Not a bad line-up right? Tonight is a quaint marriage of brilliant new talent and at points, unbelievable promise, with some of the best songs in the annals of rock music by statesmen of the genre. These bands have come from around the globe, showing just how varied and international metal is. And if the young bands are anything to go by here (which they are), it’s also a firm promise that our music is going nowhere.
Opening the night with a complex thrash about them is Survive. The Japanese quartet are not a new one, having formed in 1998 and put out an album nearly every two years since. The room would tell another story though. While attendance is low initially, the band, unphased, launch into a chunk of really powerful, really promising riffing. The vocals too, gruff and barked, take their performance up a notch but for some reason or another it keeps falling off-kilter and out of time. It’s tricky because all the components are there but it never comes together as one. It’s unfortunate because Survive are a band that will have gelled over their time together. It’s hard to tell what was going on, but it’s a shame nonetheless. Had it all come together, that could’ve been great.
I regretfully missed the beginning of Aeternam‘s set after over-running an interview with Jeff Dunn. I say regretfully because within moments of watching their set, they had already blown me away. The band play this sort of technical, metalcore music with often melodically sung, often roared death metal vocals, along a Middle Eastern orchestration and flurries of blastbeats decorating the songs. After several days of intense mulling, my best comparison is Nile meets Trivium… I think. Definitely the most bizarre mix to come out of Canada!
Just about everything is impeccable. The riffs are technical, they flow beautifully and they work incredibly with the orchestration behind them. The drums are just as mesmerising and deliver some great syncopated tribal beats in “Sun Shield” particularly. The vocals are an instrument in themselves (and a great one at that), but it’s the frontmanship from Achraf Loudiy, who has this Matt Heafy-like quality about him, that seals the deal with this band. His enthusiasm is deadly infectious and even often borders on camp. The songs are brilliantly constructed too. Take “Sun Shield”, “Damascus Gate” or my personal favourite, “Praetor Of Mercury”. The inroads and detours between genres and time signatures makes for such a captivating listen. I’m genuinely having difficulty organising my thoughts here because I don’t want to blow this and miss the mark on just how phenomenal this band is.
If I had known about them this time last year with the release of Ruins Of Empires, they would certainly have been among the top 5 albums of last year. That includes the company of Code Orange, While She Sleeps, Power Trip, Kreator and Thy Art Is Murder. That’s mental company to be in for a band, fourth on a bill in an 800-cap venue. Quite simply, this, I believe, is just about everything I want out of metal. It’s well-constructed, technical, dramatic, brutal and so listenable. I urge you, if you check out one new band this week, this month, this year, check out Aeternam. They may not be the sound you’d prescribe “cool” or “What’s in right now” but they’re definitely something to get very excited about. I sure am.
OK, rant over. Who was next? Oh, Nervosa. Might have to rant some more. Why are all these brilliant young bands playing small venues? While Aeternam had all manor of nuances and intricacies to their sound, these three girls, fronted by the awesome Fernanda Lira, play straight-up, un-fuck-with-able thrash. They’re metal through and through, fusing a Nuclear Assault inspired approach with Schuldiner-esque vocals and a Steve Harris-like stage appearance, with bottomless energy lathering the whole lot. By now, they’ve got a healthy setlist with ample tracks from Victim Of Yourself and Agony to pull from. The highlights however are “Death!” and “Arrogance” which receive more recognised reception. Fernanda screeches her way through the set with the whites in her eyes shooting darts into the audience. In terms of the best modern thrash bands, you ought to be including Nervosa in the very top of your list. The albums are great, but live, it’s something else entirely.
Now here’s a band who need little introduction. Technical death metal legends Suffocation take to the stage on this, the fourth show of their co-headline tour with Venom Inc. It seems just as many people are here for this bunch as they are the following band and as soon as they break into the classic “Thrones of Blood” off Pierced From Within, everyone is moved in one way, front to back either in repulsion or delight. A few tracks off last year’s …Of The Dark Light get some exposure but we all know any Suffocation set needs a significant portion dedicated to tracks off Effigy Of The Forgotten, their claim to fame. An early appearance from the title track catches the hardcore fans off-guard as a tumultuous roar greets the song. Even several tracks off their debut, Human Waste grace the stage. Terrance Hobbs’ dense riffage is a potent force and with Ricky Myers vocal barks on top, that’s a dangerous combination and turns the pit into a mass of limbs. It’s a great performance by any standards but just on what came before, it’s somewhat shadowed.
Unlike Suffocation, Venom Inc need something of an introduction. Comprised of former members of NWOBHM veterans, Venom, this group play a lot of the late 80s/early 90s material which had Tony “Demolition Man” Dolan fronting the band. Alongside Dolan is guitarist Jeff “Mantas” Dunn and drummer Anthony “Abbadon” Bray who’s currently replaced by Jeramie Kling for this tour. Having played four years of shows as this incarnation, last year the band released their debut, Ave, which they’re supporting currently.
Now with that out the way, I can get on with talking about how ridiculously fun they were. Opening, somewhat mildly with new track “Ave Satanas”, it’s a bit of a slow start but things really kick off with second track “Welcome To Hell”. Keen to show they are a new separate entity from the Venom of the early 80s, they return with a much stronger song off the new record. Tony Dolan introduces it passionately, saying “If you cut open our arms, you’ll find it’s only METAL WE BLEED”, cue the track. And that’s the thing with Venom Inc. Whether it’s just the members or the songs, there is so much power and passion behind what they do, not to mention how excellent of a frontman the Demolition Man is. “You know why you’re here,” he growls, their iconic pentagram glaring out at the audience. “You’re here because you’re like us motherfuckers. You DIE HARD!” Cue the track. Throughout the set, the performance from the individual band members is top form. Dolan’s vocal performance and fronting is classic heavy metal wizardry while Dunn seems almost empowered by his riffing, playing with more strength as the set progresses. Jeramie Kling (The Absence) on drums too (stepping in for Abbadon on this run of dates) holds it all together and is definitely, as Dunn puts it, is “A heavy hitter” and “A real powerhouse”.
Tonight is really the only place you’ll hear the lesser-known Venom tracks from the Dolan era. Inviting fellow former Venom member Al Barnes to the stage for 1991’s “Temples Of Ice”, this really is an all exclusive night for a fan of that era. “Warhead” is a really unexpected hit, with the vocal refrain bellowed back. “War” is another new track that goes down a treat and is one of many rollicking, classic, real heavy metal songs that you just don’t hear much anymore, all contributing to the good time, rock ‘n’ roll feel of the night.
Any band under the Venom brand however simply cannot leave the stage without pulling out the classics. The gruff vocals of the Demolition Man lend themselves perfectly to the insane finishing run of “Black Metal”, “Countess Bathory”, “Sons Of Satan” and “Witching Hour”. It’s absolute bedlam.
This is not a tribute band however. This is something Jeff Dunn is keen to reiterate. They play the staple Venom songs well but pulling “Warhead” out in particular, and doing it such a great service shows the fierce independence Venom Inc are striving for. So what more can be said of the band? There definitely will be a new album that Jeff Dunn says is going to “Blow the fuck out of Ave“ which is exciting because that album is great. For now though, if you get the chance to see the rest of this tour out in Europe or someplace else, just go. Don’t even think about it. The bill is stacked and there are performances that are absolutely next level. This band are devilishly good and their company is exceptional (particularly Aeternam). This is gonna go off on the main stage at Bloodstock!
Venom Inc: official | facebook | twitter
Suffocation: official | facebook | twitter | youtube
Nervosa: official | facebook | twitter | youtube
Aeternam: official | facebook | youtube | twitter | bandcamp
Survive: facebook
