You’re pretty much guaranteed to have a brilliant time going to a gig on a bank holiday Sunday. Everyone’s spirits have been given a boost with the weekend being extended and heading to the bar to make the most of that extra 24hours free from responsibility. Throw in a stonking great big all dayer chock full of blast beats, guttural vocals and some downright tasty slam and you’ve pretty much got the best bank holiday weekend of the year lined up and ready to go.
First up on the bill this afternoon are Northern five piece Visions of Disfigurement. Keeping things purely slam from start to finish, the band waste no time in laying down an assault of beat downs and impressively intense guttural vocals. For such a young band, Visions of Disfigurement pack an aggressive punch on the slam scale and are a promising band to keep your eyes peeled for.
Next are up are the winners of the gnarliest band name on the bill Chainsaw Castration. Despite being the only duo on the line-up today, what Chainsaw Castration lack in numbers they make up for in noise, with riffs so insanely slow and heavy that they could almost be mistaken for sludge at points.
In keeping with the evening’s mood of rapid beer consumption, London lads Inebrious Incarnate take the stage to deliver some boozy, death metal depravity. Treating the now lively audience to some hearty, no nonsense death metal, Inebrious’ arsenal of hilarious song titles (Umbilical Beer Bong anyone?) goes down a storm this evening.
After a much needed recovery from Inebrious Incarnates onslaught, Brummie death metallers Spawned from Hate erupt into some rather groovy action. Despite their latest ep Accelerated Butchery possessing a uniquely old school vibe, Spawned from Hate’s performance tonight has a very refreshing vibe to it, proving that this is a band who can retain their old school integrity whilst also mastering the art of a forceful and invigorating performance.
Hopping over the channel now, French brutal death quintet Darkall Slaves unleash their intense brand of slamming brutal death onto the south west this evening. After the success of their 2014 ep Transcendental State of Absolute Suffering, Darkall Slaves mammoth sound creates quite the party at the Bierkeller this evening, as a joyous mosh pit consisting of inflatable hammers quite literally blows up. Who would have thought break downs and gnarly, guttural vocals could inspire the child in the most brutal of death metal heads.
Third from the top this evening is the one man machine that is Carnifloor. Crafting a glorious fusion between slam, brutal death and technical death metal, Carnifloor bursts into a water tight set of death metal delight. Spicing things up a little with a cover of Chimaira’s 2003 hit Power Trip featuring the elusive masked wrestler Hurricane Slameriz, Carnifloor’s set is one of both sheer talent and entertainment from start to finish.
Next up are Bristol’s finest chiefs of brutality Necrosis. Creating a most eerie atmosphere with their backs turned to the crowd for the opening of Congenital Abnormality, every single member of Necrosis possesses bucket loads of stage presence. Necrosis are a band that put untold amounts of energy into every performance and boy does it pay off, as they deliver a captivating set packed with knock out riffs and infectious grooves. The band have the audience in their palm of their hands as their set raises the Keller’s roof this evening.
Drawing this awesome day’s proceedings to a close are the new and improved Norwegian/UK Hybrid Kraanium. With a shiny new line up and a venue jam packed with a gaggle of now rather drunken death metallers, Kraanium roar into action with their absolute corker of an opener from 2012’s Post Mortal Coital Fixation, the lads deliver a faultless torrent of unadulterated slamming loveliness. Tonight’s stonkingly brilliant performance proves that Kraanium have deservedly climbed to the top of the slam tree and become masters in the sub-genre. With enough power and talent behind them to storm the world of death metal, Kraanium continue to pull yet another flawless performance out of the bag.
As far as all dayers go, it really doesn’t get any better than Slam fest. Every band gave it their all, every fanatic in the audience was a delightful, beer filled maniac and the Bierkeller was transformed into a pit of blast beating, guttural growling delight. End of the World Promotions could not have put on a better fest if they tried. Roll on Slam Fest two!
Eilish Foxen
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