The Moshville Times - Gig Review: Dying Fetus / Nasty / Cabal / Frozen Soul

A four-band bill of such intensity, it’s a wonder that the venues are still standing after these bruisers load out. Two nights into the European tour and Maryland death metal legends Dying Fetus roll into Bristol for a night of pulverising and punishing metal, with an undercard that oozes extreme brutality. It’s no wonder that the queue forms early outside the venue, with dozens of excited fans eager to work off the weekend in a three hour mosh pit frenzy. It’s reasonable to say that those who wanted to get pit action were sated by the end.

2021 saw Fort Worth’s Frozen Soul drop a powerful debut album Crypt of Ice. Tonight the Texans bring their A game and go hard from the very minute the lights drop. It’s hard not to be intimidated by man mountain Chad Green, the Frozen Soul frontman. His gargantuan frame fills the stage, but there’s genuine love from the big man as the Bristol crowd show no reserve and pile into each other in the venue’s dance floor. Yes, the nightclub rarely has so much flesh slamming into each other, or the speaker systems rattling so violently but tonight metal is the law. Frozen Soul may only have 30 minutes, but they use their time well. There’s limited chat but ample battering death metal that could strip paint. By the time the band have roared through a new track and some staples from the debut including “Arctic Stranglehold” and “Encased in Ice” the floor is a heaving mass of sweating, heaving bodies. Frozen Soul have done their job well and no doubt gained some new fans in the process.

With the temperature already stoked, Danish outfit Cabal ensure that the temperature increases by several degrees with a show of such intensity you’d be forgiven for thinking they were headlining. They don’t stop for a second, with frontman Andreas Paarup a whirlwind of energy. He cajoles, teases, and encourages the pit to go harder and faster, with the first crowd surfer of the night going over the barriers mid-set. Musically the band are a savage combination of genres, blending violent metalcore with djent breakdowns, elements of deathcore mixing with flashes of older style death metal. It’s a heady mix which keeps the tempo at full pelt. Three albums already under their belt since they formed in 2015 provide plenty of ammunition to use. It’s a relentless aural assault and leaves those on the floor in need of another breather.

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Judging by the roar that greets them, Belgium’s Nasty are very much a welcome addition to this bill. The quartet take no prisoners, vocalist Matthias demanding fans move forward and get involved. It’s a bludgeoning set which varies throughout, although the driving pace and huge breakdowns that the band throw out rarely stop the incessant battery of massive riffs. Matthias is a ferocious frontman, throwing himself onto the barrier to scream into the crowd, as the melee unfolds in front of him. Pounding aural assault that gets the venue exploding, not merely in the pit but all around, as heads bang and shapes are thrown. Two decade veterans, the Belgians are clearly not on this tour to make up numbers, and the fair smattering of fans who are word for word perfect is surprisingly and impressive. Nasty are aggressive, feral, and well, nasty!!

For all that the preceding bands do a good job, it’s not difficult to see who the main attraction is as the grand daddies of death metal Dying Fetus enter the stage to Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town”. It’s a stunning display. 12 songs are delivered with absolute precision, the trio of John Gallagher, Sean Beasley and Trey Williams locked in unison, mesmerising in the way they deliver such ferocity without breaking stride. Williams is an absolute machine, delivering the BPM with thunderous ease whilst the outfield duo simply rain down the onslaught of riffs.

It’s a set crafted to keep the energy levels topped up. The roar that greets “Grotesque Impalement” is huge, whilst new track “Unbridled Fury” slips into the set with such ease you wouldn’t know it was a fresh one. The pitting is relentless, the pit crew at the front working overtime as surfer after surfer flies over the high barrier. These guys are earning their corn. It’s a blitzkrieg set which is soon on the home run. By the time penultimate track “Wrong One to Fuck With” kicks in, the venue is in meltdown. This is a demonstration that, after over 30 years delivering some of the most extreme death metal, Dying Fetus remain top dogs at the table.

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Photos by Paul Hutchings