For a grateful change the trip over the Pennines to Manchester was significantly less fraught resulting in arriving perfectly just after doors opened at 6PM, (door times seem to get earlier and earlier these days) to check out the merch, buy a drink and set up shop in my usual spot near the front left, near some comfy seats; I think the venue must have known I was feeling crap and put them there for me!

This gig marked the 50th I’ve attended this year as London grotesque death metal brutes Decrepid kicked the evening off by submerging the less than expected numbers in attendance in murky, miasmic guttural deathly filth that benefited from a sound as rancid and ugly as their music required. Space was tight on stage for all bands except the headliners but they did their best to engage with the audience as their opener possessed that old school blurring carnage I particularly liked as vocalist had tones that were inhuman, almost acting like another instrument amidst the maelstrom of battering drum work and screeching, scraping guitar work that had people nodding in approval.

Looking back at my gig list I was surprised to see that I’d seen the band over a decade ago when they played the Dead Evil Festival in 2010 but I’ve not seen them since unfortunately. There’s a been some line-up changes in the time since and whilst Decrepid are firmly entrenched in underground death metal their music needs hearing outside of those confines as their performance showed, with consummate playing abilities all-round their onslaught of barbaric noise cascaded from the venue’s speakers.

Gurgling song title announcements meant I have none to reference but suffice to say the band was a perfect destructive death metal demolition with touches of blackness thrown around the periphery as noticeably the lead work was excellent leaving the audience demanding more after their short set.

My research prior to attending tonight discovered that In Element hail from Argentina and like a lot of South American bands they tend to offer either the most gruesome extreme metal the planet has known or delves headfirst into something far more eclectic. The four piece of In Element fit in the latter category and whilst a good few at this gig appreciated what they were offering, the majority, it appeared, were left nonplussed, me included, to the point of the whole show being something of piss take.

Setting up, they seemed like some bog-standard death outfit but just before they started they donned various masks with the bassist looking like he was auditioning for some sort of fetishized bondage role and to be honest it looked ridiculous. Their bounce infused groove metal with hints of metalcore and melodic death metal was messy and at times cringing to watch, added to which their vocalist incessantly talked between songs trying to drum up appreciation, which the mostly polite audience gave, though some buggered off to the back.

They seemed to attempt to justify everything they were doing including saying the next song sounds like a cover, but it isn’t…it bloody was to me as they strangely inflicted a bastardised version of Phil Collins’ ‘In The Air Tonight’ but renaming it ‘In The Air 2nite’ on us and attempting to get us to clap… really!!! However, some people respected what they were doing and they did have a certain stage presence within their groove infestation as they closed with ‘Fear Is The Virus’ whereby all the band members came on the floor area and started running around trying to incite a pit, minus the drummer of course.

I am not sure what the reception this band has got on the tour so far or indeed in their home country but for me it was all too gimmicky, too cringing and attempting to be different for the sake of it.

I must admit that Krisiun were what made me want to go to this gig, more so than Nile if truth be told, and indeed as their start time approached the venue seemed to swell in numbers, though not to the point I was expecting for a band like this plus the headliners Nile. It did make it easy to watch the Brazilians bludgeon the audience to an utter pulp as they launched into ‘Kings Of Killing’ after a short intro.

Just watching the extraordinary playing ability of the three brothers was staggering as drummer Max was inordinately fast and clinically precise matching the brutalising finesse of Alex and Moyses on bass and guitar respectively. Added to that you get the inhuman vocals that drenched the audience in an outright death metal annihilation from start to finish that barely relented for a second.

‘Swords Into Flesh’ had some chat before starting, thanking us all for coming, something the band was at pains to tells us numerous times throughout the set. With the pit in full swing people were bouncing all over as I watched my shooter cross the pit and see said pit people bounce off him like pin balls, ready to take his next shot. The relentless nature of Krisiun is one that fans adore and here was the same, the band blasting into song after song without fuss or ceremony, minimal chat allowing the sonic savagery of ‘Combustion Inferno’ and ‘Descending Abomination’ to flatten the crowd.

With opening act Decrepid plunging us into chasms of crushing suffocation Krisiun inflicted grievous mortal blows without hesitation, pause or stagnation crafted through ‘Vengeance’s Revelation’ and ‘Necronomical’. What respite was offered gave the guys a short break between songs, but it was brief as he asked us to give up for all the women in the house and smashed into ‘Blood Of Lions’ with its blasting intensity and ferocious guitar work.

You get the impression that Krisiun are very humble about playing to people as they thanked us again before finishing with ‘Hatred Inherit’ which completed the utter decimation Krisiun were on the night.

I have seen Nile eleven times previous to this encounter and each time I have always been mesmerised by the sheer technical ability on display as the core three piece was joined by Scott Eames and Julian David Guillen on guitar/vocals and bass/vocals respectively with the former being superb both on guitar and as centre vocalist. However, I’ll also add that I don’t think I’ve seen Nile play where there haven’t been technical issues and this night was no different, and to be honest probably more so for Karl Sanders who seemed to be confounded by a myriad of issues, though I’m unclear on what was happening except a power cut I think when the band started.

However, Scott did a brilliant job filling the voids when things weren’t working as they should as the band kicked their set off with ‘Sacrifice Unto Sebek’. Noticeably the sound seemed to have no bass and the guitar sound lacked power and punch that my friends agreed with, though the crowd seemed oblivious to it as the pit exploded. ‘Defiling The Gates Of Ishtar’ followed and the sound issues hadn’t improved but some way into the tune the sound improved a fair bit thankfully.

The three vocal attack was awesome injecting what Nile is renowned for as ‘Kafir!’ was up next. Recently bands seem fixated on thinking that everybody hasn’t been to a gig in a while when we have for some time now and the point is moot but people understood what he was getting at as ‘Kafir!’ had fantastic atmospherics as poor Karl was still having sound and/or equipment issues. At this point the problems were impacting on flow and Scott said we’re going to go back to the new album where they aired ‘Long Shadows Of Dread’ along with ‘Vile Nilotic Rites’. The band did a fine job in ensuring momentum was high despite the problems as the pit was doing its stuff.

‘Lashed To The Slave Stick’ came next saying this tune has been requested to be played live and so here it is as the band bombarded us with their technical adroitness, dense and foreboding at times they hurtled back through their discography to play ‘The Howling Of The Jinn’ and ‘Sarcophagus’ with both tracks offering that dense crawling slithering riffing we like about Nile. Hitting the end of their set they rammed us with ‘In The Name Of Amun’ and the expected ‘Black Seeds Of Vengeance’ asking us to sing the chorus on the latter even if it was brief. There was no encore here, the band terminated their set without much fanfare or fuss but Karl stuck around on stage to shake hands and hand out set lists and some picks to those clamouring for them, but I am sure that all will agree that Krisiun stole this show from Nile.

REVIEW: Infernali

PHOTOS: Andy Pountney