JINJER BRING 2026’S MOST STACKED LINEUP TO MANCHESTER

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐(5/5)

Jinjer @ Manchester O2 Ritz. Photocredit John Hayhurst

January sees my return to the world of live performance, this time for a wholly unique set of musicians. JINJER. Headlining this tour, the band returned to the road for the debut of their newest album Duél. Joined by Unprocessed and Textures, two bands with some amazing material that certainly deserve to be on the road for their own reasons, truly make for great supporting acts for JINJER.

Textures are a Dutch progressive metalcore band, previously formed in 2001 and later disbanded in 2018, leaving a bit of a hole in the prog landscape for a band of their tonality. Luckily in 2024 the band remarried, and shortly after released the single “Closer to the Unknown”; a song with a strong riff and catchy beat which had me moving within seconds. As of 2026, Textures have released their Ssixth studio album “Genotype”, a hybrid fusion of progressive and metalcore influence. Textures opened their night with the previously mentioned “Closer to the Unknown.” a massive track which lends itself hugely to a live environment, the studio does not do this song justice. Personally I think that if an opener gets a pit going on the first song, no matter how big or small, it’s worthy of respect.

Moving onward “New Horizons” and “Reaching Home” from their older albums pre-2018. I’d like to touch specifically on “Reaching Home”. This song was surprisingly fitting to the atmosphere of the show, the slow melodic approach of the guitar and the absolutely ripping vocals from the great front man, Daniël De Jongh. This man punches well above his weight, his vocals are easily top 5 I’ve heard live. Do yourself the favour see these guys live whenever the chance is available. As said above the studio does not do them justice. Their stage presence alone is worthy of praise, I saw them time a fist bump to a snare bomb, who else have you seen do that?

Unprocessed formed in 2013 are a progressive metalcore, semi-djent, heavily math rock and phenomenally impressive band from Germany. Last year's “Angel” threw these guys into a skyrocket of popularity, it having been touted as their best album yet, and this was well deserved. This album follows on from their great success of “..And Everything In Between” which featured Polyphia and was in my opinion a near perfect album as is. But to get to the live side of this, Unprocessed opened with an unapologetically modern sound with “111”. This was probably the second best song they played all night, but honestly I could say that for most of their set. “111” is a very well-paced, melodically diverse song with a rich chorus, strong verse and a simple, yet effective breakdown. I don’t want to sound like a broken record, but once again, the record does not do them justice, please see these guys live.

The second song from their set tonight I’d like to focus on is called “Glass” and the Polyphia influence is heavy on this one, which is in no way a bad thing. The slow harmonics that make up the backing of the verses, with the technical playing of vocalist/guitarist, Manuel Gardner Fernandes, mould into something that I can only describe as transcendent in a live setting. It was a different level of experience, as a musician, to pick out these individual subtleties and have my mind actually recognise them and then to be able to see it with my eyes the impressive feat they were showing off. Glass is a 10/10 in my book, even if you can’t see it live, get a good set of headphones and please listen to it, if there’s one thing you take away from this review, let it be Glass. Finally, I’d like to talk about the song “Solara”. Now I’m going to admit my bias off the start, Paleface Swiss are within my top 3 Deathcore bands, I love them, they make every song they feature on better in my opinion. But this song stands on its own, with or without Zelli doing his thing. In the case of tonight's live performance Unprocessed’s bassist, David John Levy, covered for Zelli (who is hard to capture) and he blew me away with his take on it. This man has a set of pipes on him, he screams better than some full front men I’ve heard in the past. Truly a privilege and pleasure to have heard these guys live.

I’m going to be blunt with the opening here, Jinjer do not miss. They have yet to make an album that is not at minimum a 9/10 and this streak continues with Duél. I cannot sing the praises of Jinjer enough. Tonight's performance opened with two sublime openers, the album and tours namesake “Duél” and “Green Serpent”. “Duél” is very clearly a note on the current conflict in Ukraine, however the song stands on its own even if the listener is unaware of this. “Duél” has a powerful meaning and sets a really good tone as a set opener, it’s slow in the verse, has a powerful attack in the chorus and whilst it’s lacking a proper breakdown it’s not necessary for an album closer or a live performance opener. It sets a fine pace and it does that with simplicity. “Green Serpent” is a great follow up to this, with its mellow and restrained approach. The song builds in tension all the way through, which in a live venue led to an aggressive pit and genuinely made the room bounce.

There was one song I waited the whole night to hear, my personal favourite, “Teacher, Teacher”. A wonderful song about religious hypocrisy, the song paints a vivid picture of abuse from a person of privilege. Tatiana did not miss a single note in this song, it was like it meant the world to her, which made it all the more special to me. “Teacher, Teacher” has a dominating presence in a set and absolutely takes over any and all who listen, and rightfully so with such a powerful message it deserves every second of your attention, live or studio.

The whole vibe of the room was alight consistently throughout their performance. I could sit here and dissect every single song but I'll skip to the one I think everyone who listens to Jinjer or has heard of Jinjer will know. “Pisces”, a song about duality and inner struggle, pulls every single person in with its melodic verse and crushing chorus and this was no different live. Tatiana, angelic as ever, demolished this song, her vocals uniting that room in a symphony of joined emotion. I don't think a single person was quiet, front to back that room was moving and singing, and it was amazing. Jinjer are truly a generational talent, a mind blowing live experience and for the third time this review, are in fact, better live than in the studio.

Closing thoughts? Go see Jinjer, whether it's on the 2026 Duél Tour or any other event. DO IT!