Bloom in Heaven Tour, Pt. 2: Invent Animate, Silent Planet, Reflection, Soulkeeper

Phantom Light Media
Nov 3, 2025
8 min read

Bloom in Heaven. Three words that make any current metalcore fan’s eyes go distant as they think back on this collaborative EP between two of the scene’s current buzzworthy names - Silent Planet and Invent Animate. It seemed only natural that such a notable project would spawn a coheadlining tour of the same name, but I don’t think anyone could’ve predicted the scale it would take on. The first leg of the tour with 156/Silence and Allt. as openers sold out shows across the country, and I was fortunate enough to make a last-ditch trip to Los Angeles to see that lineup. And I’ll admit it, I was sure this would be a one-time thing, so I spent a lot of money and poured my heart into making sure I’d be present for the whole thing. So you can imagine my shock when the bands then announced the second leg for fall of 2025, this time including a Portland stop. Was I a little bummed that I’d dropped hundreds of dollars already? Yeah, admittedly. But was I going to go and take it in a second time with fresh openers and have just as good of a time? Yeah, absolutely. The Bloom in Heaven II tour touched down at the Roseland Theater on October 10th to a packed house, and once again I was treated to one of the best concerts of my life.

The first opener on this leg were Minnesota’s Soulkeeper, active since 2015 but really starting to break through into the mainstream recently after a string of excellent tours with the likes of Unity TX, Miss May I, Fit For a King, and Stick To Your Guns. I’d heard the name in circulation amidst much praise, but chose to go into their set blind so I’d hear them with fresh ears. And I have to be honest, the best way I can describe this band’s sound is just chaos. They employ a unique blend of odd time signatures that’d be right at home on a Meshuggah record mixed with static-laden crunchy guitar tones often found blaring through amps of bands such as Johnny Booth, Slipknot, and fromjoy (insane combination, but trust me). Vocalist Eric Roberts was an absolute presence on the Roseland stage, running back and forth and leaping around the ego risers like a man possessed - and his screaming style certainly puts credence to that. It’s unhinged and cathartic in equal parts, and it blew my mind. The other standout I have to give props to is drummer Tom Jenson, whose chops cannot be overstated enough in my opinion. Soulkeeper’s set, packed with tracks from their 2023 release Holy Design, featured mind-jarring breakdowns in odd and intense time signatures that then gave way to passages of electronic static ambience, requiring a steady hand on the kit and an even better sense of rhythmic timing. But Tom absolutely crushed it, and multiple times I found myself pausing in my photography just to watch him pummel his kit like his life depended on it. I’m genuinely really glad I came into this blind because I think Soulkeeper absolutely excels as a live band, and they immediately went onto my radar for acts to catch again.

The second opener of the night, also from Minnesota, turned out to be another new discovery of mine - progressive djent specialists Reflections, apparently a band that’s been delighting fans for over fifteen years now. Yet somehow they flew completely under my radar, and as a big djent fan myself, I feel like that’s a crime against my own tastes (and of my own making). This set turned out to be the near-entirety of their lauded 2015 album The Color Clear, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect as the ethereal guitar passages of album opener “Pseudo” began to float into the darkened theater. It was a far departure from the previous insanity that had been Soulkeeper, but our patience was soon rewarded as the band’s three guitarists transitioned effortlessly into a veritable onslaught of riffs. Longtime vocalist Jake Wolf immediately caught my attention with his vocal delivery - I understood every word he said but he delivered them with true savagery rivaling that of Phil Bozeman (Whitechapel) and Darius Tehrani (Spite) alike. Reflections’ metalcore style is almost meditatively heavy, an undulating and ever-shifting tapestry of sound evoking kaleidoscopic patterns and cascading waterfalls, and it had the crowd absolutely mesmerized, myself included. Each song got heavier than the last until album closer “Translucence”, which coaxed out the first big mosh pit of the night at long last. The show standout to me, however, was “Shadow Self”, a stank-inducing groovy monster of a track that featured some of the nastiest “bleghs” I’ve ever heard (and that’s coming from someone who’s seen Motionless in White). I added it to my playlists before their set was even over, and honestly I’m kind of amazed these guys hadn’t made an appearance in my listening habits previously. They perfectly balanced technique and ferocity in ways I’d equate to bands like ERRA and After the Burial, and I’m making it a personal goal to see them again within the next year or so.

Repeating their switching order from the tour’s first leg, Silent Planet and Invent Animate were taking turns playing third and fourth at each show, and Silent Planet turned out to be third at this one. I had a feeling most of their set would be fairly similar to the leg one set, and while I wasn’t wrong, that was by no means a bad thing. A similar set promised many cuts from 2023’s absolutely excellent SUPERBLOOM and at least one live collaborative performance off of the tour’s namesake EP, a staple of the first leg and promised to return for the second by both co-headliners. They made their entrance to the haunting synths of “Offworlder” and deafening roars from the audience, many of whom I recognized from the SUPERBLOOM headlining tour that had played at the Hawthorne Theater back in 2024. Enigmatic frontman Garrett Russell wasted no time in whipping his crowd into a frenzy before the song’s first driving chorus - and make no mistake, the second Silent Planet step onstage, the crowd is theirs to the end. There are very few bands I’ve seen that command such power from their live shows, but you could tell everyone in that crowd was connected to their music in a deeply personal way, and it added an air of community and catharsis to their 13-song set. This set saw new additions like recent singles “Wick” and “Mindframe” join the fray alongside fan-favorites “Collider”, “Antimatter”, and the ever-inspiring “Panic Room”. Marcus Vik of Invent Animate made an early appearance to perform “Return to One” alongside the Californians to ravenous approval, and one of the standout moments of the show would soon follow as both vocalists stood atop an ego riser to scream “BLOOM IN HEAVEN” to the packed house. Capping things off with the truly excellent “Trilogy,” Garrett then wasted no time coming down to the barricade to get up close and personal with the crowd. It’s a staple of Silent Planet’s live shows that never fails to bring tears to my eyes, seeing how deeply their fans care for them and vice versa. I was able to hug him for the third time in about a year, thank him for his commitment to musical excellence, and he told me with no trace of exaggeration that he was glad I had made it to both legs of the tour. There’s something truly special about that band, and it’s not easy to put words to, but whatever it is has made me a lifelong fan. I’ll see them every chance I get, and I hope to be able to write about it every time as well just to share my experience and encourage anyone who hasn’t seen them to make the effort.

At long last, though, Invent Animate arrived in the Roseland once again. Their last visit to Portland was at the same venue supporting Northlane, and something in the crowd at that show had me feeling that it was probably the smallest stage I’d be seeing them on in this city ever again. That certainly was proven by the reception they got as the exquisite opening riff to “False Meridian” began to play, accompanied on-screen by cascading stars. This was my fourth (or fifth? I’m losing track) time seeing Invent play, and my second from the photo pit, and I can state with confidence that they are one of the best live bands in the scene right now. The dual audience interactions and onstage chemistry between Marcus and bassist Caleb Sherraden whipped the pit into motion before the second song, standout single “Shade Astray”, had even started, and kept it moving through basically the entirety of their set. Heavener is one of my favorite albums of all time, and this show marked the third time I’d heard it played nearly in full - but the band still managed to surprise us throughout the show. Fan favorite “Cloud Cascade” returned to the set by extreme popular demand, and we finally got live collaborative performances of the remaining Bloom in Heaven songs - “All the Light is Gone” featured both Garrett Russel and Mitch Stark of Silent Planet, while “Armageddon Eyes” brought Marcus and Garrett center stage once again for a soaring vocal duet that had me standing slack-jawed in the upper balcony for the entire four minutes of the song. I’d be a fool not to touch on the standout performances from Brody (drums) and Keaton (guitar) as well - Invent’s songs are not for the faint of heart, but they play with such soul and passion that it just elevates the show that much further. Although this set lacked my personal favorite song off the album (“Void Surfacing”), all the classics were present and extremely well received - the awe-inspiring “Heavener”, the colossal wall of death in “Immolation of Night”, and the fan-favorite singalong of “Without a Whisper”. I truly believe that this collaborative tour will go down in metal history as one of the most ambitious and inspired projects ever undertaken, and I count myself incredibly lucky to have seen both of its incarnations. I’ll see Invent Animate and Silent Planet every time I possibly can, but I was also exposed to incredible new bands in the process, and that (to me) was the true beauty of this tour. I heard so much chatter about Soulkeeper on my way out the door, coupled with many variations on “I cannot wait for Invent to release new music so they’ll come back”. I’d be loathe not to echo that sentiment. Please, if you haven’t seen Invent Animate - do so. It’s genuinely life-changing.