Live Review: Paleface Swiss - Troxy, London 17/01/2026
Paleface Swiss bring the fire and the fury to Troxy with Stick to Your Guns and Static Dress in tow; lighting up with one of their most chaotic shows yet.
Hardcore shows in big venues is a rare beast. Death metal shows in a big venue like Troxy; even rarer. Paleface Swiss are the exception though; and within seconds of them coming on stage, it’s easy to see why they’ve just got bigger and bigger. With a lavish gothic stage production including a hangman’s noose and pyro techniques, Paleface Swiss explode with the Wilted Tour in the best way possible – it’s the third time I’ve seen these guys and it might just be their most chaotic show out of the bunch; including trips to Jera on Air for the Netherlands and at Bloodstock in 2025. So a seasoned veteran – like most fans in the room; when frontman Marc “Zelli” Zellweger asks the crowd whether they’ve seen them before, the entire Troxy venue raises their hands. Death metal fans are a loyal bunch.
First support is Stick to Your Guns, American metalcore from California fronted by Jesse Barnett with bassist Andrew Rose and guitarists Chris Rawson and Josh James in tow. Drummer Adam Galindo is electric – and the band build their reputation as one of the; as pointed out by Static Dress’s frontman, the good guys in hardcore. They aspire to make people around them better, help them learn from their mistakes and embrace the feeling of community.
From the word go, there are crowd surfers. By the end of the night, you’re pretty sure that most of Troxy’s capacity has spent it above the ground than on it. Security constantly kept getting called to the front once they realised the level of chaos that they were in for – mosh pits and circle abound from the word go. Troxy came here to riot. They more than delivered. Open strongly with Diamond before going into What Choice Did You Give Us? The band rewards the fans who have turned up early.
It’s a powerful set – new song Invisible Rain (fight on, fight on as you are / always hurting / fight on… with your life in your hands and the pain in your heart) encourages the ethos of the band acts as a rallying cry, warning them that the old world is dying, it’s your world is dying – and you must survive in a world that is not meant for you. Emotional stuff, and oh so current.
With it comes a wall of death and there’s plenty for the crowd to do. Barnett is a natural comedian and crowd-baiter; he asks who have heard of STYG before and says about 50% have; and about half of them are naturally lying, so that’s good odds. He’s aware Paleface Swiss themselves are watching so has a gauntlet to throw down to them – and Stick to Your Guns do just that; blending hardcore punk with thought provoking lyrics that keep the band energised; drums and bass relentless throughout the night. The vocals are soaring and it’s as much a stage performance as a live show – melodic and razor-sharp sound that keeps the weight in tow. Fan favourites Amber rules the night – lyrical twists with an emotional edge. Not often are first supports as confident, good and triumphant as this.
Next up are Static Dress who have been around as an outfit since 2018 and frontman Olli Appleyard is instantly aware of where the band came from. He calls them out for being real bands in a world of fake ones that just want to take your money and go home – and launches into a provoking, rage-inducing bit that asks the audience to stick their middle fingers up in the air at all the bands that take things that isn’t theirs celebrating the launch of new 2026 release human props, their latest track, whilst pulling plenty from Prologue, stylised as a comic book soundtrack – working as a teaser for things to come. Appleyard too; is complimentary of Paleface Swiss, a fan of both outfits – having followed them from a Manchester festival in a room of 300 people to here. They’re aware of how lucky they are to have a once-in-a-lifetime chance to perform here; but it’s clear they’re destined for bigger things to come.
I’ve seen all these bands before – Static Dress played with Paleface and Stick to Your Guns at Jera on Air in 2025; but it’s refreshing to see them on their own stage like this bringing the beatdowns. They have tv screen sin the background set up to show their lyrics. Nobody does it quite like them, raw primal fury and vocal aggression drive even the rare quieter songs on the setlist.
Headliners of the night come next and the crowd are ready, multiple people chant their name throughout the night. It’s hard to miss – even without the massive wall of text that shines their logo on the stage behind, you know who they are. It’s going great – Paleface Swiss are confident, raw and energy inducing, encouraging everyone to get involved the way only a few beatdown bands like them can. Two songs in they make the fatal mistake of almost saying that they were glad to be back in the United States as opposed to London; met with resounding boos. “I’m wide awake” Zellweger screams on “Let Me Sleep”, but perhaps not just yet. It’s clear it’s tongue in cheek as he takes the time to thank venues like New Cross Inn where they played all the way back in 2022, the man knows his London lore. It’s a Wilted tour – the death/black metal outfit not holding anything back in how they approach the set. Pyro techniques come out to play immediately – it’s one of my favourite performances thus to date that I’ve seen from the band and they’ll hook you instantly, engaging the crowd from the word go.
They push themselves to the limit and that passion is met with the sheer goodwill of the fans – playing to a capacity of over 3,000 that adds a touch of character with its art deco vibes. Hardcore; Static Dress frontman Appleyard insists that there are no other bands doing it like Paleface Swiss, this genre wasn’t meant to be in big venues like this yet here they are, genre defying, and based on this performance, you can instantly see them getting bigger and better. The Wilted allows an expansion of what they have to offer – Everything is Fine is the record’s power ballad, and the collaboration with Stick to Your Guns, Instrument of War, goes down a treat. They’re all new additions that allow the Cursed tracks to give them room to breathe – and Zellweger is able to maximise the history of Troxy as a venue to full effect. It’s a venue that paves the way to bigger things – and you’d bet on Paleface being a Bloodstock headliner in the years to come; Alexandra Palace or The 02 seems like the logical next step. Rare do you get the chance to see a band as explosive as this – existing in the right place, at the right time.
Words by Miles Milton-Jefferies
Photography by Mariana Patsi
