HATE ETERNAL, MISERY INDEX, AEON, SEE YOU NEXT TUESDAY & DEAD BEYOND BURIED
THE UNDERWORLD (CAMDEN) - LONDON 01/02/09
This was my first gig of the year after a long deserved break from the many events last year. I was greeted with a very healthy turn out and a great bill to match. This was their last night of the European Tour (with Hate Eternal on the bill), hence much of the larger gentleman’s merchandise was not available, but still it saved some money!
Local support Dead Beyond Buried open things up with their brutal, yet precise take on death metal. I took no track list because I entered the venue as the band were finishing their set, still it was good to see them finally in a live setting even if it was brief and they gave a fitting performance representing their excellent album.
www.myspace.com/deadbeyondburied
CAULDRON
See You Next Tuesday are up next, whilst probably only on the tour as they are on the same record label as the headliners, it was simply not what I wanted to see from the start. Screaming angry vocals and more jumping around than playing, their chaotic hybrid of technical death metal meets scream-o just simply did not do much to inspire me at all or the rest of the heckling crowd. Although, if you don’t like a band, just don’t watch, there is no need to taunt a band trying their best even if you are not a fan.
http://www.myspace.com/seeyounexttuesday
AEON on the other hand offer some Christ hating death metal from the start, extremely tight and they were working the crowd into their bludgeoning metal assault with great ease, it was a welcomed relief and a cracking set from these Swedes. Tommy Dahlström bellows out ‘You Pray to Nothing’ from their latest album ‘Rise to Dominate’ that brings a crescendo of energy to the forefront and I really wished they had a longer set in which to dominate the stage further as they did for me.
www.myspace.com/aeon666
Co-Headliners Misery Index are a band I have wanted to check out live for some time now, having missed them on every occasion previously, I was determined to see all of this bands set. Whilst I made little notes because I was engrossed in their set, I was thoroughly pleased-as-punch by their grinding death metal assault and ‘Ruling Class Cancelled’ provided me with a highlight and thoughts of musical dominance thus far. The crowd are reacting perfectly to their violent set list and we saw a proper mosh pit for once tonight. Their intensity was something else all together.
www.miseryindex.com
Hate Eternal enter the stage to a rapturous applause, the crowd was close to bursting point, although not sold out, it was extremely difficult to get down to the front for photos. Having released the popular ‘Fury and Flames’ album last year to much acclaim, I was wondering how this would come across live, as I often found it very busy in terms of lots of things going on at once. One thing, drummer Jade Simonetto was certainly working hard, and he made it look all too easy. Hats off to that man. Erik Rutan commands attention and bellows out line after line, with riff after riff, they don’t get much more accomplished than this. Once again, the crowd show their enjoyment by bashing the hell out of each other in the all friendly moshpit environment. It would be difficult for any fan of the band to leave disappointed tonight, they held true their status as on of the leaders of the death metal movement and produced a classy stage set.
www.hateeternal.com
This was a wonderful first gig of the year for me, however, the journey home due to the snow was less than pleasant, still I got home in a reasonable time unlike a fellow scribe who took nearly 3.5 hours to get home on foot. Still, it’s all heavy metal!
Paul Maddison
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