May’s series of gigs kicked off last fortnight with some crossover-thrash brutality courtesy of London upstarts Inhuman Nature, who commenced their Greater Than Death tour with a hometown release show for their album of the same name. Having seen them tear the roof off of the Black Heart alongside High Command back in 2023, I wanted to see if they’d put on a similarly eruptive and relentless show as sole headliners.
Before the answer to that question, however, came a trio of support acts.
First to take to the stage was Under the Ashes, their brand of gritty, dirt-under-the-fingernails death metal already being familiar to me, having previously paid their Bandcamp a visit. That said, their setlist contained a considerably higher number of tracks than the two released on said platform, which ultimately made sense given that these were numbers from their upcoming album, Sacrifices Heaped. If the quality of the showcased songs is anything to go by, it could be one to pick up, the yet-to-be-released material like ‘Shadows on a Wall’, ‘Circling Above’, and the album’s title track stacking up indominatably next to current releases ‘Deus Vult’ and ‘Flash of Light’. A very strong opening set that left me all the more disappointed that I’ll miss their upcoming Helgi’s album-release show due to a date with the Dethklok.
Next came Warpstormer, certainly the most off-script band of the night due to its more colourfully psychedelic doom sound (which makes me wonder if they’ll be supporting Pentagram in July). In any case, they too hit the mark in terms of impact and engagement, frontman Richard J. Morgan full-throated fags-and-booze vocals doing full justice to his bandmates’ more-than-adept instrumental chops. Numbers like ‘Oracle’, ‘Beyonder’, and ‘A Liar’s Crown’ teem with that fuzzy, groovy driving energy that characterises the best examples of their chosen subgenre. Hopefully, I’ll see the South Londoners on stage again sometime in the near future (namely, Pentagram).
Next up came a return to theme with Brummie crossover thrashers Nerve Agent, delivering a brutal seat that set off the first circle pits of the night. The set was also characterised by the continual back-and-forth pacing of vocalist Dan Warren, only occasionally pausing to spit and bellow out the lyrics to such venom-marinated morsels as ‘Government-Issued Violence’, ‘State Control’, and their EP’s title track, ‘Game of Death’, belligerent bangers all. A viciously effective final prelude to the headlining act.
And, indeed, Inhuman Nature put on a set worthy of the slot, showcasing new material like set opener ‘Possessed to Die’, ‘Lines in the Sand, Part II’, and the set-closing ‘Dead and Buried’ with established favourites such as ‘Take Them by Force’, ‘Carnivorous Lunar Activities’, and ‘Taste of Steel’. Frontman Chris Barling, who I’d bought merch off before the start of the night’s events, was less of the night-and-day, Jekyll-and-Hyde presence than he was at the Black Heart show, his onstage intensity punctuated by pauses for song intros and shout-outs, particularly to his mum (who was at the event) and to his aunt who’d gotten him into metal via a certain Black Album. So less the wrathful, unrelenting force of nature and more the spirited but grateful frontman letting his humanity breathe between the brutality, the latter palpably amplified by the formidable crash and chug of guitars and percussion provided by the rest of the band.
Speaking of brutality, there’s nowt quite like getting cannonballed by a stagediver toward the end of the night’s last song, with one’s glasses being knocked off and mangled in the pit as a result. My restorative visit to the optician the next day was certainly interesting!
So yes, another memorable night Downstairs at the Dome, though not for uniformly good reasons this time.
~MRDA~
Leave a Reply