TENTACLES of ham-fisted bludgeonry

28th February 2010

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Live Review: Nile/Immolation/Krisiun/Dreaming Dead, 02.05.2010

Nile, Immolation, Krisiun. What a line-up! Needless to say, I was giddy with anticipation for this monster of a death metal show. I’m happy to report that it somehow managed to exceed my sky-high expectations.

(pictured: Krisiun)

The show started with a couple of forgettable performances from a local band and a deathcore group. However, the next group to play, Dreaming Dead, annihilated any lingering memories of the show’s unfortunate beginning. Dreaming Dead is fronted by a female, Elizabeth Elliot, who is quite easy on the eyes in addition to excelling at growling and guitar butchery. It was quite amusing to see some of the crusty metalheads in the audience swooning over Ms. Elliot as if they were teenage girls in the 1950s at an Elvis show. However, getting past the “hot female playing death metal” thing, which is catnip to many a grizzled metalhead dude (present company not excluded, i must admit), the real take-away from the performance is simply that Dreaming Dead delivered a commanding and fierce assault. Asses were bludgeoned.

Next up came Krisiun, the well-oiled Brazilian death machine. Frontman Alex Camargo emerged sporting a Sepultura Schizophrenia shirt, showing pride in the legendary early work of his nation’s metal titans. Krisiun, as always, delivered a tight and militant performance that whipped the crowd into a frenzy. I was pummelled mercilessly, and I enjoyed every second of it. Additionally, it is always a positive experience to be on the receiving end of Camargo’s stage banter. Without ever ceasing his death metal growl, he frequently voices appreciation to the crowd for making it possible for his band to create and perform the savage art from which we all draw strength. A man who knows the true meaning of being bonded by metal, that one.

Immolation was the band that I was most looking forward to seeing, having not had the chance to do so previously, and they were also the band that impressed me the most. Immolation are true and pure death metal, and yet they are totally one-of-a-kind. However, they don’t engage in any gimmicky bullshit to carve out their own niche. Their uniqueness comes from the subtleties of their songwriting. I was very hopeful that the power of their singular brand of death metal would translate well into the live setting, and it sure as shit did. Their undulating riffs and serpentine rhythms totally captured the crowd into their thrall. The audience alternated between a tumultuous moshing and a gyrating whipping of heads to the bizarre rhythms. The whole scenario resembled an esoteric communion of a sect that revels in death worship… and I suppose that’s just what it was.

After having already been chewed up and spit out several times by mighty dealers in death, the crowd was still wild and ravenous… and ready to be force fed a lethal slab of Egyptian-style punishment. Nile emerged after a long sound check with a crushing barrage that justified the wait. Dallas Toler-Wade’s freshly shorn skull has turned him into an even creepier visage than he has been in the past, and he led the attack, front and center, with Karl Sanders wreaking havoc at his right. Nile’s sound was massive as they unleashed a torrent of songs from throughout their career. George Kollias’s drumming evoked an army of charging elephants. I found “Execration Texts” to be the most satisfyingly vicious of the songs they played. They also played several songs from their stellar new record, Those Whom The Gods Detest, which translated excellently live… especially the unrelenting “Hittite Dung Incantation.”

The performances were unbelievable, but they were not the only high points of the night for me. Being immersed in a vital metal community, out in full force for the elite aural mayhem on display that night, was a moving experience in itself. It’s the little things that tug at the strings of this metal heart. It is the 50 year old venerable metal elder in a Kreator shirt giving me props for my Coroner Punishment for Decadence shirt. It is the precocious teenage metalheads who got so excited about the impending performance of Nile that they tried to start a pit during the soundcheck. The metal circle of life was on full display. It was one of those nights that really affirms your love of the music and your pride in being among the kindred, the select few who truly know. Long live the supreme metal of death!

-Yonder Tarr

Tagged: Music ReviewYonder Tarr