On tonight’s showing, MUTANT are definitely one to look out for as their no nonsense classic thrash style tinged with modern influences got the crowd going from the off. Frontman Tom Luchtenstein had no problem interacting with the crowd as he never took himself too seriously and made the crowd laugh a few times with his witty remarks. Opening up with ‘Scrap Brain Zone’, the set flew by, with highlights being all of the tracks from the current EP ‘Laserdrome’ (these being the EP title itself, along with the set opener, ‘The Rauncher’, and the mouthful that is, but awesome ‘Turbo Hyper Ultra Mega Power’), along with set closer ‘Psycho Surgery’. These guys know how to thrash and I hope it isn’t too long before I get to see them again.

Filling in for last minute pullouts WARPATH, were death metallers TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED who let’s face it, didn’t get the reception they deserved despite an excellent performance. It was obvious that a thrash band like MUTANT would have served as a better support act. Still TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED soldiered on and for the few fans in tonight, they served up a good 30 minute set of death metal with some of their new tracks giving an outing from new album ‘The Great Depression’, of which stoodout were ‘The Scouting Impurity’, title track ‘The Great Depression’ and ‘Warbound’.

As the smaller room of The Corporation gradually filled to about two thirds full, a decent crowd had turned up to see one of the most promising young bands the UK has to offer. EVILE took to the stage and from the opening riffs off ‘We Who Are About To Die’ the place went into headbanging frenzy, with a mosh pit forming in front of the stage to the bands appreciation. Tonight’s gig was what a Thrash metal gig should be all about. No nonsense all out assault and in your face! And seeing bands in more smaller, intimate venues like this one makes it one hell of an experience.

You could tell EVILE were loving every moment of tonight’s show, and were even shocked to see as many people as there were in the venue, but that just goes to show you how good they are and how they have established a good fan base already. The first new track of two to be played tonight was called ‘Demolition’ from their upcoming untitled second album being released later this year. ‘Demolition’ sounded good but for me, wasn’t as good as anything from their debut album. The other new track to be played (as yet untitled, but given the name of ‘Chingina’ by the crowd tonight when the band asked for suggestions) was a lot better. It was more aggressive and in your face, and suited the live environment better than the former on offer.

EVILE delivered a blistering performance which destroyed the venue in an all out attack that would of made any thrash band proud, and as the set closed with ‘Enter The Grave’ and encore track ‘Schizophrenia’, no one would have gone home disappointed, maybe a bit bruised and a sore neck the day after, from the ferociousness of the mosh pit and intensity of the headbanging, but hell was it worth it! EVILE showed why they are one of the best young bands around in the UK at the moment, and things only seem to be going from strength to strength for them. Bow down to the Thrashers!

EVILE Setlist: We Who Are About To Die / Armoured Assault / Killer From The Deep / Man Against Machine / Demolition / Thrasher / First Blood / Bathe In Blood / Chingina / Enter The Grave / Schizophrenia

Review By Adam Fredericks

Next up were not only fellow country mates of tonight’s headliners, but also a band that hail from the same city. Montreal based BENEATH THE MASSACRE came onto a willing crowd which soon got the action going in the form of hardcore dancing, moshing and headbanging. They class themselves as technical death metal, but on tonight’s performance I would say they are more deathcore – but then it is a fine line! Still, the style, layout, formation and breakdowns of songs like ‘Our Common Grave’ and ‘Society’s Disposable Son’, is classic deathcore. Still, tonight’s performance was good, technical difficulties meant that the band hit the stage late, thus ultimately resulting in headliners CRYPTOPSY having to cut their set short too.

Having heard of a mass backlash by CRYPTOPSY fans concerning their latest record, ‘The Unspoken King’ being a change in style from their normal high technical, yet unashamedly brutal death metal to something more akin to deathcore, I was apprehensive about what would be in the set tonight. Thankfully, the majority of the set was made up of material from earlier albums with only a couple coming from the latest album, and even those sounded damn good tonight, with new vocalist Matt McGachy doing a decent job considering that Lord Worm was pretty much irreplaceable.

Opening up with ‘Worship Your Demons’, the set flew by as every second was enjoyed by the Sheffield death metal faithful. ‘It’s Dinner Time’ also made an appearance in the set tonight, a song written mocking their detractors who thought they had gone deathcore/metalcore in style or whatever you want to call it. Other set highlights included ‘Abigor’, ‘Cold Hate Warm Blood’ and encore song ‘Phobophile’ for which the crowd instigated a wall of death. It was brilliant to see one of the best drummers in this genre in action tonight. It’s amazing at how fast Flo Mounier can play and on the size of his kit too.

Deathcore or not, CRYPTOPSY put on a great performance and all the fans who came out tonight for either them or the other bands would not have gone home disappointed. I, for one will be looking forward to seeing them again in the future, and if your going to HAMMERFEST in April, check out TRIGGER THE BLOODSHED…you will not be disappointed.

Ratings:

Review by Adam Fredericks