROTECTION do their thing is like watching pure ADHD pressed into pill form. Both musicians seemingly lacked the ability to stand still.
Not only brought guitarist Stephen his mic into the middle of the front of stage mosh-pit for the second and third song, but also drummer Aric Improta did not confine himself to drumming (and occasionally waving his hi-hat above his head), but he also ran around on stage and at one time did a back-flip from one of the guitar cabinets. HOUSE OF PROTECTION used their 30minute slot to turn the packed Mitsubishi Electric Hall from initial sceptics into convicts, with the audience clapping and cheering after the set.
Wage War
WAGE WAR was up next. The Metalcore band started in 2010 in Ocala, Florida. Anyone who has been to this inland area of Florida knows that there is not a lot to do, which in turn provides a fertile breeding ground for awesome musicians and insanely aggressive music (Hello Iowa and SLIPKNOT?). The band has released five studio albums so far, with the 2024 release ‘STIGMA’ firmly establishing them in the Metalcore scene. https://www.wagewarband.com.
Music & Performance
After a record quick stage break, WAGE WAR entered the stage at 7:50 PM. Their Opener ‘TOMBSTONE’ from their latest album ‘STIGMA’ sent the already warmed-up pit into frenzy. Significantly more metal than their predecessors, WAGE WAR provided an immensely intense version of Screamo-oriented core, twinned with excellent technical abilities during their 40-minute set.
The audience celebrated the performance with circle pits and the occasional wall of death. A highlighted marked the song ‘Stitch’ from their second album: a song monster that exuded the raw brutality of the early MACHINE HEAD records, and which left the audience heavily out of breath and screaming for more. But also, the more melodic songs ‘BLUR’ or ‘MAGNETIC’ were really well received. With the crystal-clear sound mix and the extensive light show this felt more like a co-headliner show than a support gig.
Architects
Tonight’s headliner, the band called ARCHITECTS from Brighton, UK formed around 2004. They quickly made of name for themselves together with fellow Brits ENTER SHIKARI as pioneers of metalcore, with their style due to its protracted complexity being called ‘Mathcore’. Their seventh album ‘All Our Gods Have Abandoned Us’ has been released in 2016, right before the band was hit by the tragic death of founding guitarist and songwriter Tom Searle, who passed away after a long battle against cancer, aged only 28 years.
Nevertheless, the band decided to carry on and continued touring as a tribute to Tom, and released another album, called ‘Holy Hell’ in November 2018. This was followed by ‘For Those That Wish To Exit’ (2021), and ‘The Classic Symptoms of a Broken Spirit’ in 2022. This impressive collection has been completed in February 2025 with the release of the ‘The Sky, the Earth & All Between’. https://www.architectsofficial.com
Music & Performance
This was an entrance to behold: The OASIS hymn ‘Fucking in the Bushes’ sent the excitement levels of the audience through the roof and animated the first die-hard fans to form a circle pit. Then a gloomy sea of strobe lights illuminated the stage, and ARCHITECTS started out with the album opener ‘Elegy’, which immediately spelled high noon for the security people, as they had to pluck dozens of incoming crowd surfers from the hands of the people in front of the stage.
Frontman Sam Carter, a charismatic figure with an impassioned stage presence, commanded the crowd from the outset, his soaring vocals cutting through the thunderous instrumentals with ease. His lyrics, often imbued with themes of social injustice and personal struggle, resonated with the crowd, their voices joining his in a chorus of shared emotion. The band, a tight-knit unit of skilled musicians, delivered a performance of exceptional finesse, their instruments intertwining seamlessly to create a wall of sound that was both heavy and melodic.
Their technical prowess was evident in the intricate guitar riffs, the pounding drums, and the soaring melodies, all of which melded together to create a symphony of metal that was both powerful and captivating. As the set progressed, ARCHITECTS delved into their extensive discography, showcasing their evolution from their early hardcore roots to their more recent, experimental sound. From the mosh pit-inducing intensity of ‘Black Lungs’ to the introspective beauty of ‘Everything Ends’, the band’s versatility was on full display.
The crowd, fully immersed in the music, responded with unbridled enthusiasm, their energy matching the band’s fervour. Mosh pits erupted, bodies collided, and voices soared in unison, creating a spectacle of raw emotion and unrestrained passion. For ‘Impermanence’, WAGE WAR lead singer Briton Bond joined the fray, which underscored the band’s cohesion. A small technical glitch for the song ‘Gravedigger’ gave Sam Carter the opportunity to make fun of his guitarist Adam Christianson. Adam was handed a guitar with the wrong tuning, which totally confused everyone, so the band had to restart the song.
For ‘Brain Dead’, the two HOUSE OF PROTECTION members joined Sam to wreak havoc on the stage. As the set reached its crescendo, Architects unleashed a barrage of their most iconic anthems, including ‘Royal Beggars’, ‘Doomsday’, and ‘Blackhole’, The crowd erupted in a frenzy, their voices echoing through the arena in a deafening chorus of love and adoration for the band. The encore songs ‘Seeing Red’ and ‘Animals’ brought the night to a breathtaking conclusion. As the final notes faded into silence, the crowd erupted in a standing ovation, their cheers and applause echoing through the still air.
ARCHITECTS’ performance was a testament to the power of metal to unite and inspire. Their music, a blend of technical brilliance, emotional depth, and raw energy, resonated with the crowd on a profound level and made it as special as only live concerts can.
Setlist
01. Seeing Red
02. Elegy
03. Whiplash
04. when we were young
05. Black Lungs
06. Curse
07. A Match Made in Heaven
08. deep fake
09. Impermanence (with Briton Bond)
10. Red Hypergiant (Partial)
11. Gravedigger
12. Brain Dead (with House of Protection)
13. Meteor
14. Everything Ends
15. Royal Beggars
16. Gone With the Wind (Snippet)
17. Doomsday
18. Blackhole
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19. Seeing Red
20. Animals
All Pictures by Marc Junge
