CHRISTIAN DEATH & ETHS
LONDON UNDERWORLD - 01/11/08
Taking shelter from a downpour of near biblical proportions one wondered if Camden would be washed away on leaving the Underworld. If ever there was a modern day Mecca of sin this is probably it. On entering the venue we looked around and came to the conclusion that it was startlingly empty. The main reason for this was no doubt that it was the weekend of The Whitby Goth fest and most acolytes of dark and gloomy things were likely to be there, and as Christian Death were performing the day before.
Eths from France are a bit of an enigma. I never really got my head round last album 'Tératologie' which is musically an unhinged nu-metal sounding stomp with crazed vocals and skewed guitar lurches. I was told just before they played that one of their guitarists had just been diagnosed with Diabetes A and this was going to be one of the only dates they were likely to be playing at full strength and strong is exactly what we got. Bursting into a Meshuggian sounding bass groove on ‘Samantha’ the group and namely their singer Candice literally exploded and for the next 45 minutes owned the venue; lack of audience aside, everyone in the joint no doubt felt like they were getting a hefty slap around the face. With bassist Shob’s dreadlocks flying around and the petite and unassuming singer bouncing all over the place there was plenty to watch.
Numbers such as ‘Bulimiarexia’ may sound dated and a bit musically like Deftones, Will Haven and Earthtone9 having a ruck but there is one hell of a lot of depth behind them and a lot more substance as well if you take a look at the Jarboe approved lyrics the group have now put on their website. Spending most of the show bathed in a cold dark blue, they kept us on our toes with their manic energy and exuberant showmanship and even if musically they are not particularly my thing, I could not fault them in the slightest. One thing that also struck as Candice rocked on her knees deeply growling is that the male vocals that I thought were on the album were actually provided by her!
Last time I caught a jetlagged and somewhat catastrophically shambolic Christian Death I could find plenty of fault. Luckily tonight they were spot on, hell Valor was even in such good spirits he even attempted some onstage humour at one point on realising his violin had been left backstage. The stage was theatrically dressed with blood red roses and other blooming garlands wrapped around the microphones and a white backdrop with the groups unmistakeable logo on it hanging off the wall and looking like it had seen quite a few dates over the years.
A lot of the set this time around was from latest album ‘American Inquisition’ one that I think was frankly underrated entirely. Valor and Maitri really worked off each other fantastically and Maitri’s more forceful vocal parts really boomed out and literally bit, ‘Stop Bleeding On Me’ being a case in point. Tonight seemed to be all about the love rather than the hate and some audience members were certainly reacting in an adoring fashion swaying along and singing every word with the band. Another imposing figure making their presence felt was bassist Steve Williams who along with a drummer whose name I forget provided the backbone. Highlights of the new material for me were the pouting vanity of ‘Narcissus Metamorphosis’ and the bittersweet ‘Dexter Said No To Methadone’. Battling with time restraints and an early curfew, Valor was all apologetic and looked like he would have been happy to entertain into the early hours. Luckily they had saved a couple of old favourites for the end. OK ‘Church Of No Return’ may not personally be one of them for me but it went down well with the audience and the finale of ‘This Is Heresy’ was fantastic a gloomy anti religious anthem that was a blast of the past and wrapped things up in a burial shroud neatly. Camden beckoned, still filthy and glistening in perversity. Special thanks for the evening go to the ass monkeys at TFL who turned a 40 minute journey home into 2 and a half hours.
Pete Woods
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