The
London Deathfest 2005 – The Underworld Camden 18th
June.
Review by Darran, Oliver & Pete. Photos by
Pete.
It’s that time of year again, summer in the city and
the Deathfest were both upon us. Outside the air was full of muggy
pollutants making it difficult to breath. Luckily the air con was
working overtime and the dank dark hole of the Underworld was a
welcome place to be in to escape the heat at this early hour. Sure
enough the walls were going to be dripping sweat all to soon as they
had at last nights Vader show. |
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| 1st up today were Endless
Torment and even at such an early hour they were playing in
front of a fair few bodies. A grandiose guitar passage cut the air
but as it was indeed a day of death I knew it was soon to be
obliterated in a welter of crunchy abuse. The thing that immediately
strikes you about these Brummies is that they have a great grasp of
melody and intricate technicality. Their songs flow along nicely and
drag you right into their depths. They also knew how to work the
crowd and front man Barney tackled things as though they were
actually headlining the gig, getting horns cast aloft and rousing us
all with beefy battle cries. This was a crushing display of barbaric
might in the vein of the old masters and with Rob from The Enchanted
now in their ranks it seems though there was no stopping these
British bezerkers. (Pete) |
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| Although I’d never heard them
before, I’d been told Amputated were rather good. This, I
found, was no lie. I was reminded of Aborted in the way that 1) they
like their gore and 2) there were tons of immense rhythmic moments
scattered throughout their brutal set. A few titles that I caught
were “Anally Disembowelled”, “Amputated”, “Immersed in Pain” (a
Jungle Rot cover) and “Gargling Infected Semen”. I got the feeling
that some members of the crowd didn’t like the way some songs were
introduced; especially “Gargling Infected Semen”, with the vocalist
saying, “I bet there are some girls out there that love sucking
dick”. That ended with him telling someone in the crowd to “shut the
fuck up”. It did end on a humorous note however, when we were
told |
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| “the last song
is going to be Fucked with a Jackhammer…and it’s about being fucked
with a jackhammer”. |
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| Reviewing Nailed myself
seemed pretty sensible as I’d been given their debut album “A Pure
World is a Dead World” to review, the day before. Although I’d given
it the briefest of listens, it told me one thing; their sound
tonight, did them no justice at all. It was weak, tinny and lame,
unlike their brutal, full-on, bassy CD. It was a lively enough
performance, with bassist Dan flinging his hair backwards and
forwards like Vogg from Decapitated, and even twirling, helicopter
style! From their debut they played the title track, “Crowning of a
Cripple” and “For a Forgotten Idol”. The strangely titled “Mr
George” finished off their vicious set, leaving me damning the sound
technician for giving them such a lacklustre mix. (Oliver). |
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| All the bands playing today
really don’t mince their words! Amputated may have had one of the
smallest frontmen in Morbid Mark, but shit, this midget is full of
some of the nastiest abuse, and pent up sexual aggression this side
of the Irish sea. Putrefy from Northern Ireland (see why I
mentioned the Irish sea- very cunning don’t you think?) are well
versed in the obnoxious and vile, and well in my opinion anyway,
were the real surprise package of the Deathfest. Gore filled
death/grind is the regurgitation of the day and Putrefy are not
messing around. In what was a relatively short set they whipped the
growing deathfest crowd into a pit frenzy, piling on some well
executed devastating brutality in a Lividity vein. Also similar to
Avulsed who feature later on, the music is very groove orientated,
lots of pummelling double bass and |
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| chugging guitars with
well placed blast beats that are not over contrived and never
ending, are added to by a hardcore undertone. Songs like ‘Mutilated
Slutfuck’ and ‘Smeared with Innards’ not only paint a rather all too
clear picture of what these guys like to get up to in their spare
time, but are delivered with a very catchy and bouncy feel to them,
making it impossible not to get swept away in the barbaric assault.
The crowd were doing just that and as things were beginning to get
really warmed up, Putrefy were done. A quick, short and very bitter
sweet, Putrefy came and with their demented cacophony have scarred a
few minds, mine at least. Hopefully we will get to see a full length
out of these guys some time soon. (Darran) |
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| I quite eagerly picked
Screamin’ Daemon to review, having heard quite a bit about
them. “They’re like a Black Metal Gorerotted” I’d been told by a
couple of people, and yeah, I suppose they are really. “Kill your
family then yourself” kicked this comical quartet’s set off, and I
noticed that I couldn’t make out a single riff. The soundman was
clearly having another break. “Burke and Hare (what a Horrible
Pair)” came along next, and the harsh screams of Reverend Trudgill
could well and truly be heard dominating the murky sound. The many
counts of story time included “Dennis was a Homosexual Menace”,
flushing body parts of his victims down the toilet. They dedicated
“What Shall we do with the Evil Doctor” to the now deceased Dr
Shipman; |
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| and we were told that
they were a proper Black Metal band, and we should take them
seriously…hah, yeah right! (Oliver) |
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| There was absolutely no way that
we expected a band called Prostitute Disfigurement to be
politically correct and they didn’t disappoint in the slightest.
With the nice eerie John Carpenter inspired keyboard passage intro
of In Death’s Embrace they suddenly exploded into a gore filled
grind with vocals sounding like a pound of flesh going down a waste
disposal chute. Chunky as dog food being fed to the residents of an
old peoples home this hit the spot like a bowel evacuation at a
leper colony. Just as it was all going well singer Niels invited
Gorerotted’s Goreskin on stage to sing a duet, which I can assure
you was no sweet lullaby. Things were by now as beefy and brutal as
a barbecue at an abattoir. Despite the brutality of the music there
are many complex leads, sharp dynamics and complex interplay going
on within the music. I suppose it’s just like killing a whore, a
complex art form that has to be done properly. Speaking of which I
have to wonder if these Dutchmen cause terror in the red light
district of Amsterdam, wandering about wearing their own T Shirts.
The Corpse Garden |
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| was another grave
little number that was right up my yard and after that it seemed as
though the band had their own prostitutes as none other than the
Wilson from Gorerotted also joined them for another sing-a-long. By
the end of the set they had most definitely left us in grisly
fashion. (Pete) |
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| Avulsed have not been to
the UK in their 14-year existence, not even once! On record these
guys have been putting the goods out in an assured fashion since
their debut full length ‘Eminence in Putrescence’. This was well
received, and Avulsed has since had a strong following that has
grown all over the place. Dave Rotten is known for his energetic
performances as frontman, and today was no exception. Spending most
of the set being lofted a high by the rabid audience Rotten’s
massive frame was being hauled all over the Underworld. I don’t
think it is wise for me to try and guess what the song titles were,
I was trying hard to distinguish the sickening moans from one
another, but I reckon Gorillas are the only animals on the face of
the planet with that talent! The music however was clearly death
metal, and it was punched out in the most vicious of manners.
Traditional grooving death metal, loads of double bass and razor
sharp guitars delivered at the highest level. Avulsed are kind of
like old Sinister but with way more |
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| blood and gore thrown
into the mix, making them a lot more colourful to say the least.
Like a lot of the older sounding death metal acts the influence of
80’s thrash and hardcore goes without saying. This element to
Avulsed’s sound is why they were the best act today; they mix the
brutal death with nifty solos and infectious drumming. Avulsed
worked the crowd a treat and everyone here today will be hoping that
after 14 years of being a no show they will make it up to us by
coming back soon with a headlining show! |
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| Gorerotted are now in
essence the flag-bearers of cheeky blood drenched death metal in the
UK. If you have not caught a glimpse of these repulsive reprobates
yet, then you really need to get out a lot more. Minus Mr. Gore, the
dual vocals are reduced to Babysliced and his gruesome gut chucks
that lead the way for the grimy exuberance of Gorerotted’s talents.
Tonight it was the business of promoting the new album ‘A New Dawn
For The Dead, which by virtue has got a lot more serious in a sense,
the music is a lot more full on (not that it wasn’t ever extreme in
the first instance) and the tongue in cheek nature of the first two
records is not so apparent. Grinding away in the familiar way,
Gorerotted are close to their best ripping up the Underworld with
their murderous rampage though all things defiled and blood stained.
The new song ‘Pain As A Prelude To Death’ gave the |
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| crowd something new,
thick and extremely bloody heavy to mull over as they tore at each
other ripping limbs from sockets! The cockney banter between songs
as usual lightens the mood; it is as much part of Gorerotted’s
twisted personality on stage as the rank filth of the music. We
still have the likes of ‘Hacksore’ and ‘Cut, Gut, Beaten, Eaten’
tonight that will forever be favourites, and the crowd lapped it up
like starving Romanian orphans. ‘Only Tools And Copses’ triggered of
an insane Columbian fan behind me who nearly exploded literally as
she screamed right down my ear-hole for joy. Del Boy and Rodney
travel well seemingly, well tools and copses do anyway. My hearing
impaired from an unexpected source, I feel confident that a new dawn
of the garrotted dead is upon us. (Darran) |
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| After being blown away by the
last 3 bands in particular I wasn’t really expecting the best of
Cancer. Put simply, the group have never really ignited a
spark in me since their resurgence. Also I was surprised to be able
to plonk myself at the front of the stage so easily, the venue was
nowhere near as packed as it was earlier. Perhaps despite their
legendary status in the grand scheme of things people were by now
too drunk to care or just not old enough to appreciate such scene
relics. Cancer were indeed back from the dead and compared to what
had proceeded it I’m afraid that John Walker and his crew put on a
rather sterile performance that struck me as somewhat a case of
going through the motions with little in the way of pit action from
a lacklustre audience to drive them on. Face To Face had the bass
chunkily cutting |
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| through us and caustic
guitar riffs rampantly spurred on by Carl Stokes ever-impressive
blast action. Despite my moaning by the time we reached songs such
as Inside Out I was gradually being won over here and frankly I was
pleased that the place was now devoid of the annoying metal hammer
kiddies who had been annoying the fuck out of us old timers in the
pit earlier. The meltdown created by the likes of Into The Acid were
enough to make you sweat and by the time we were finished off with
Hung Drawn And Quartered it was time to stagger out into the sticky
night air and collapse in a drunken heap. (Pete)
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