Monday evening concerts can often be a bit hit or miss. Quite often, the shows can have some of the best bands on the planet playing and yet not a lot of people will come out see them. Thankfully, this was not the case tonight as there was a decent number of people queued outside the doors of Rebellion when I arrived. The steadily-increasing downpour seemed not to deter the eager masses as they came to get their fill of “furious blast-beats and intense riffing”.
First up on the stage were, Graveslave (6). With a sound compromised of mainly down-tuned riffing and sadly unintelligible harsh vocals, they didn’t really do it for me. A few members of the crowd seemed to be really enjoying them, however there were a few including myself who were a little confused by them. That is not to say that they weren’t good at what they did, it’s just that what they did was not for me.
Next up on stage were Hideous Divinity (8). Being at the opposite end of the spectrum from Graveslave, the band played a no-nonsense, heavy as balls brutal death metal. The comment from a few audience members was that it felt like a truck had hit them, that’s how heavy they were. Featuring Aborted bassist Stefano Franceschini, the band arguably delivered a set almost worthy of headlining themselves. I look forward to hopefully catching this band many more times in the future.
The audience then suddenly swelled in size which meant that it was time for ‘Aliencore’ kings, Rings of Saturn (8) to come to the stage. Coming on to “Margidda” from last years Ultu Ulla set about obliterating the crowd with their down-tuned ‘technical deathcore’. What was apparent after a few moments was that founding member and guitarist Lucas Mann was not present. Whether that is due to the current collaboration he has going on or for other reasons remains to be seen. Despite being one guitarist down, the band still delivered a strong setlist with the crowd chanting for more at the end.
It was then time for the titans of technical metal to come to the stage. Opening with the double whammy of “Infinitesimal to the Infinite” and “Accident and Error” from last year’s Unparalleled Universe, Origin (9) was the first band of the evening to really get the crowd moving. Whether it was due to them playing “Wrath of Vishnu” or Jason’s comment about how he learnt a new way of moshing which involved downing a pint and then moshing, is hard to discern, but either way the first few pits of the evening opened up soon after.
With a set comprised of songs from the latest album and also fan favourites such as “Saligia” the band delivered a crushing set with all members powering through some of the most difficult songs without breaking a sweat. Which is astounding considering quite often Paul Ryan’s picking hand was a blur as were Mike Flores’s fingers. And then there’s the machine that is John Longstreth. I don’t think I need to say any more other than the technical ability of the band more than speaks for itself.
Photos by Bukavac Photography
Rings of Saturn: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube
Hideous Divinity: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube
