NAPALM DEATH, BORN FROM PAIN, MENDEED & GENGHIS TRON Despite Slayer playing a corporate metal shindig down at Brixton tonight (a snip at £30 a ticket) it looked like this gig was still going to be rammed. The pub was heaving with the great metal masses, a tout was outside plying his trade as were crack dealers. There were God squad members out with megaphones, one of whom called me the walking dead, which I took as a compliment. Basically this was a typical Sunday night in Camden Town.
“I’m seeing keyboards and feeling sick” was one comment from a hard to please audience member just before Genghis Tron hit the stage. There were actually 2 keyboard players, one of which was also the singer and 1 guitarist (no bassist and a drum machine) and they played what I can only describe as Casio enhanced Spazzcore. Was it good, well I suppose it was akin to receiving an enema and full frontal lobotomy at the same time, which makes me a bit of a masochist as I begun to really enjoy this noisy tumult. At times keyboards reminded me of the likes of Zombi with evident Goblin influence and basically the sheer unadulterated difference of the music (unless you have heard the likes of Behold The Arctopus and Infidel/Castro?) was enough to leave me transfixed at the front of the stage. Throwing in everything from drum and bass beats, shoegaze guitar meanderings and downright crazed vocal tantrums the trio looked like they had been expelled from the Miskatonic University for fondling corpses and played the sort of racket that would no doubt wake them up. My neighbours best pray I never get any CDs by them.
Last time I caught Mendeed they were headlining over the band I had gone down to interview and I was thankfully able to leave after a couple of songs. Tonight I was going to try my best to like them but unfortunately some things are not meant to be. These Scots are certainly fast and furious as well as technically proficient. They play the sort of metalcore that labels hanker for and indeed that is why Nuclear Blast snapped them up in a bidding war. However they just leave me thinking “why?” In an overpopulated metal arena they are doing nothing new, sounding not dissimilar to the 1st excellent Haunted album but without the memorable songs. One of which Poisoned Hearts had me writing the words “yap yap, bark, bark, throw in some generic Swede riffing here and a splash of Slayerized meathead aggression there.” This certainly wasn’t the sort of support worthy of the headliners here and they would be much more suited to sucking Sharon O$bourne’s clit along with the likes of BFMV and Trivium.
Born From Pain were in the right place at the right time make no mistake about it. I had wanted to see the Dutch mob indoors since they had blown me away at Wacken. BFP play proper hardcore with no pretensions, just the way it is meant to be done. There had been people clustering the stage all evening and the pit really exploded into action as we were literally decimated by songs like Final Nail. Adrenaline and testosterone were flowing, there was no bullshit but some Barney as Mr Greenaway charged on the stage sung some vocals and charged off again, blink you might have missed him.
Reclaiming The Crown had bodies falling all over the shop then they played a fast one off the new album War, didn’t catch the name but it sure was fast. The New Hate was superb, an anti Nazi song that took no prisoners and singer Che Snelting threw himself around the stage and karate kicked the air for all he was worth. Having managed to whip up a pit circle and leave bruised and battered bodies all over the floor Born From Pain bowed out with Stop At Nothing and I’m sure to many, were worth the admission price on their own, excellent stuff!
I know the score as far as Napalm Death are concerned having seen them on average twice a year for the last 18. It was a case of get down the front of the stage and desperately try to get some photos as quickly as possible before backing out. Barney is one of the fastest men in extreme music he doesn’t stand still for a second. I even saw him pass out once, hit the floor for ten seconds, stand up and carry on like nothing had happened. The calm before the storm was Weltscmerz off stunning new album Smear Campaign and by Sink Fast, Let Go I was literally smeared all over the place. I was getting crushed nuts on the stage with bodies coming over my head in both directions. Not only was I in pain but so were the kiddies and I was glad I backed out just as they tore into the harmonic corruption that is Suffer The Children. The walls were dripping sweat and so were we, it might have been winter outside but we were in a virtual furnace here. Puritanical Punishment Beating was introduced as a rant against religion and that was it for me even though I should have been doing a better job at reviewing, ND are one of those rare bands that have me not acting my age but throwing myself around in the pit. Shane Embury was a mass of unruly hair and the songs were a mass of unruly hate. Actually When All Is Said And Done is the closest they have had to a pop song in years and Breed To Breathe was certainly another good old fashioned crowd pleaser.
Catching the new ones for the first time didn’t disappoint, In Deference with Anneke’s vocals sampled through the PA being one such treat. How long they played for is uncertain, everything came at us like a fast and furious blur but it was a gig with an ever friendly pit with everyone helping people falling flat on their butts up straight away.
Way back in time we got scum and Life? a couple of numbers over in seconds. Persona Non Grata and the godlike Smear Campaign itself were awesome, two of the freshest numbers from Napalm in years. Wrapping up a perfect set with Siege Of Power Napalm Death had torn us apart once more. The good news is they are back in April 2007 on a heavyweight tour with Dew Scented, Behemoth & Moonspell. See you down the front.
Pete Woods
LONDON UNDERWORLD 19/11/06