SEVERED HEAVEN, EASTERN FRONT & REVOKATION
LEEDS RIOS, 22/02/08
The basement bar of Leeds Rios is a fairly sizeable venue which surprised me a little, whereas the presence of a mini-swarm of fans with a non-metal dress sense had me worried somewhat, especially with what I knew about the style of bands playing on the night. Keeping an open mind I got myself a pint of so-called lager and headed straight to the front where Revokation were already underway.
This bands moniker was a tad strange considering the style of metal they were attempting to play. With only one guitarist, a vocalist and a drummer there were obvious limitations in their ability, as Pig Destroyer they were not. Be that as it may the band pulled off some catchy, if predictable riffs blended with some confident drumming that varied from a driving double bass battering to a moderately fast snare blast. I wondered if the band had recently lost members and hence the reduced numbers.
Eastern Front had some exceptional corpse paint that looked stunning and matched the bands attempts to incorporate some form of stage props with barbed wire on the mic stand etc. Their musical idea of setting the theme of second world war battles from the bands name to barbaric black metal was fitting and emotive throughout as their professionalism and ability was undeniable. The twin guitar assault was coupled to some truly venomous and twisted vocals set to a black metal bedlam rhythm section. The time changes and variety of riffing was backed by a good sound that was powerful enough to make each song extremely lethal. The majority of the crowd watching turned their attention to some pointless metalcore dance shenanigans and to be honest I felt like was at a kindergarten watching a bunch of kids messing around in the playground. “Where Warriors once Fell” started with an acoustic section that built up to an almost crescendo style eruption of riffing and bass drumming. With some spoken vocals included the track was epic and majestic in approach yet still had an old school black metal ethos throughout. Unfortunately a slight cock up in the sound dented the impact of the song a little towards the end but nonetheless the song was damn impressive. “Blood On Snow” finished their set and was yet another epic encounter of velocity, atmosphere and aggression. A very creative and inspiring black metal band.
The headliners were a new band to me and with little idea of what to expect I awaited with eager anticipation what this all girl band would unleash upon us. The number of metalcore kiddies decreased dramatically before they came on so I guess it was past their bedtime and went for the bus home. The bands death doom style has seen a revival recently as a deep bellow belched forth from Satanica’s throat. The speed of the songs had me clasping at the notion of My Dying Bride in places but with a much heavier stance. There were occasional similarities to the awesome Gallhammer as there was slight taint of fetid crust in the riffing, but the songs structures were firmly in death metal territory for the majority of their set. “Darkness Falls” had a deep chugging start before a change of tack with some decent lead work, interspersed with semi-blasted sections that were relatively short lived. Some of the songs had hints of black metal such as “Earth Decayed” which was a much speedier song and appealed to me far more in their set. There was no doubt that Severed Heaven has enough talent to stand up in the very crowded death metal scene and are worthy of checking out if you have even the slightest interest in deep doom filled death metal.
www.myspace.com/snowofficial
www.myspace.com/easternfrontuk
www.myspace.com/severedheaven
Martin Harris
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