Gig Review: Godiva / Voodoo / Helestios – The Bullingdon, Oxford (24th November 2024)

The Bullingdon was the final destination of the Damnation Over UK tour, headlined by Godiva, with Voodoo, and Helestios as openers. It was a damp and quiet Sunday, but I was glad for the chance to see some decent metal pass through Oxford and stood alone, beer in hand, ready to check out these bands that were new to me.

Helestios opened up with a uniquely resonating guitar tone, quickly superseded by punchy riffs carrying an energy that would set the vigour of the evening. This was just the beginning of their eclectic sound, as an anger typical of the South of England was complemented by soulful melodic guitar and the smooth cool solos of lead guitarist and co-founder, Stylianos Angelis. Vocalist, Herijs Leja, seamlessly transitioned from aggressive mids to emotive and perfectly tuneful cleans which fit compositions reminiscent of the popular Göteborg style of melodic death metal. Saying that, this music was anything but predictable. Melodic guitar accompanied heavy riffs that were repeated for just that sweet amount of time to psyche up the listener before moving on to something fresh, a new brand of straight up ‘metal’ with no needless chug. This is a band that can open up the pit: their music was a battle cry to anyone with a passion to move. I had visions of hordes of mucky moshers running in circles, kicking up the earth beneath them at one of the many European festivals at which the band gained traction. Despite being in a tamer indoor setting, Helestios gave it their all. I could hear that they offered a fresh kind of dynamic to the genre, which was achieved by letting each musician turn up with their own identity. The progression of their sound was evident with their outro song, Return To Baalbek, from their first album (Your Pain Tastes Good), starting with a funky swing-groove suddenly displaced with a thrash riff melting into hooky rhythms; in keeping with a progressive death metal identity that Helestios started out with. Their on-stage chemistry, a pleasure to watch, was also felt offstage when I had the honour of chatting to them after the show about the development of their sound and their experiences of the tour.

Despite recording in Southampton, Helestios is an international band with members hailing from across Europe. I therefore asked them what scenes were the main influence on their sound. In one word, “Metal”. Elaborating, the band noted “our influence is diverse, not one scene shaped our sound.” Helestios is a product of the individual artists who join together with a common vision, the band explained, “we came from diverse backgrounds with different points of view . . . and when people from different places come to the same conclusions, that is a sign that we have got to do something”.

Talking to the guys, I picked up on a real sense of humility blended into their charismatic self-confidence. Upon asking if they intend to headline their next tour, I was told it is not about being the headliner, it is about playing on stage in front of the crowd. When asked about just how important crowd participation is, a broad smile full of excitement brightened the face of drummer, Csaba Vódli. “It is the very reason that I do what I do!”, he beamed, “A musician is propelled by his art. Every gig we play, we try to develop ourselves. Every gig is a part of you [but] if you can get one person in the crowd [onboard] they will pass it forward to 10 other people.” The others agree. “The show is the culmination of brotherhood, inspiration and passion for what we do . . . even one person in the crowd headbanging and engaged is worth it, and I can get off stage happy.”

Noting their impressive >5,600 monthly followers on Spotify, I ask what avenues of support the band prefers from fans when they buy their music. The response is one of both pride and gratitude – they have worked hard to personally build their network in the old-school manner, whilst embracing modern streaming platforms. “It’s cool that people support us through YouTube and Spotify and we are happy to sell CDs and T-shirts… but especially live attendance [is appreciated].” Regarding their numbers of followers, they take it as positive feedback, “if numbers go up, we develop ourselves because we know we must be doing the job right”. There seems to be a shared charisma amongst the band members in terms of developing the band together, “it’s a rat race, and in the rat race, only the strong survive”. Already a radio-hit in South America, Helestios’ current ambition is to conquer Europe, and we are promised something special from them next year. This is emphasised by Band Manager and drummer, Tasman, “we have special plans next year, we are working hard to achieve them and we will never give up”.

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What a treat Voodoo were! Every single one of them had stage presence – even drummer Damian Kuzniar was in no way constrained by the physical barrier that the kit posed and owned the stage with a pizzazz that screamed of a joy in performing and love of his music. This kind of showmanship can not be forced, it cannot be rehearsed, it is a product of simply loving what you do and being present, so I must assume that that is what Voodoo is all about. The music itself oozed heaviness with slamming riffs perfectly complemented by guest vocalist, Pawel’s, competent professionalism. Flawlessly shredding solos hinted at a classic heavy metal influence as they maintained a solid death metal sound. This band also needed a pit, but I was satisfied banging my head to their relentless grooves. For the final song guitarist, Ákos Kovács, hit the floor for a one-on-one interaction with members of the audience, our personal serenade, to the sound of a battle chant.

I got the chance to chat with him after the performance and he shared some incredibly candid insight into his experience as a performer. “Like all tours this one has been a rollercoaster. We toured in Eastern Europe before now [his favourite so far being the “spectacular” Romania] and England is a lot easier to navigate, but there can still be issues”. It was cold in the venue and the crowd was thin, but Ákos explained that even if you feel a bit stiff when you start playing you just have to give it your all. “As long as you keep it up, keep working at it that’s okay, I believe in the virtue of Persistence.” Well, this mental attitude seems to work since I saw nothing but complete confidence. “We wanted to make this last gig of the tour special.” On why he first became passionate about playing guitar Ákos said, “it’s that perfect mix of technicality as well as artistry. When I get up on stage, I feel naked, there’s always anxiety but that is also thrilling” and I would say that this relationship with his instrument was reflected in his performance.

Crowd participation is seen as a bonus; Voodoo like people to join in, sing, move their feet, what is important to Ákos is playing the music “Like I said, I am naked up there, I am giving something of myself to you [however it is received]”. And it was received well. Looking to the future, we can expect another album in the works from Voodoo that Ákos promises will be produced in an ambitious way.

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The audience stirred with much anticipation as Godiva made their grand entrance to the stage.  Slightly baffled, I watched, trying to figure out what exactly it was that had Godiva’s fans so excited. I didn’t ‘get it’. The act was overly theatrical – was this genuine or gimmicky? Band members coated in thick corpse paint, with blackened out bodies and eyes, pulled obscene faces and threw ritualistic shapes as they delivered their performance. Any hint of blackening to their music was largely limited to the occasional, well-placed, blast beats among the relentless barrage that was somehow very headbangable. I have seen many performances by true old-school black metal bands from the first wave, which unashamedly turn the performance into a ritual, but this wasn’t that, it was anything but cult. Despite having that early energy this was more similar to the third wave in aesthetic, designed to appeal to the popular audience without any fear or shame of being kitsch. After all, they weren’t trying to be anything that they were not, there was a distinct effect of ‘this is what we do, take it or leave it’ and the music was surely interesting in an almost genre-less sense.

Once I found my hips swaying effortlessly to the groove and let the sound envelope me, I stopped trying to figure it out. I wasn’t there to be an elitist but to try to understand and have a good time. Incredibly full growling vocals that shaped the rhythm in places were worthy of complete respect; unyielding melodic guitar cut through the thick barrage of sound (that would surely be difficult to mix). All sounds intertwine and move along in a song-mastery which smacks of expert composition. By the end, I was in the middle of the dance floor doing the goth side-step and hand dancing then screaming for an encore along with the rest of the gleeful crowd. What had come over us? I guess Godiva had.

This unique experience began to make more sense when the ethos of Godiva was explained to me by guitarist and composer, André Matos, after the show: they had been a hit on the goth scene with influence mainly from death metal and industrial. I suddenly got it – this was gothic death metal! It also came as no surprise that they had grown alongside the likes of the legendary (and equally theatrical in sound) Septic Flesh.

“There is a conscious decision to make our music appeal to the listener; there are parts that could be heavier, but that is not good, we want to be hearable. We try to make our music sound like you have heard every song before.” I don’t disagree that they compose a listenable groove, but these guys are heavy. “Every song tells a story,” and I know this to be true, for I had just been on a journey with them myself. Regarding the theatrics, their onstage personas are natural, formed simply through conveying their enjoyment of the concept of “low-key funny, crazy, characterization”.

After dedicating the last song to Bia, the woman who seemed to pull off everything on-tour (what couldn’t she do?) the encore consisted of performers from all three bands partying onstage, celebrating the brotherhood that was shared as the tour came to a close. They mingled with guests and the general vibe in the room was one of relaxed achievement and camaraderie.

A closing note, I know we are all sick of how metal club nights play the same old shit, so if you’re a DJ, take a chance on Godiva – with metal that is written for dancing, who knows, you might even get those boots stomping and hips swaying. And Oxford, if you don’t bother to come out on a rainy day, great shows like this won’t get booked. If you claim an identity to being a Metalhead at all, get your ass out and support your scene.