Morbid Angle events always, at least, ping my curiosity radar, and their late-August four-band bill, featuring esoteric Canadian blackened-death dealers Antediluvian as the headline act, maintained that pattern. Though the names on the bill were initially unfamiliar to me, a listen or two to each of them, plus the gig taking place on Bank Holiday Sunday, had me thinking it was worth booking the night off for at least half the line-up, even if my initial reaction to hearing the headline act was “What the fuck’s this!?”
My reaction was less adverse when I first listened to Äxe, the opening act of the night. Indeed, I’d been so impressed by their output, in its gravelly, crust-laden blackened thrashiness, that I’d ordered their Warriors of the Death Raid demo on CD months prior. Their live set maintained the goodwill established by their studio output, with the London-based band delivering a memorable evening-opening onslaught. Vocalist Neheroth, “FUKK OFF AND DIE” scrawled across his chest, barked and growled like a feral, apocalyptic attack dog whilst his riff ‘n’ rhythm section smashed and shredded away under the ever-altering lighting; together, their combined efforts throughout tracks like ‘Face the Grave’, ‘Bleeding Cross’, and the ever chantable ‘No False’ amounted to the aural, Anglophone equivalent of those charming spaghetti wasteland Mad Max homages, the instrumental grit and grime bringing to mind the fuzz of a constantly rewound VHS tape.
Speaking of analogue media, this ended up being the second time this year that I’d left a gig with an audio cassette in tow, thanks, this time, to Jadyn/Luciferhammer from Priest Strangler, whom I’d lent a tenner to get his own copy of Warriors in said format, only for him to come back with an extra instead of the expected change. It’ll certainly sit pristine on the shelf, along with the other tape, if nowt else.
Next to grace the stage were Kiwi hard hitters Vicissitude, pounding out their own brand of the dense, textured blackened-death metal that would go on to characterise the rest of the night. For one night only, they were joined by none other than Diabolical Mocker (Daniel), former bassist of Gorgon Vomit, filling in for absent members on growls and guitars. Forebodingly chunky multi-tempo riffage proved very much the order of the set, with both guitarists and the bassist bellowing their gravel-lined lungs out throughout the numbered tracks from their album Neolithic Necrocannibals—all numbered numbers, as it were. Setting the pace with the album’s first track, the four-piece thundered through their cavernous cuts with unrelenting conviction, to the point where a string on Daniel’s guitar sprang loose toward the end. Fortunately, he and the band managed to wrap up their set without any musical mishaps. Solid stuff.
Next came the band I’d most been looking forward to, the second set of Maple Leafers on the bill, Ceremonial Bloodbath. Having enjoyed listening to their discography, particularly their latest album, Genesis of Malignant Entropy—which I took great pride in snagging on CD on the run-up to the gig due to it being sold out almost everywhere on the planet—my hopes were high for this set, and I was not disappointed. With tracks such as ‘Exhumation of the Ominous’, ‘Howl of Gnawing Teeth’, ‘Caustic Invocation’, and ‘Mutilation of Sacrifice’, Ceremonial Bloodbath exemplified why I rate them as one of the best bands knocking out this style of blackened-death metal alongside the likes of Concrete Winds, Qrixkuor, and Mitochondrion. With the right blend of texture, structure, menace, and fury, they kept me and the rest of the room engaged, aurally and kinetically, for the duration of their sterling set. When I spoke with drummer Nuclear Hammer Throne (Anju Singh) after their set, she expressed a strong desire to return in a headlining capacity. I for one hope they follow through on that.
As for the actual headliners of the night, they certainly made an impression on the room, who received the likes of ‘Temple Prostitute’, ‘Tamasic Masturbation’, ‘All Along the Sigils Deep’ and ‘Under Wing of Asael’ with open ears. I, too, enjoyed them, even if not to the same extent as I did the band preceding them; they gave a sturdy, spirited headline performance with an abundant setlist cribbing from different points along their somewhat prolific back catalogue. Vocalist–guitarist Haasiophis (Timothy Grieco) displayed an impressive grasp of gutturals, and the combined instrumental efforts of he and the rest of the band perfectly converged to mark a descent into a spiralling nether realm. Still, the setlist mostly seemed to blend together for me, save some impressive lead licks here and there (‘Sigils Deep’, I’m looking at you). A strong showcase of a band for which I’ve still yet to fully acquire a taste.
Overall, however, I’d call this gig a serrated success, with Morbid Angle once again assembling a brutal bill of underground formidables. Here’s to Ceremonial Bloodbath returning to these shores soon, hopefully at the helm of another MA event.
~MRDA~
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