GRIDIRON at The Underworld - London
Saturday, March 28, 2026, 1800 - 2200
US hardcore GRIDIRON - POETRY FROM PAIN EU/UK TOUR 2026 with special guests MISSING LINK and SPLITKNUCKLE
Tickets https://tinyurl.com/UWgridiron
£22.50 adv. // 18:00
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Presented by theunderworldcamden.co.uk
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GRIDIRON
https://youtu.be/uzx15qenwQk
instagram.com/gridironhardcore
If you push hard enough, every boundary can be broken…
GRIDIRON will go to any extreme and then some. They follow quite possibly the most unpredictable playbook in the game. The band might flood the zone with a corpsepaint-smearing death metal barrage only to double back around for a victory lap narrated by blinged-out and braggadocios bars. Their hybridization of metal, hardcore, and hip-hop wouldn’t be out of place at either OZZfest 1997 or Rolling Loud 2027. It’s why the quintet-Matthew Karll [vocals], Will Kaelin [guitar, vocals], Xavier Wilson [guitar], Lennon Livesay [bass], and Tyler Mullen [drums]-have bulldozed their own path as a phenomenon with millions of streams and acclaim from Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, NO ECHO, and more.
Now, they continue to smash through walls on their second full-length offering and Blue Grape Music debut, Poetry From Pain.
“We’re not in a box,” Will states. “Our sound is an amalgamation of everything we love. We’re putting death metal, rapping, huge breakdowns, and arena choruses in a blender, and it comes out like this. The record sounds like GRIDIRON from top-to-bottom, but it takes you down various winding roads.”
“We never paint ourselves into a corner,” adds Karll. “Instead, we’re always asking, ‘How far can we push the envelope?’ These songs cover all of the bases of what we want GRIDIRON to be.”
Taking time to define this vision, GRIDIRON was born out of a series of COVID-era marathon Call of Duty sessions. “We thought, ‘Instead of just drinking beer and playing Call of Duty for twelve hours a day, we need to do something creative,” Will recalls. “Karll texted me, ‘Can you write some songs for me to rap over?’ I said, ‘Let’s do it’.” Their musical pedigree spoke for itself with Will also in Never Ending Game, Xavier in Simulakra, and Tyler and Lennon in Scarab. Given their individual experiences, the guys instantly locked into a creative groove.
Following the Loyalty At All Costs EP [2020] and Worldwide Brotherhood EP [2021], they dropped their first full-length, No Good At Goodbyes [2022]. The title track reeled in over 851K Spotify streams followed by “25-8” with 560K Spotify streams. Stereogum applauded their “heavy, hard-stomping, rap-influenced hardcore.” Along the way, they also shared stages with everyone from Missing Link to Trapped Under Ice. In late 2024, the group decamped to Chicago where they recorded Poetry From Pain with recording engineer Andy Nelson in less than ten days.
“Andy’s a core piece of the puzzle,” says Will. “I don’t think there’s a better hardcore-metal recorder out there for making everything sound crushing.”
GRIDIRON teased this era with “Talk Real,” which Brooklyn Vegan praised as “a tough-as-nails rap rock anthem.” However, they blew the door off the hinges with the single “Mascot.” Pinch harmonics squeal between a plodding heavier-than-hell riff scorched by schoolyard battle-rap burns like, “You employee of the month at the bitch store!” It climaxes on a catchy chorus, “You ain’t even on the bench no more, no no, you just a mascot.”
“It's about faking it but never actually making it,” Karll reveals. “The song is a little more punchline-driven, which I wanted to emphasize on this record without overdoing it.”
“When Karll sent the lyrics, I was laughing out loud about how it was going to flow,” smiles Will. “It’s a Slayer-type riff with all of these punchlines!”
“Tombstone” revolves around a thick beat and a head-bobbing distorted groove. Karll proclaims, “The road to hell, it ends at your tombstone.”
“It tells a story about seeking revenge,” Karll sets the scene. “At the end, it basically comes back around.”
Then, there’s “Still Playin’ For Keeps (Big Umbrella Remix)” featuring Daniel Son, Pro Dillinger, and Jay Royale. This elite MC collective conducts a stone-cold rap masterclass over fluid fret-burning riffs. Icy verses and incisive guitars leave blood on the field.
“Growing up, I listened to a ton of hip-hop because of my older brothers,” Karll recalls. “Limp Bizkit was my introduction to heavy music. I loved how they had a rock version and a rap version of ‘Rollin’’ on Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water. We got features from three of the best artists in underground rap today. The goal was to combine the underground cultures of hip-hop and hardcore. They all wrote their own verses, and it was exactly what I wanted.”
Elsewhere, the title track “Poetry From Pain” sees the band join forces with nothing, nowhere. Emotion overflows on a hypnotic hook, “Hope you find something to gain in my poetry from pain.”
URL:
YouTube: https://go.evvnt.com/3229718-2?pid=2874
Category: Live Music | Gig
Artists: Gridiron, Missing Link, Splitknuckle
Tickets https://tinyurl.com/UWgridiron
£22.50 adv. // 18:00
----------------------
Presented by theunderworldcamden.co.uk
----------------------
GRIDIRON
https://youtu.be/uzx15qenwQk
instagram.com/gridironhardcore
If you push hard enough, every boundary can be broken…
GRIDIRON will go to any extreme and then some. They follow quite possibly the most unpredictable playbook in the game. The band might flood the zone with a corpsepaint-smearing death metal barrage only to double back around for a victory lap narrated by blinged-out and braggadocios bars. Their hybridization of metal, hardcore, and hip-hop wouldn’t be out of place at either OZZfest 1997 or Rolling Loud 2027. It’s why the quintet-Matthew Karll [vocals], Will Kaelin [guitar, vocals], Xavier Wilson [guitar], Lennon Livesay [bass], and Tyler Mullen [drums]-have bulldozed their own path as a phenomenon with millions of streams and acclaim from Stereogum, Brooklyn Vegan, NO ECHO, and more.
Now, they continue to smash through walls on their second full-length offering and Blue Grape Music debut, Poetry From Pain.
“We’re not in a box,” Will states. “Our sound is an amalgamation of everything we love. We’re putting death metal, rapping, huge breakdowns, and arena choruses in a blender, and it comes out like this. The record sounds like GRIDIRON from top-to-bottom, but it takes you down various winding roads.”
“We never paint ourselves into a corner,” adds Karll. “Instead, we’re always asking, ‘How far can we push the envelope?’ These songs cover all of the bases of what we want GRIDIRON to be.”
Taking time to define this vision, GRIDIRON was born out of a series of COVID-era marathon Call of Duty sessions. “We thought, ‘Instead of just drinking beer and playing Call of Duty for twelve hours a day, we need to do something creative,” Will recalls. “Karll texted me, ‘Can you write some songs for me to rap over?’ I said, ‘Let’s do it’.” Their musical pedigree spoke for itself with Will also in Never Ending Game, Xavier in Simulakra, and Tyler and Lennon in Scarab. Given their individual experiences, the guys instantly locked into a creative groove.
Following the Loyalty At All Costs EP [2020] and Worldwide Brotherhood EP [2021], they dropped their first full-length, No Good At Goodbyes [2022]. The title track reeled in over 851K Spotify streams followed by “25-8” with 560K Spotify streams. Stereogum applauded their “heavy, hard-stomping, rap-influenced hardcore.” Along the way, they also shared stages with everyone from Missing Link to Trapped Under Ice. In late 2024, the group decamped to Chicago where they recorded Poetry From Pain with recording engineer Andy Nelson in less than ten days.
“Andy’s a core piece of the puzzle,” says Will. “I don’t think there’s a better hardcore-metal recorder out there for making everything sound crushing.”
GRIDIRON teased this era with “Talk Real,” which Brooklyn Vegan praised as “a tough-as-nails rap rock anthem.” However, they blew the door off the hinges with the single “Mascot.” Pinch harmonics squeal between a plodding heavier-than-hell riff scorched by schoolyard battle-rap burns like, “You employee of the month at the bitch store!” It climaxes on a catchy chorus, “You ain’t even on the bench no more, no no, you just a mascot.”
“It's about faking it but never actually making it,” Karll reveals. “The song is a little more punchline-driven, which I wanted to emphasize on this record without overdoing it.”
“When Karll sent the lyrics, I was laughing out loud about how it was going to flow,” smiles Will. “It’s a Slayer-type riff with all of these punchlines!”
“Tombstone” revolves around a thick beat and a head-bobbing distorted groove. Karll proclaims, “The road to hell, it ends at your tombstone.”
“It tells a story about seeking revenge,” Karll sets the scene. “At the end, it basically comes back around.”
Then, there’s “Still Playin’ For Keeps (Big Umbrella Remix)” featuring Daniel Son, Pro Dillinger, and Jay Royale. This elite MC collective conducts a stone-cold rap masterclass over fluid fret-burning riffs. Icy verses and incisive guitars leave blood on the field.
“Growing up, I listened to a ton of hip-hop because of my older brothers,” Karll recalls. “Limp Bizkit was my introduction to heavy music. I loved how they had a rock version and a rap version of ‘Rollin’’ on Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water. We got features from three of the best artists in underground rap today. The goal was to combine the underground cultures of hip-hop and hardcore. They all wrote their own verses, and it was exactly what I wanted.”
Elsewhere, the title track “Poetry From Pain” sees the band join forces with nothing, nowhere. Emotion overflows on a hypnotic hook, “Hope you find something to gain in my poetry from pain.”
URL:
YouTube: https://go.evvnt.com/3229718-2?pid=2874
Category: Live Music | Gig
Artists: Gridiron, Missing Link, Splitknuckle
Starting Price Per Person
£ 22.50 GBP
Other Information
Where
The Underworld
174 Camden High Street
London England NW1 9DL
United Kingdom
( Bar - Nightclub - Pub )
174 Camden High Street
London England NW1 9DL
United Kingdom
( Bar - Nightclub - Pub )
Event Organizer Contact
More Events
Event ID: 257370
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