There are no shortage of extreme Polish bands that have washed up on our shores and tonight’s proceedings kick off with one NahemiA now based in London. They may well be a black metal band on an otherwise death metal bill but their war-torn craft certainly fits in with the sound of gunfire strafing us, barbed wire and pig’s heads on stage and a band grimly covered in corpse paint. They only have a single and demo out to date but have been spreading their filth on stage and getting noticed and tonight is no exception as they charge away with grim and frost-bitten intent, unleashing a ‘Blast Of Steel’ and a bullet from a ‘9MM’ hitting the back of the skull without a shred of mercy. There are some guitar solos peppering the assault as they rain death down upon us and they certainly catch the attention of those in for the early start. Thick and bludgeoning in their craft I am reminded a bit of 1349, Marduk, Endstille and our own Eastern Front  which should give you an indication of where they come from; namely hell! They work the stage well and visually impress adding to the ferocity of their music with glares and swagger. As they reach to a blazing conclusion with ‘Vindictive Malice’ vokillist Rimmon grasps a chalice of blood, draws a dagger from his belt and plunges it into a pig’s head. Luckily I saw what was about to happen and backed the fuck up; grim!

Another firm favourite as support to these sorta shindigs on the London scene are local lot Decrepid and by the time they come on the joint is starting to fill up. People push towards the front and get ready to cut loose and luckily this time the ‘Goats Blood’ is in song title only! There’s what can only be described as caveman brutality surging off the stage and the sound is lovely and thick. Most of the band are lost facially, obscured in a mass of hair but luckily vocalist Cris is clearly visible towering over us and gurgles away like a good un. Growls and bellows fill the air and the crowd begin to become animated a few kicking off. Drumming adds to the brutal backbone and is especially skull-cracking and merciless and with songs such as Concussion they would have given Cannibal Corpse a run for their money. You could be cruel and call them lowest denominator death metal as it’s as subtle as a brick in the face but it’s done with conviction and as they build up into a gnarly frenzy I felt like I had been suitably clubbed around the head.

It’s been a while since Asphyx graced our shores and the Dutch demolition squad have new album Incoming Death to grace us with some hefty cuts from. Not just that either it would seem as tonight they are taking us through the years and right back to the past too with a set-list stretching to somewhere in the region of 18 tracks; it was going to be survival off the fittest. The place pretty much explodes and is by now rammed. Fans are somewhat recovering from the news that Hail Of Bullets have recently announced they are calling it quits so people are definitely going to make the most of what remains. Death and doom combine as they speed up and slow done to hefty crushing slabs of distempered dread. The title track of the new album is quickly delivered and carnage ensues. The band appear to be very happy to be here in a place Martin Van Drunen describes as showing a habit of resistance. We are thanked for coming out after recent terrorist atrocity but to be honest the thought probably hadn’t even entered anyone’s heads. Random acts are not going to ever stop gig going habits and as for the perpetrators we have no qualms about joining in with the vocalist and wishing them “Death The Brutal Way.’ Needless to say this turns the place into a seething cauldron of hell. Really feeling like we are being shelled and just about able to pick ourselves up in the slower parts the next assault comes in form of ‘MS Bismark’ and the essence of war is really in the air by now.

The vocalist is definitely in a chipper mood and chats away a fair bit between songs obviously in his element. He informs us something that I did not know and that is that a Candiru is a fish that gets in your genitals and goes straight for the urethra, thanks for the nature lesson and now I will never be able to listen to that one again without my eyes watering! It’s punk as fuck so after getting battered around by this short, sharp bruiser everyone is feeling the pain. That wolverine growl is at full effect shortly after as the band slow right to a crawl and Doom Us To Death. It gives a few an excuse to try and go over the top but not many make it on stage to leap off during the evening it has to be said. We are taken right back in time and stretched on ‘The Rack’ which seems to be the moment many are waiting for and proves particularly punishing. Time is running out and although one gets the impression the band would have been happy to play all night curfew approaches. Thankfully there is time to do one of my faves ‘Scorbutics’ which really hammers it down and a couple more before it’s time to head out and find out if we are indeed the Last Ones On Earth. Sadly not Camden is full of the weekend night time detritus and scum we normally find there but as we slink off into that hive of villainy death no longer holds any fear!

(Review and Photos Pete Woods)