Every Time I Die, Comeback Kid, Knocked Loose, Higher Power, O2 Institute, Birmingham - review and pictures

There was already a few hundred in the Institute's smaller room when the Leeds five-piece took the stage, and they continue to impress with their modern take on a sound bands such as Leeway and Crown of Thornz brought to the table decades ago.

Higher Power are building up a solid reputation both at home and abroad (so many members of US hardcore bands have been sporting their shirts just lately), it can only be a matter of time before they hit the UK for a headline tour of their own.

Knocked Loose play beatdown hardcore in the vein of Jesus Piece and the much-missed Foundation, and rarely can a band have been more appropriately named.

The Kentucky quintet's low end is so heavy it could easily knock out teeth.

When they hammer out hate anthem All My Friends early in the set, the breakdown threatens to shake a few bricks out of the Institute walls.

Knocked Loose gets a great reception from the crowd, and shows why they are one of the best among the newer breed of heavy hardcore bands.

By the time Canada's Comeback Kid come dashing out onto the stage and launch into False Idols Fall the venue is packed.

Six studio albums into their career the band raised the bar with this year's incredible Outsider, which added some metal chops to their usual catchy-as-measles melodic hardcore style.

And unsurprisingly that record is heavily plundered tonight, although the setlist goes all the way back to 2003's Turn It Around.

New tracks Surrender Control, Absolute and the wonderful Somewhere, Somehow - featuring a chorus to die for - send the crowd wild, egged on by singer Andrew Neufeld who orchestrates circle pits and pile ons as he darts around the stage like a man possessed.

The energy levels are high, and probably peak mid-set with the classic Wasted Arrows from 2014's Die Knowing album.

It sets the scene perfectly for Every Time I Die, who have been sharing headliner duties with Comeback Kid on the current tour.

When you go and see the Buffalo, New York quintet, you get intense, metal-tinged hardcore with a lashing of stadium rock, coupled with singer Keith Buckley's hugely entertaining between song banter.

His little chats are always worth hearing, and I believe he could fashion out a career as a primetime talk show host when his voice finally tires of screeching.

Tonight he's in buoyant mood, praising the other bands, the venue and even the security guards for helping crowd surfers back into the pit.

"What they're giving out free cups of water?" he says, "Just when I thought this show couldn't get any better."

He appeared to be knocked off his stride momentarily when loud boos greeted his announcement that the tour had stopped off in Brighton and Bristol on previous nights, but he got them back on side immediately by announcing: "But tonight was the best show."

Musically the band is ferocious. Thirst, off the 2014 album From Parts Unknown is absolutely blistering, as is personal favourite The Coin Has A Say from this year's career best album Low Teens.

Part of ETID's charm is that nearly 20 years into their career they continue to draw in fans of all ages, their wide appeal testament to their ability to tweak a sound that was forged in the flames of 90s heavyweights like Converge and Botch.

The freshness of all four bands belied the fact that this was the tour's penultimate date of 18 in Europe, and it is no surprise that every one of them sold out.

It was as close to the perfect line up as you can get, with a pair of impressive up and coming acts sharing the stage with two established big hitters at the top of their game.

Hardcore as it should be.