This whole metalcore thing really has to be over some time soon. Right? Probably not. With the steady upsurge in emo mentality on the internet quite visible here in the hordes of teenage goons donning their studded belts and ridiculous haircuts this particular gathering could quite easily be a MySpace convention. It ain’t going anywhere.

Kicking off events tonight are Sheffield quintet, Bring Me The Horizon. Playing a style of hardcore that is much more prevalent on the other side of the pond (see: Norma Jean, Fear Before The March Of Flames), these youthful bruisers splay indecipherable metal squawks over promising heavy metal riffs and the famed machine gun drumming that gets so many a moshpit on the move. A refreshing feature is Oli Sykes' reluctance to force a fake accent over his own strong Yorkshire yelp, and with so many other polished manoeuvres already part of their repertoire, you can expect to see much more of Bring Me The Horizon in 2006.

Next up are Hondo Maclean. They tour so hard and so often that they’re the kind of band every kid here’s seen a hundred times already. Mainly by accident, though. Over the past three years I have witnessed their growth from a lively bunch of funtime hardcore merchants into a formidable, muscle-bound metal machine. The Welsh quintet do not rely on the ultra-tight jeans and carefully straightened fringes that BMTH do to enamour themselves with the crowd. There is real, rough-round-the-edges charisma about Hondo and they back this up with crunching riffs reminiscent of Drowningman. Singer Ben Woosnam is reduced to a writhing, sweaty mess by the end of their set, having made a lasting impression on the receptive crowd.

There can be no doubt that all 800 in here tonight are waiting with baited breath for Bleeding Through headlining a sold out Academy tonight. Led by former Eighteen Visions screamer Brandan Schieppati, the hardcore monsters are clad all in black and punch through some mighty bludgeoning metalcore riffs but add layers of texture to form a thicker sound than many can muster. However, despite Marta’s swooning keyboard overlays, the overall sound still manages to remain rather one-dimensional. There are several potential highlights taken from their new album, The Truth, and most of them are formed around Derek Youngsma’s fantastic drumming – which he is luckily able to bring to their stage show – crafted skilfully around the rapidly cudgelled guitars. Bleeding Through’s major failure is that they are let down frequently by Schieppati’s poor vocal abilities. For a band that are venturing away from hardcore into the emo side of things, a quality singer is paramount. While the Orange County natives’ heavy moments are heavier than ever and the horror imagery they surround themselves with are often amazing, they should not waste wonderful songs like ‘Line In The Sand’ on such a shocking singer.