After supporting OVERKILL on their recent tour and a slot at Hammerfest, UK thrash outfit SAVAGE MESSIAH took to the stage and delivered a powerful and excellent 30 minute set to showcase their obvious talent. With a couple of solid albums under their belt, they are definitely on the right tracks along with fellow Brits EVILE in leading the way for the upcoming UK thrash acts.

With the majority of their set coming from latest album ‘Insurrection Rising’, the title track along with the superb duo of ‘The Serpent Tongue of Divinity’ and ‘He Who Laughs Last’ definitely stood out as highlights and sounded excellent live, whilst the title track of their debut album ‘Spitting Venom’ was the only track to appear in the set from it. SAVAGE MESSIAH definitely impressed again and with solid performances like this along with the quality of their material, they will only go strength to strength in the future. Keep an eye on these guys!

Everytime I have seen DEATH ANGEL, they have been outstanding, delivering a killer performance full of energy and a superb set to note perfection. And tonight was no different. Opening with the ferocious ‘Lord of Hate’, the next few songs alternated between last album ‘Killing Season’ and debut album ‘The Ultra-Violence’ with crowd pleasers like ‘Voracious Souls’, ‘Evil Priest’ and ‘Kill As One’ sounding as vicious as they did when they were first written, while the newer material like ‘Dethroned’ and ‘Buried Alive’ got the crowd headbanging just as much.

Even considering the disappointing turnout, you could see that DEATH ANGEL were just enjoying being on stage playing for those that turned up, and you get that feeling no matter where they are or who turns up, and with plenty of banter between the crowd and frontman Mark Osegueda, it made for a very entertaining night on all levels. The dual axe attack of Rob Cavestany and Ted Aguilar was on top notch form yet again as they blistered through cracking renditions of ‘Seemingly Endless Time’, ‘Mistress of Pain’ and ‘Thrown To The Wolves’, before rounding the night off nicely with penultimate track ’3rd Floor’.

With the announcement of a new album scheduled for a September release much to the delight of the crowd, they wetted our appetites with eventual set closer in the form of ‘River of Rapture’, and if the rest of the album is as ferocious and vicious as this, then it’s surely going to be one to look forward to, and definitely one of the highlights of the year.

Reflecting back on the night as a whole, nobody could grumble at what was on offer, and DEATH ANGEL once again showed why they are so highly thought of in the thrash genre. They just seem to get better and better with every gig, never losing that passion and energy that make them such a great band to watch. I just hope September gets here quickly!

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Photography By Alexander Shaw (Death Angel photos)

Serving as the main support act for the co-headliners tonight, Scottish technical death metallers MAN MUST DIE, delivered a decent 30 minute set, which got the crowd going and warmed up nicely for the first headliner. They did impress me enough that I will definitely be checking them out again at next months HAMMERFEST.

Everytime I have seen the might of KATAKLYSM, they have been outstanding, and tonight was no different. Technically, these guys are on another planet and with quality material to back them up, it’s amazing these guys aren’t bigger than they are. Still, the fans who turned up tonight would have been thoroughly delighted at what was on offer.

As they kicked in with ‘Like Angels Weeping (The Dark)’, other crowd pleasers like ‘As I Slither’, ‘Manipulator of Souls’ and the ever present ‘Crippled & Broken’ all went down a storm with the crowd, as they headbanged in unison with the band, as well as plenty of moshpits breaking out. What made the set even better was the sound was crisp and clear, so every bit of guitarwork and drum pattern was showed off to its full potential.

Brutal renditions of ‘The Ambassador of Pain’ and ‘The Resurrected’ were note perfect, whilst the doomier and the intertwined slower tempos of ‘Centuries (Beneath The Dark Waters)’ added a bit more atmosphere to what was, a superb set.

With this tour being DECAPITATED‘s first since the accident that saw Covan enter a coma and Vitek taken from us, of which there were many chants for him throughout the set showing he may be gone, but definitley not forgotten, it was great to see the band’s mastermind Vogg back in action doing what he does best. With three new members to the band, in the short space of time they have been together, they have gelled extremely quickly.

Krimh, Vitek’s replacement, was absolutley brilliant tonight as he performed complex drum pattern after drum pattern that would have made his predecessor proud, whilst although new vocalist Rafal Piotrowski (who could be mistaken for a young Chris Barnes) wasn’t the most interactive with the crowd, he didn’t have to be as this was only about the music speaking for itself.

The set was mainly made up from the last album, ‘Organic Hallucinosis’, with the first three songs, ‘A Poem About An Old Prison Man’, ‘Day 69′ and ‘Post(?) Organic’, being intertwined together with relative ease by the band, while the rest of the album back catalogue got a showing with the likes of ‘Winds of Creation’, ‘Mother War’ and ‘Three Dimensional Defect’.

A blistering rendition of ‘Spheres of Madness’ got the crowd going once again as they began to headbang with sheer ferocity, and as the final notes were played, this closed what was another excellent set of technical death metal of the night.

As the crowd began to disperse with probably some aches and for some, whiplash, you couldn’t argue that you saw two bands on top of their game tonight. It will be a gig that will be in my mind for sometime to come. Let’s hope its not too long before these two great bands are back gracing the shores and stages of the UK.

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Review By Adam Fredericks

Opening with ‘Ghost of The Sun’, KATATONIA delivered an excellent 40 minute set of truly beautiful intertwined melodies with more heavy riffs, and the atmosphere was absolutely fantastic, despite their being hardly anyone there. With a fantastic new album out, ‘Night Is The New Day’, it was a little disappointing to only hear one new track tonight in the form of ‘Forsaker’. Tracks like ‘Liberation’, ‘Nephilim’ and ‘The Longest Year’ would have definitely worked well in this environment.

Still, the rest of the set made up for the lack of new material with some note perfect renditions of ‘My Twin’, ‘Soil’s Song’ and ‘Consternation’, while the brilliant ‘Evidence’ went down superbly with those in attendance. The majority of the set came from the previous two albums, ‘The Great Cold Distance’ and ‘Viva Emptiness’, and set closer, the superb ‘Murder’ rounded off a wonderful performance from the Swedish doom/gothic metallers who will be returning to the UK in March next year. Get yourselves there, I will be.

Onto tonight’s headliners and the UK’s very own PARADISE LOST took to the stage with the venue just shy of half full, which was much to the contrary earlier in the year when I saw them at Hammerfest. I know PARADISE LOST aren’t as big over here as they are in Europe, but hey, even this was a disappointing turnout for one of the founding fathers of the genre. With one of the best drummers in the world being newly appointed, Adrian Erlandsson fitted in perfectly tonight and it hasn’t taken him long to get up to speed as the set was very tight tonight considering Nick Holmes seemed to be having some technical problems with hearing the songs (which seemed to be the reason for him leaving the stage at one point).

Plenty of new material from their superb new album, ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’, was on show tonight with the standout tracks being set opener ‘The Rise of Denial’, the brilliant ‘Frailty’ and ‘First Light’. There was plenty of old school songs in tonight’s set for the older fans in the form of ‘Pity The Sadness’, ‘As I Die’ and ‘Enchantment’ being some examples, while newer songs like ‘Erased’ and ‘The Enemy’ also got an outing and both were well appreciated by the fans.

A surprise omission to the set was ‘Hallowed Land’ and the opening track of the new album, ‘As Horizons End’, which I thought would be certainties, but they made up for it by playing ‘Eternal’ to many of the fans delight. Closing the main set with ‘Requiem’, before kicking into the encore with the title track from the new album, ‘Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us’, and then closing with the ‘The Last Time’ and their most famous song to date, ‘Say Just Words’, closed a truly wonderful set.

With a strong new album, PARADISE LOST are still at the top of their game both live and on record, even if Nick Holmes can’t sing the old stuff like he used to. Tonight’s performance was professional and excellent, given the technical problems they had during the set. It’s just a shame there weren’t more people in to see some quality doom and gothic metal.

PARADISE LOST Setlist: The Rise of Denial / Pity The Sadness / Erased / I Remain / As I Die / The Enemy / First Light / Eternal / Enchantment / Frailty / One Second / Forever Failure / Requiem / Faith Divides Us, Death Unites Us / The Last Time / Say Just Words

KATATONIA Setlist: Ghost of The Sun / July / Criminals / My Twin / Soil’s Song / Evidence / Forsaker / Consternation / Murder

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Photography By Alexander Shaw (click here for Photo Gallery)

The first band on stsage tonight wereSYMPHONY CULT who seem to be a fairly generic sounding five piece with female lead and male backing vocals to give the sound some edge, nothing original but not bad at all. Their set was marred by some less that ideal sound, with singer Charlotte Lubbock being barely audible above the drum and bass. But not to despair as you can listen to how they should sound on their single “Speak When Your Spoken To” which I picked up on the night for the bargain price of £1!

LOSING SUN were next on stage in front of the slowly building Central Station crowd, frontman Ben Honebone was completely unfazed by the small turn out and was determined to get the crowd moving. With a fast pace metalcore sound LOSING SUN have some pretty catchy songs, and on stage they certainly come into their own.

In contrast to the SYMPHONY CULT set KITTIE’s sound was spot on and incredibly loud as anyone who frequents the Central Station can testify to. The Welsh must but either slightly deaf or just like their metal even louder than anywhere else. As KITTIE broke into their set opener ‘My Plague’ their was a mini rush to the stage to get a look at the Canadians in action.

As they whirled through the set at a ferocious pace Morgan Lander stopped only briefly to apologise for the six year gap between tours amd promised to come back sooner next time, which the crowd certainly approved of. The bands newest member Ivy Vujic seemed slightly subdued in comparison to Tara McLeod who was obviously enjoying the enthusiastic crowd reaction, making full use of all the stage only standing still for long enough to play a tight albeit short solo.

The songs that stood out for me were the intense ‘What I Always Wanted’, (Morgan can make an impressive death growl combined with Mercedes Landers punishing drumming that proves so well a song doesn’t have to be fast to sound damn heavy!) and ‘Funeral for Yesterday’ which really showed off KITTIE’s evolving sound, with Morgan’s clean vocals a particular highlight of the night.

The encore song ‘Never Again’ off the “Funeral for Yesterday” album really brought the set to a suitably heavy climax. The only criticism I would have of the night (there’s always one) was the absence of their biggest hit ‘Brackish’ and other songs off the “Spit” album, which still has most of their strongest material. KITTIE’s brutal performance lead me to the question when will people start taking them seriously? The answer is probably never, but I don’t see how you can fault their raw sound. An enjoyable night was had.

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SYMPHONY CULT Photos