Last weekend we took a trip to one of Camden’s more popular dirty drinking holes for a night of death metal delights. And this is what we learned…
Death Metal Ain’t Dead
It’s refreshing to see the appetite for brutal death metal is big enough to sell out the venue tonight, even if that does mean your pint is never secure in your hand and the Black Heart’s “intimate” room, even more than usual, smells of the sweaty feet of the last gig’s audience. That said, that’s not what stinks worst tonight.
Not All Bands Called ‘Sentenced’ Are Created Equal
Once upon a time, there was a band called Sentenced from Finland, who were bloody great. They’re not playing tonight. Instead we have a Birmingham slam band of the same name. It’s impressive that they manage to be quite as boring as they are, simply spending most of their time playing slow bits with no impact or crush or groove or anything worth listening to. And what they lack in musical dynamics, they lack even more in enthusiasm and charisma, barely moving, showing no emotion or passion and repeatedly turning away from the crowd. The one-man moshpit they get is far more than they deserve. Spectacularly, irredeemably, unforgivably awful, and the Finnish Sentenced would be livid were they here.
Unfathomable Ruination Are The Best Death Metal Band You’ve Never Heard Of
Unfathomable Ruination could have come on out of tune and with no sense of timing and looked like Slayer’s best ever show after that dire guff. Only they’re not messy in the slightest, they’re tight as a naturist Eskimo’s nad-sack, technical in a fun, groovy way, and more brutal than falling down seventeen flights of stairs in a crate full of machetes and clawhammers. And yes, they do sound like they’ve listened to Suffocation once or twice, but they’ve got a gnarly-bastard flare that’s all their own. They have pace, zest and verve, and their London-accented challenge that the crowd “show these fucking Northern monkeys how we do it” is gleefully taken, the crowd going progressively more bonkers as the set goes on. Watch out for this lot, as they’re excellent.
Slam + Camden x Booze = Carnage
It’s a mystery quite how Ingested got a sufficiently frothing fanbase to make the floor shake with the crowd motion from the off, with a body literally hitting the ceiling by the end of the second song. Music this brutal doesn’t usually get the credit it deserves in Britain, but the reaction the “hits” Ingested play this evening tell you their fans are a tad keen. The absolute roar Skinned And Fucked proves the point, as does the intimidating level of pit frenzy that kicks off immediately. This being the album launch show for Architect Of Extinction, there’s plenty of new stuff – and this is why Ingested don’t outstay their welcome.
Blessed Are The Thick
This kind of death metal, with its formula of fast destruction intermixed with slow, crushing brutality, can get old fast when not done right. It’s not big and it’s not clever – it’s fun. It’s instantly gratifying, you can switch your brain off and lose yourself with no fannying about or pretentious bollocks. But it can lose its edge after about half an hour. Ingested’s new material stops this happening, the riffs carrying more interest than pure gurning brutality and the drums having accents and articulation rather than just wall-to-wall blastbeats. In fact, when they go off, most people seem up for another half-dozen songs – which is probably the biggest compliment a band’s audience can pay them. Proper fun.
