Having been around since 2008, metalcore icons The Word Alive have an extensive career and a vast discography along with it. This year, the band decided to celebrate two albums in particular: Deceiver and Dark Matter. 2026 marks the 10 year anniversary of Dark Matter and the 17 year anniversary of their debut album Deceiver. In honor of this, The Word Alive embarked on the “Deceiver/Dark Matter Anniversary Tour” starting in mid-July, and will continue to hit major cities across North America up until August 8. On July 31, the band stopped at The Foundry in Philadelphia and performed to a near sold-out crowd. The energy and passion among the fans was evident that night, creating a lasting memory for everyone there.
Kicking off the night was upcoming alternative metal band CODE:WORDS. Having only been active since 2024 with a few singles released, the band has quickly been making a name for themselves in the scene. With heavy riffs and breakdowns combined with melodic choruses and catchy hooks, CODE:WORDS creates a unique sound that makes them stand out from the rest. The band quickly got the crowd moving, with fans moshing and even crowdsurfing throughout the set. CODE:WORDS closed their set with their newest single “BLACKOUT” and their breakthrough track “Limerence”, and the crowd kept moshing until the end. Even if it was their first time hearing of CODE:WORDS, many people in the crowd definitely became new fans that night.
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The second opener to take the stage was Downswing. With the release of their 2025 album And Everything Was Dark, the band has become one of the newest rising acts in metal. Opening with the heavy “No God to Me”, the energy within the crowd immediately ramped up as fans already started moshing and crowdsurfing. This continued throughout the set and never slowed down for a moment; Downswing even got a wall of death to commence. The band closed with the fan-favorite track “For What It’s Worth”, and the pit remained active until the last note, keeping the energy up for the rest of the night.
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The final opener was rising metalcore group Not Enough Space. Fronted by powerhouse dual vocalists Liv Mitchell and Lizzie Kristina, Not Enough Space have been making their mark on the scene, touring with several major acts throughout the past few years. Liv and Lizzie deliver both powerful screams and melodic vocals, complementing each other perfectly. Along with thrilling riffs and heavy breakdowns, Not Enough Space is on their way to become one of the biggest names in modern metalcore. Opening with the heavy “Eye 4 An Eye” from their debut album Weaponize Your Rage, the crowd got off their feet immediately, and crowdsurfers already started making their way through the room. Their 10-song setlist was full of fan-favorites such as the deathcore-inspired “Devil Left Me On Read” and their 2023 breakthrough track “No Way Out”. Throughout the set, the fans never stopped moving for a moment, with the crowd constantly moshing and surfing, and even forming a wall of death and a circle pit. The band closed with their hit "Primitive", in which Liv went up to the barricade to sing. By the end of the set, the fans were fully energized for the headlining act.
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Later that night, the lights began to dim for the final time as the crowd cheered. Soon enough, The Word Alive walked onto the stage as excitement filled the room. The band opened with “The Hounds of Anubis”, the intro track of Deceiver, and every fan in the room quickly got off their feet. The energy of the band was contagious, encouraging everyone to keep moving. The passion among the fans was evident as well as everyone was singing along, crowdsurfing, and moshing. The Word Alive fanbase felt like a true community, and vocalist Telle Smith would frequently interact with the crowd, such as high-fiving crowdsurfers and fans at the barricade.
Throughout the set, The Word Alive performed several fan-favorites from Deceiver and Dark Matter. From Deceiver, fans got to hear “Battle Royale”, “The Wretched”, and “Epiphany”. From Dark Matter, the band performed the title track “Dark Matter”, “Sellout”, “Made This Way”, and their hit “Trapped”, which got everyone in the room to sing along. No matter the song, however, the energy among the fans never died down, and only continued to escalate throughout the night. Fans kept crowdsurfing one after another and the mosh pit never slowed down. Telle even got a wall of death to form, but with a twist: he separated the room between people under 30 and people over 30. Fans even formed a circle pit halfway through the set, and it felt as if nobody in the room was standing still.
Towards the end of the set, The Word Alive performed one of their biggest hits “2012” from Deceiver, and he was joined by Downswing vocalist Harrison Seanor. Closing out the initial set, they performed the fan-favorite “Life Cycles”, and the fans made sure the energy never died down as they continued moshing and crowdsurfing until the end. The band briefly left the stage as the crowd chanted for “one more song”, and soon enough, The Word Alive walked back onto the stage and concluded their set with their 2009 track “Casanova Rodeo” from their debut EP Empire. The mosh pit became more active than ever, and Telle got up to the barricade to sing, ending the set with a bang. The Word Alive’s Philadelphia show was a worthy celebration of Deceiver and Dark Matter.
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