The O2 Institute in Birmingham played host to the penultimate night of the UK leg of Ukrainian metalcore band Jinjer's European "DUÉL TOUR," with Unprocessed and Textures alongside to join in on the party.
First up and out onto a very, very congested stage is Dutch progressive metalcore outfit Textures. The band had been relatively quiet of late; there was a full ten-year gap between the 2016 album, Phenotype, and the newest record. Genotype, which came out just last week; it's great to see them back.
"Closer to The Unknown," which is probably the standout track from the new record, kicks things off for what is, although limited on space on stage, a super energetic performance. Sadly the queues outside are still quite long to gain access to the venue, so many miss the start, but by the end of the short thirty-minute set the room is much more filled, with a decent side crowd to be entertained.
TEXTURES
The set dips into previous albums Phenotype (2016), Dualism (2011), and Silhouettes (2008), with just a sprinkling of new material from Genotype (2026).
Our time with Textures comes to an end with the deep cut "Laments of an Icarus." It's great to see these guys back in action and absolutely smashing it.
German progressive metalcore four-piece Unprocessed are up next; with slightly more room to play with now onstage, they emerge bathed in blue light and strobes galore.
They are using this tour to promote their most recent album, 2025's Angel, having a 7:3 split in their set list between the new record and previous release (2023's ...and everything in between).
With collaborations on the new album with both FEVER333 and Paleface Swiss, their stock is definitely rising, and they have put together a support performance to reflect those ambitions.
UNPROCESSED
Their sound is tight, it's heavy, it's chuggy, it's laden with breakdowns, and it's filled with technical harmonics that Tim Henson would approve of. Not detracting from Textures at all, but the crowd has noticeably lifted, with the levels of both energy and overall mayhem all ramping up as the set progressed.
"Solara" (the track from the album that features Paleface Swiss) and "Terrestrial" are our last two; the latter sees both the fog machine and the circle pit go into overdrive. These guys will surely be back on a headline tour of their own real soon.
With that, we are now ready for the main event.
The lights dim as the enormous LED screen at the back of the stage illuminates with the band's logo, JINJER.
Now that all remnants of the support bands have been cleared, the stage feels so much larger than it in all reality is. Vladislav Ulasevish's drum kit towers on a riser high above the rest of the stage; presumably a step ladder is hidden somewhere back there to grant him access.
Before long Vladislav appears to take his seat atop his metaphorical throne and is quickly joined onstage by bassist Eugene Abdukhanov and guitarist Roman Ibramkhalilov.
The three gents get straight down to business, starting off with the title track from the most recent album and the purpose for the entire tour, "Duél," ahead of vocalist Tatiana Shmayluk joining in on the action.
Tatiana is a commanding force on stage, a juxtaposed mixture of both elegance and ferocity in equally captivating measure. Her presence is infectious, essentially prowling the stage from left to right with the poise of a ballroom dancer, effortlessly shifting her vocals from clean to harsh, the entire time keeping the Birmingham crowd fully mesmerised.
Eugene appears to play his bass with both the utmost reverence for the tone of groove he is able to produce and some kind of anger at every note that emanates from it.
It's a testament to the confidence the band has in the new album, Duél, that 50% of the set list tonight comes from here; "Green Serpent" and "Fast Draw" round out the opening trio of songs before dipping slightly further back into the discography.
JINJER
"Vortex" and "Disclosure!" from 2021's Wallflowers are a familiar dose of heaviness, the former aptly resulting in the largest circle pit of the night to this point, before an enormous drum solo during "Tantrum" (Duél, 2025).
The biggest cheer of the night so far comes for the now modern classic "Teacher, Teacher!" (Micro, 2019).
The imagery of the entire night is nothing short of spectacular; the large LED screen behind the entire band, coupled with the screens that form the frontage to the risers at the back, projects a series of mesmerising visuals throughout each song, elevating the whole performance to true headline status. We've seen plenty of concerts at this particular venue; compared to other headliners who opt for the house lights and a fabric backdrop, Jinjer are really putting on a show!
JINJER
The remainder of the set sees the band flip-flop from new release to classic banger and back again. A particular highlight from the new record may have been "Someone's Daughter," introduced by Tatiana by acknowledging all of the handsome guys in the room, but this particular track "goes out to my fellow sisters!"
Finishing up the set, a little tongue-in-cheek, with "a brand new song that we've never played before," it was another trip back a decade to one of the band's biggest hits, 2016's "Pisces"; a sea of mobile phones are out of pockets to record the start of this one.
Inevitably though (as it always is), "Pisces" wasn't the last we would hear; following the chants for "one more song" from the Brummy crowd, the band emerge back for one last dip into 2016's King of Everything, with "Sit Stay Rollover" and an outrageously heavy finish, crowd surfers in overdrive, and a mosh pit that, by the time the final breakdown lands, has gone absolutely mental. An energetic end to an absolutely stellar night.
Jinjer's "EUROPEAN DUÉL TOUR" continues with dates across mainland Europe through to the start of March.
