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Judging by the very healthy turnout
at this Rock Hard Christmas Festival, death metal is
big business in Germany right now. Openeners DISMEMBER
looked somewhat surprised by all the attention too, although as
death metal outfits go, this youthful bunch have to be the cheerfullest
around. The quintet's boundless enthusiasm was one of their greatest
strengths during this all to brief set. At present the Swedes
are forced to draw material from their one and only studio outing
to date, the impressive "Like An Ever Flowing Stream" platter,
but that sheer latent aggresssion they put into the material's
delivery was often exceptional. However, it's clear that both
on album and in the live environment, DISMEMBER are still finding
their feet, and I don't think I was alone in detecting rather
a lot of similarities to fellow Swedish five-piece ENTOMBED.
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Not that this bunch are ripping their native countrymen off blatently
or anything, I think it's more a case of DISMEMBER still being in
their formative stages. Given time I'm sure they can develop a style
of their very own, but for now, their music is a very satisfying
exercise in grungy, highly aggressive death metal. Naturally, for
a band so young, DISMEMBER need to improve the quality of their
live show, and often looked a little ropey around the edges, but
I've a feeling that with time, another album and plenty of consistent
touring, these guys could mature into a band with frightening potential. |
Dismember |
Cannibal Corpse |
As for CANNIBAL CORPSE, then I'm afraid there's
not quite so much exciting news to report, because after witnessing
this show I still can't really see too much appeal in this band.
Okay, so CANNIBAL CORPSE may well have sold a good few copies of
both their albums, but there's such a lowdown cheesy element to
this band that it often detracts from any real musical ability they
may have. Certainly the band have plenty to offer visually, with
all five members, and singer Chris Barnes in particular, giving
it all they've got. Musically though it's a little bland. In fact,
I found it all a bit comical really, as the totally unintelligable
Barnes attempts some onstage banter with the crowd only to be met
with an awful lot of blank looks. More notable moments included
"Covered in Sores" and hilarious set closer "Skullfull of Maggots",
but ultimately CANNIBAL CORPSE are a tad too cheesy for their own
good, and far too much of their material thunders past in an instantly
forgettable wall of noise. I dunno, I just can't quite figure out
why everybody seems to like these guys so much. They're a great
bunch of people without doubt, but I've a feeling that more than
anything CANNIBAL CORPSE are milking their so called controversial
image as much as they can. It's just a pity they can't seem to match
it with some genuinely memorable tunes. Still, as the old SPINAL
TAP saying goes; "Death Sells!" and CANNIBAL CORPSE are flogging
it for all they're worth! |
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Rather better were Holland's PESTILENCE a band
who've matured so much over the last couple of years. And so far
their change in direction seems to have been greeted with a positive
response, although this crowd looked happiest when frontman Patrick
Mameli and co were running through older, more straightforward
stuff, pre-latest "Testimony Of The Ancients" album. Indeed, the
four piece opened up with "Dehydrated", a tune from their previous
second album "Consuming Impulse". That said, the band seem to
ignore their "Malleus Maleficarum" debut these days, preferring
to stick to latter day material for the most part. And obviously
it's "Testimony..." tunes that made up the bulk of this set, with
the title track, "Twisted Truth" and "Stigmatized" standing out
particularly well. However, there are occasional moments which
lack the sort of sonic intensity we've come to expect from the
majority of death metal bands, although calling PESTILENCE a death
metal band looks like it's becoming an increasingly redundant
phrase these days. Indeed, Mameli was to later inform me that
the band plans to go in an even more progressive vein from now
on, so if you yearn for their more back earlier days it looks
like you'll be pretty much out of luck. As for the band themselves
then they're not the most charsimatic performers. Guitarist/vocalist
Patrick Mameli doesn't seem to be bothered with attempting too
much rapport with the crowd (probably having been put off by his
failed attempts at cajoling the 'chicks' during the bands last
U.K. stint!), but musically he and the others reproduce the more
technical "Testimony..." stuff with sufficient verve to keep it
all reasonably interesting. Again, it's older material like set
closer "Out Of The Body" which still inspires the biggest cheers
from the crowd, but you have to give PESTILENCE credit for attempting
to expand and develop on their initial thrashy sound.
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Patrick Mameli
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Now much as I had been anticipating headliners DEATH, I'm gonna
come right out and say it here and now that NAPALM DEATH
were undoubtedly the band of the evening. Even photographer
Nick Matthews was completely blown away by the total face removal
created by Barney Greenway and company. I mean I've never looked
upon myself as the world's biggest NAPALM DEATH fan before now,
but tonight they were incredible, and that's no bullshit! To put
it bluntly there just seemed to be an amazing chemistry between
the band members here tonight, which is probably due to the fact
that the newer members, like American guitarists Jesse Pintado/Mitch
Harris and drummer Danny Herrera have had a chance to settle in
and contribute their own identity to the ever fast and furious
NAPALM material. Additionally, the sound was being handled by
that man Mitch Dickinson, a guy who seems to get superb results
every time, even when the band are playing at warp factor ten.
Kicking off with "Mass Appeal Madness", NAPALM DEATH were awesome,
raging onward through a pile of their best tunes. "Life", "Scum",
"Control", "Pride Assassin" and "Mentally Murdered" to name but
a few, all were done, along with two brand new songs set to feature
on the bands next album due sometime this year. The first one,
"Upward And Uninterested" was a corker, although unbelievably,
the other, "I Abstain", proved to be even better, if this is the
sort of stuff we can expect come the release of that new album
than it's gonna be a definite case of buy, buy, buy! Of course
the band themselves go totally nuts throughout the set, and in
fact Greenway got so fired up by the whole thing that when he
left the stage at the end he nearly walked straight off the edge!
Bassist Shane Emburry was as entertaining as ever too, whilst
those guitarist peel of riffs of almost seismic proportions. Drummer
Danny Herrera, meanwhile, is amazing to watch, and boy, is this
guy fast or what? Rounding it out with the likes of "Vision",
"Deceiver" and an almighty "Seige Of Power" NAPALM DEATH showed
once again that they're an awful lot better than people may have
given them credit for in the past. Their future certainly looks
very bright indeed!
Barney Greenway
To be honest, after the cacophony
of NAPALM DEATH, Chuck Schuldiner's much anticipated DEATH
were a little bit of a damp squib. I enjoyed them immensely, but
some of the crowd were already starting to leave by the time the
four piece opened up with "Suicide Machine". Still, those that
did bother to stay on were treated to DEATH at their best ever,
and Schuldiner is to be commended for assembling the strongest
line-up this band has ever had. What I especially liked about
Chuck, and fellow members guitarist Paul Masvidal, bassist Skott
Carino and drummer Sean Reinert was their ability to take the
music in a very technical direction without ever going over the
edge and making it sound selfindulgent.
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Helping matters was the fact that
Masvidal and Carino put plenty into the visual aspect by flailing
their heads round and round as much as possible. Chuck Schuldiner,
meanwhile, cuts an imposing figure, and his between song lines are
dedicated for the most part to putting the record straight about
what's been said about him and his band over the years. The guitarist/vocalist
certainly seems very aggrieved by all the controversy which surrounds
him, but to anyone who came here expecting DEATH to fall short of
the mark musically must have gone away very disappointed because
the frontman and his band were highly capable. Newer songs like
"Flattening Of Emotions" and "Lack Of Comprehension" sidle alongside
older nuggets like "Zombie Ritual" really well too, and the new
recruits have really helped to add new zest to something like encore
"Pull The Plug". Drummer Sean Reinert in particular, is a sticksman
of incredible talent, and adds both a high technical element and
also the human touch too; a balance which is pretty difficult to
get at the best of times.
Indeed, the whole band are fine musicians without doubt, remaining
largely hard to fault on most counts. My only doubt about DEATH
now though is what happens after this tour? After all, if Masvidal
and Reinert hot tail it back to their own band CYNIC, then just
where does that leave Schuldiner? Once again it appears to put the
DEATH man in something of a nowin situation, but as Chuck told me
himself earlier that evening, they're taking each and every day
as it comes, and for now that set up seems to be working perfectly.
Make sure you catch 'em in the UK, okay!
ROB CLYMO |
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