Napalm Death | Whiplash | The Varukers | Dopelord
Arena, Torquay
28th February 2026
Bringing their Campaign for Musical Destruction tour to the English Riviera, grindcore legends Napalm Death lead a four-band bill that ensures all bases are loaded with doom, hardcore punk and metal.
Dopelord arrive onstage to Ted Lucas song It Is So Nice To Get Stoned and, with their co-frontman/bassist sporting a Sabbath Worship tee, it’s a safe bet as to what style they’ll bless us with tonight. The quartet opens with The Chosen One, from latest record Songs for Satan, which proves a slow tempo start – with clean vocals and chunky riffs, before Hail Satan leaps up and their co-vocalist/guitarist lends his roaring delivery.
Mid set, the band (from Warsaw, Poland) declare their love for playing Torquay for the first time. Apparently, they enjoyed ice cream, fish and chips and a Guinness by the beach. They then tear through Reptile Sun and the final song Doom Bastards, where the request for some final Dopelord love results in our first considerable mosh/circle pit of the night. A set packed indeed with Sabbath-influenced groove, wailing solos and some high-energy hardcore, Dopelord head to the merch table to great fans old and new.
From Doom to UK82 – The Varukers, part of the second generation UK punk / hardcore scene, formed in 1979. To this day, their messages are more potent than ever. The band commands the stage like headliners, kicking off with How Do You Sleep, then into Led to the Slaughter. Singer Anthony “Rat” Martin states that the next track Murder is a love song, (or could be), as the four-piece D-beat delivery ignites mayhem on the floor below.
Rat is quick to salute the Saturday night crowd’s energy, noting that it’s incredible to see youth carrying the fight long after these songs were written. Rarely looking in the mirror, Rat states he was 17, then last gaze, he’d turned 58 and is scared to peer further anymore. No matter, with shout and refrain songs like Victim and final anthem Protest to Survive, polishing off a raging anarchic set, age is just a number and fires have been lit, whatever those numbers may be.
Whiplash graces us next with confidence and power. Based out of New Jersey, the thrash metal trio waste no time running onto the stage for a fierce rendition of Last Man Alive. Spit on Your Grave soon follows and, like much of tonight’s set, hails from debut LP Power and Pain (celebrating its 40th anniversary this year).
Frontman/guitarist Tony Portaro declares that in different parts of the world, things spin in different directions, and is keen to find out what Torquay’s answer is. Tonight, as they crank The Burning of Atlanta, the pit’s answer is anticlockwise. Noting the ‘buffet of metal’ being served up tonight, from doom to punk to Napalm Death’s killer concoction, Tony concludes that right now we’re gonna get some old school thrash metal and Whiplash conclude their set with Power Thrashing Death.
Napalm Death – Unapologetic, unrelenting noise merchants from Brum. Their words from the stage, not mine, (though it’s hard not to agree). Leaders, not followers, the band have been an absolute institution to music this past four decades. Instinct of Survival breaks the lead, beginning a brutal high-energy show where all are welcome to either stand and admire or grind, surf and fall.
Bassist Shane Embury is sitting out this tour, and while his iconic presence alongside Barney and co is missed, Adam Clarkson does a great job filling in for this run. Smash The Signal follows an early set statement about the perils of AI and how unevenly money is spread throughout the world.
Frontman Barney Greenway is an enigma of sorts. Whether this is your first or 21st time seeing Napalm, his presence and delivery are truly unique – All limbs flailing, every nuance of his shouty, impassioned delivery explored, yet between songs calm and dry, engaging the audience and highlighting equally heavy hits in regards to humanity and politics. Often touring this time of year and ‘at pains not to be lazy bastards’ each time, the band clearly make efforts not to repeat set-lists of yesteryear and treat us to a rare outing of Inside The Torn Apart, as well as Politicians, a cover by Italian hardcore band Raw Power.
The concept of musical beauty and Napalm Death are apparently either side of the spectrum, but we are challenged to find that in the song Amoral, which, to be fair does have a more accessible chorus to much airplay tonight. Blink, and you’ll miss faves Dead, and You Suffer sneak through as many are told to pay attention to their extreme brevity. Then crowd-surfers return thick and fast for staples like Suffer The Children, Scum and their obligatory cover of Dead Kennedys Nazi Punks Fuck Off.
Closing with a thematically linked Adversarial / Copulating Snakes, Birmingham’s finest thank us for spending our hard-earned cash and Saturday nights with them, promising they’ll be back soon.
More vital than ever, Napalm Death remain furiously engaged and politically uncaged.
~
Napalm Death are touring throughout the year.
For a full list of dates, go to their official website here Facebook | Insta | X
Whiplash Official | Facebook |Insta
The Varukers Socials: Facebook
Dopelord’s Socials: Bandcamp | Facebook
All words by Chris Perkins – his author profile is here
Photos by Charles Derry @ Capture Photography
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