SUFFOCATION, SAMAEL & OTHER ASSORTED BARNYARD ODDITIES
CAMDEN UNDERWORLD - LONDON 23/04/08
Even by today’s standards of pick and mixing our metal genres up at gigs, this one was an odd one. Fair play having two brutal death metal bands on the bill and the other trio of acts would have been a winner in their own right but throwing them all in together girls was an idea that could have really backfired. Mind you it seemed that the promoter took the chance and it all went off rather well with the main two bands especially being really rammed. The bar did a brisk business as well with people supping away at the bands not to their tastes. There were some even stranger people myself included who actually liked all the groups playing, not that we avoided the bar by any means, oh no.
I do admit that personally I was not going to this until the last second addition of Ayin Aleph. Having interviewed her and being bowed over by her recent album, this was a set I had high expectations for. I was not disappointed in the slightest when her voice boomed from the bar scaring the bejesus out of us. Dressed in a posh sequined number showing plenty of stocking top she transfixed us instantly by both vocal prowess and the sheer dynamism of her backing band as they flew into the crazy Hamlet (picture the writer singing this back to himself, off key to determine the track as he writes this).
Unfortunately there were only a dozen of us down the front for this as it was early but it seemed like more joined to see what the hell was going on, all staying for the duration of the six song set. I described the songs as loud, proud and wrapped in a burial shroud at the time and was impressed that the vocals were so fantastically replicated live. It was also a nice touch that the singer seemed to pick out all those at the front and return the favour of being watched by giving us each personal serenades. By the time we galloped through the likes of ‘Army Of Love’ and ‘Black Roses’ I was convinced she is a future Eurovision song entrant and the true answer to Amy Winehouse. I think I best get a drink to calm my nerves. (PW)
Annotations Of An Autopsy had only recently released their debut cd “Before The Throne of Infection”, so I was excited to see them as they have already garnered some excellent reviews and it always gives you a sense of pride when a British band comes good! Quite frankly, Annotations didn’t just come good, they kicked ass. From the beginning of their set to the end, the boys from Lowestoft showcased their passion, excellent song-writing abilities and top-notch musicianship. The deathcore that was on display tonight was full to the brim of mayhemic riffs and brutally effective time-changes that contained those killer breakdowns which pummel the fan at just the right moment.
Songs such as “Gore Gore Gadget” (unfortunately this has led me to hum the bloody cartoon theme tune every time I see this song title......not good!), “Years of Disgust” and “Prosthetic Erection” (nice) were all played with a confidence of a band well beyond their years. By the end of their short but sweet set, I was wishing that they could have stayed on for a longer stint, such was the energy and aggression that the band purveyed in their thirty or so minutes at the Underworld. Certainly a band I’ll be seeing again, and a band that I recommend that you all check out!! (AD)
Being (ahem) a bit of a Goth it was surprising that this was my first encounter with Gothminister. They had their grave paint (corpse- paint is only for the krieg) nicely presented and flew into the sort of thing that one expects to encounter in the Slimelight at 3AM in the chemical enhanced morning. With members names like Machine and Halfface this was never something that was going to be taken very seriously but it was a fun performance from these Norwegians and there were plenty dancing about at the front during the set.
They announced the first song from their first album, which appears to have been ‘Gothic Anthem’ no breaking trades descriptions acts here at all. There was also a new song to which I appear to have scrawled down “twisted dark side, stomp stomp stomp” which obviously made sense at the time. ‘Hatred’ gave some EBM pulses and was another infectious number impossible not to move around to and then the singer got a smoking skull sort of stand and a big canvas fold out pulpit to stand on. I guess you had to be there but this was an interesting set to say the least and I bet they are going to be one hell of a spectacle when they play Wave Gotik Treffen later in the year.
Samael have played London quite a few times but lately they have never really prospered. Headlining the Scala proved the venue at the time was far too big for them and then they ended up at the Electric Ballroom unintentionally headlining after the Obituary work visa snafu. Tonight they had the audience hemmed in and they had side and rear projectors set up for some imagery, so on paper it all looked promising. Unfortunately as is their ethic they piled out way too much dry ice and the sound was pretty damn poor to say the least.
I have pretty much everything they have ever done and still found it hard making the hell out of what they were playing as it was stewed up in the mix. Numbers like ‘Solar Soul’ lost the austere impact and surely the point of the onstage visuals is to add to the atmosphere, so why drown everything in fog. It really is annoying when a band you like pretty much fail to deliver but tonight was not their night and even with the addition of great numbers like ‘Rain’ in the set I walked away from this one disappointed (PW)
I was gutted last year when the originally arranged gig for the Underworld was cancelled. So it would be safe to say that I was chomping at the bit to see New Yorkers Suffocation. Probably one of the most influential and talented death acts around, the wait had been excruciating. But it was well worth it, because tonight, they owned the place. As one of the worn-out, yet blown-away fans remarked posthumously – “The rest are but the pupils, they are the teachers” – I couldn’t have agreed more. Throughout the uncompromising set, they turned the Underworld into a seething pit of violent intent (one of the most lively pits there in a while that included a band requested circle pit) and the crowd were eating out of the hands of personable vocalist Frank Mullen, who never failed to get the rabid faithful going.
Classic tracks such as Thrones of Blood, Liege of Inveracity and Infecting the Crypt were blistering and newer material such as the excellent Bind, Torture, Kill and Abomination Reborn were received as if they were old favourites. Personally, I thought this was one of the best performances from a metal band that I had seen in a very long time. We all know the ability of their song writing, but to see this work in action was something else. It was almost a case of “We are not worthy!” and as the final notes from the guitars of Hobbs and Marchais echoed through the Underworld, a thoroughly exhausted, yet satisfied bunch of fans left the building after successful night of mixed-genre metal.
Other acts will find it difficult to surpass the level of performance that Suffocation gave the crowd tonight and it looks like these guys have no intentions of sitting back or slowing down. This is extreme metal at it’s finest. (AD)
Andy Duke & Pete Woods
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