GOREROTTED Vs KNUCKLEDUST + CENTURIONS GHOST, LIGATURE & TAKE THE PAIN
It’s a new year, and kicking it off early we come across this interesting package. Mixing styles across genres, illustrates a diverse line-up and the plus side is that all the bands are UK based. It’s also engaging checking out the mix of the crowd, with various fashions on display in the pub before the gig.
‘TAKE THE PAIN’ grace the stage first, although they are far from graceful. Singer Angela wears a bed-sheet covered in fake blood and sports a strap-on dildo, different! The band take the stage to a sparse crowd, the show is better than encountered on previous live occasions, but there is still something missing, although not in the song titles. The first track was about ‘fisting prostitute’s arseholes then killing them’ whilst the second track ‘Drink Your Spunk Like A Good Little Bitch’ although humorous, has already been done by UK bands in the past. Their sound comes across as a mix between death metal, Arch Enemy sounding riffs and Machine Head harmonics with good guttural vocals that occasionally get lost in the mix. (Angela was dying with the flu to be fair - Pete). (PM)
www.myspace.com/takethepainmusic
‘LIGATURE’ kick things off with the furious barrage that is ‘Click Click’ from their self released album ‘Attack of the Megaleanasaurus’. Singer Nick has his usual presence in the front row of the crowd walking round with a menacing determination encouraging people to get involved. Since these guys last played at this venue supporting Evile, there seems to be even more energy on show tonight. This can be seen by the increase in crowd numbers by the end of their set. A personal favourite ‘What’s In The Basket’ is up next. Their Death/Thrash/Grindcore approach is most refreshing. Not many bands can pull off a mixture of music styles and these guys do so with professional ease. ‘One Man War’, ‘32 Stabs’ and ‘M.D.K’ follow on with relentless disregard for the eardrums, perfect! We wait with baited breath for their next live outing and more record label interest. (PM)
Next up, is ‘CENTURIONS GHOST’. These local boys and girl just go from strength to strength each time they play live. We are welcomed with a wonderful scream from singer Mark. ‘The Supreme Moment’ opens the evening’s proceedings from their fantastic second album ‘The Great Work’ (released on I Hate Records). People keep on saying this new line up is good, it’s no longer a new line up, IT IS the line up, and these guys put UK Doom back on the map. ‘I Am God, You Are Denied’ follows. The live performance is showing maturity and this is also appreciated by the ever increasing size of the crowd. By the end of their set, the floor area in the Underworld is busy, and head-banging is mandatory. Final track of the night ‘Bedbound (In the House of Doom)’ just affirms their position as one of the hottest UK bands out there. It’s a shame we are only treated to 30 minutes though. (PM)
www.myspace.com/centurionsghost
It has been quite some time since I last caught long serving UKHC crew Knuckledust in action. All the shows they used to play down the Red Eye were always explosive and the 1st thing that I noticed was that the line-up all seemed the same although Nic had lost his trademark Mohawk. With a new album ‘Promises Comfort Fools’ just out the LBU boys set about tearing things up and it was in doing so that the crowd interaction was well and truly divided. Most people more into the metal side of things found themselves cramming to the sides and back whilst the martial artists reigned supreme in the pit. This made it a bit of unforgettable experience and I have to admit it was no fun trying to get photos of Pierre stomping around the stage constantly fearing a kick in the back of the head. No track by track rundown here, I am out of touch but with the singer shouting out “Your not taking my territory” I wasn’t arguing and whimped out to drink my beer in peace.(PW)
www.myspace.com/knuckledustlbu
Finally, to close proceedings were the mighty ‘GOREROTTED’. The vocalist Ben immediately comes on stage and thanks the crowd and the promoters for the varied styles of bands on show today. Opening up with ‘Gagged, Shagged and Bodybagged’ from their 1st album ‘Mutilated in Minutes’. The audience seem to like this one! Legs and arms are flying all over the place, much more like it! The sound is great, the benefit of bringing your own sound engineer works wonders. A favourite ‘Only Tools and Corpses’ from their 2nd CD shows a total disregard for the ears, brilliant. ‘Stab Me Till I Cum’ is also a highlight. A perfect end to the evening, and on the whole it looked like a successful day of extreme music.(PM)
Paul Maddison & Pete Woods
LONDON UNDERWORLD 05/01/08