With modern metal heavyweights Jinjer returning to London, O2 Forum Kentish Town became the setting for a night built on precision, power and carefully controlled chaos. Supported by the forward-thinking technical edge of Unprocessed and the long-awaited return of prog-metal veterans Textures, the bill promised intensity from start to finish — and delivered on every front.
Jinjer @ O2 Forum Kentish Town
Textures hit the ground running at O2 Forum Kentish Town, and for a band with more than two decades behind them, there was zero rust. Tight, loud, and clearly glad to be back, they sounded as sharp as ever inside the packed Kentish Town room. Their set was short, but the crowd, already filling the floor, gave them the welcome they deserved. The mix of polyrhythmic heaviness and detailed melody set the tone perfectly. Coming back from a long break can expose any cracks, but Textures felt completely current.
Unprocessed followed by a different kind of punch. More polished, more modern, and unapologetically technical, they made it clear from the first notes that they were not there to simply warm the stage. The outfit locked in quickly, moving between crushing breakdowns and clean, atmospheric passages without losing momentum. A few crowdsurfers tried their luck early on, but the room still held back a little, like everyone was saving the real chaos for what was coming.
That changed the second Jinjer walked out. The lights dropped, the big screen behind the band snapped to life, and the crowd got exactly what they came for. Tatiana Shmayluk commanded the stage from the first moment, and the band wasted no time launching into Duél, then pushing straight through Green Serpent and Fast Draw. With each track, the floor turned wilder. The pit opened wide, and crowdsurfers started moving nonstop toward the barrier.
The visual production landed brilliantly, syncing with each song’s mood through crisp, animated imagery, from snakes to stylised guns, bullets, and flashes that matched the music’s sharp edges. It gave the set a clear narrative feel without distracting from what mattered most, the playing.
There is something surgical about how Jinjer moved through the night. Every transition felt deliberate, every heavy section hit with real weight, and the frontwoman’s vocal control stayed unreal throughout. She shifted from punishing lows to clean, soaring lines with total command, never losing power, never losing clarity.
The band barely stopped for breath, tearing through fan favourites like Teacher, Teacher! and the long awaited Pisces with the same precision they brought to newer cuts like Kafka and Hedonist. The room sang back constantly, headbanging in unison, and surging whenever the riffs opened up space for movement. By the time the encore arrived, it was hard to argue against the feeling that this was one of Jinjer’s strongest London shows to date.
Live review and photography of Jinjer with Unprocessed and Textures at O2 Forum Kentish Town on 31st January 2026 by Daniel Caceiro.
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