An hour after doors, the Academy is filling nicely. Linkin Park’s One Step Closer blasts from the speakers, the crowd join in, and it is showtime. What follows is 45 minutes of absolute chaos as Finland’s unashamedly Nu-Metal-focused six-piece Blind Channel blitz the venue with a set that leaves me completely bemused.
Blind Channel
O2 Academy Bristol – 26 October 2024
Words And Photography: Paul Hutchings
It’s a show that is blistering in pace, with 13 songs crammed in at high speed. The lights are schizophrenic in colour, switching from blue to red to green to yellow at such pace that one wonders if it is designed to induce some kind of trauma.
But it matches the frantic energy on stage, as the band, who announced that they would be going on hiatus at the end of 2024, appeared determined to finish with a flourish. 
This is an energetic show. The six members clad in their black with red uniforms rarely stop moving, with the obvious exception of drummer Tommi Lalli, who unfortunately is hidden in the shadows throughout the set. Otherwise, it’s full marks to Blind Channel for utilising every inch of available space.
Vocalists Niko Moilanen and Joel Hokka are front and centre, their vocal interplay sharp and incisive, whilst guitarist Joonas Porko and bassist Olli Matela are in mid-air with their flying leaps almost as much as they are on the stage.
Musically, it’s not my bag, but the crowd are whirling, invested in the band’s huge sound which corals electronica and Modern Metal with rap and driving riffage into one heady mix of intoxication. Abridged versions of BYOB by System Of A Down and a crowd-pleasing (yes, really) cover of Everybody (Backstreet’s Back) delight the vast majority, much to my confusion. I’m clearly not the target audience for a band who are half my age. 
It is high-octane stuff, stuffed to the brim with cliches and classic stage speech. Of course, everyone is ready “to party”, and to “get crazy”. Blind Channel draw from their discography, the bulk pulled from 2024’s Exit Emotions, which sees many in the audience lyrically word-perfect.
Crunching riffs intersect with bristling Nu-Metal breakdowns, and whilst it’s not floating my boat, there are many in the venue who are having the time of their lives.
When Dark Side triumphantly closes off the set, much to everyone’s disappointment but a huge ovation all the same, one can only wonder why a hiatus is looming.
