Beneath The Flesh
Starting of this day of metallic mayhem was the young U.S. death metal band Beneath The Flesh. Their young age showed in their play, as their fast, technical death metal didn’t just cut it yet. It showed potential, but I did not see or hear the reason for these guys to go out on the road in Europe already. Give them a couple of years and we’ll see where they’re at. Good to see their bassist head- and beardbang by the way, show ‘m how it’s done!

Coffin Syrup
What a pleasant band name, Coffin Syrup. Hmmmm, I love me some syrup. This U.S. trio turned up the speed a bit, and with that also the technicality. It sort of felt like a Dying Fetus death metal/grindcore clone because of the fast pass these guys kept up throughout their show and because of the almost statue-like performance. I’d like to find out how these guys sound on their record, entitled Putting The Gore Back In Gourmet. C’mon, that’s fucking funny! If they keep up this level, these guys might go places for sure.

 

Abhordium
Unfortunately the Finnish death metal band Abortification had to cancel their appearance, and replacing them was the also Finnish death metal outfit Abhordium. They brought the audience a fast and brutal mixture of grooving death metal, performed very enthusiastically (especially compared to the statues playing before them). Not too original, yet with such a powerful groove it turned out to be a very enjoyable performance. It was just weird to see that half of the band wore warpaint and the other half didn’t. Besides a snapped string, nothing bad to mention about this show.

 

Warpath
After this nice performance, these Irish death metallers took over the stage and raised the bar once more. Just a tad more brutal and grooving than the dudes before them, Warpath made an even better impression. One of the biggest surprises of the day for sure. Fast, brutal, groovy and energetic, just the way I like my death metal. And with just one record under their belt, this is definitely a good competitor to come for the death metal scene. Definitely a band worth to check out if you dig sheer brutality. I for one would love to hear more from them in the future.

 

Nordor
This Greek death metal outfit also had a huge fucking guy on vocals, with a funny Greek accent of course. They played some nice Satanic death metal with high speed drums and brutal riffs and gained a lot of support from the other bands playing tonight. However, overall I can’t say I was really impressed with what I saw. Just a nice band to pass the time.

 

Requiem
The Swiss deathgrind band Requiem was probably the “slowest” band of this day. More groovy and heavy than fast and blasting, this band gave quite a catchy performance. The sound was very loud and intense, definitely one of the better productions this evening. Even though the battered and beaten crowd didn’t really respond enthusiastically, I must say that this was one of the better bands out of the nine. At least they stood out because of their mildly slower playing, something the rest of the bands surely didn’t. I’d like to see these guys again sometime.

Pandemia
Czech Republic’s Pandemia took the stage like they were some kind of rock legends. Unfortunately for them nobody responded to them like that, and I must say that I didn’t really like what I heard neither. Boring, regurgitated death metal riffs with a flashy performance doesn’t really cut it for me, so I was glad when this ordeal was over.

 

Pessimist
Many praise US’ Pessimist, so I was curious to find out what this cult death metal group had to offer. The band hadn’t been to Europe in over ten years, and to be honest I could hear why. With their latest record dating back to 2002, this band does surely not stand out in the ocean of death metal, at least for me that is. A bit too old-school and a bit too much done before and after, not quite what I was rooting for. Honestly I was again glad when it was over.

 

Lividity
The only band I really knew prior to going to this show was US’ Lividity. This brutal death/goregrind band writes songs mainly about pussy, and the fucking of that genital. And sometimes they sing about ass too. Exactly the kind of stuff I needed after being battered by eight bands. With a huge black guy on guitar and main vocals they spewed gore over the (finally somewhat enthusiastic) crowd with a massive groove and a nasty gory sound. I fucking loved it. Luckily this band exceeds their sound on record with ease in a live environment, so it wasn’t hard for them to win the audience for them. Even girls (mainly Oriental ones….) were headbanging and dancing around to songs about fucking the pussy and then the ass and then the mouth, otherwise known as the APTM (ass-pussy to mouth). Definitely a very nice band to see and hear live, next time I’ll be there again. It’s not about Satan, it’s about pussy!