Review: Slaves at O2 Academy in Birmingham

British punks Slaves were one of the biggest musical successes of 2015, with their first album Are you Satisfied? rocketing them to success.

Now a year later they are touring their second record Take Control, and this weekend they arrived with a bang at the O2 Academy.

Duo Laurie Vincent and Isaac Holman make the sound of a much larger band, similar to Royal Blood.

Despite being a punk band, while the pair do create a high decibel racket, they also have their fair share of catchy riffs and sing-alongs.

The crowd, which varied from fresh faced teens to aging punk rockers, were in loud voice for first album tracks such as Sockets, The Hunter and Cheer Up London.

But there was also a great reception for new songs like Hypnotised and their final song of the night Spit It Out.

The shorter blasts of Girl Fight and Hi Hat saw break out of circle pits across the room while beer glasses flew though the air.

Slaves are pretty impressive to watch, with Isaac tackling vocals and the drums while Laurie deals in the guitar.

It feels like it shouldn't work, but it just does.

The pair played with superb energy, and even after the lights came up following the encore the crowd were calling for more.

Whether you were at the front row or standing by the sound desk, if you were standing then you were dancing and bouncing in the huge mosh pit.

The show was a vibrant, sweaty frenzy, and one that will last in the memory.

By Nathan Rowden