Coming from sleepy Suffolk the north is like some sort of mythical land. Although that said I do have a good friend up there whom I visit when I can, normally for gigs and general drinking frivolity. In an unconventional turn of events my and my (now) fiancé clambered into the car as opposed to the usual train for a lengthy trek up to the hallowed Manchester. After much buggering about with traffic and bad hotel information we made our way to the venue for an unforgettable night of Death Metal savagery.

First up on the stage were Old Wharf a pleasant surprise and one whom I had personally not heard of before. Although they exhibited a rather modern Beatdown infused sound their core was that of Death Metal. With plenty of opportunities to wield the invisible hammer I found their set enjoyable albeit in a tainted Death Metal sense. Of course, I shouldn’t be so grumpy and rather I should accept such musical mash ups, indeed in this case it was a combination most fine.


Next up to the stage came Osiah, I had heard the name before but knew little of their sound save for the fact that they were Deathcore. I wasn’t overly excited for their set but I have to admit it was fun. The breakdowns verged up the Slam and the delivery of the musicianship was solid. Yet the riffs soon dried up and the crushing blows became all too similar. Truth be told by the mid-point of their set I was becoming underwhelmed. By no means was the bands performance a bad one it was merely stretched too thin for my liking.


Finally the anticipation was building during the gap between the aforementioned and the band that everyone was there to see, the mighty Cattle Decapitation. The room was brimming with excitement as the crowd packed into the small Bread Shed for an unforgettable smattering of carnage furled Death Metal. Typically the band opened with a new track from the forthcoming Death Atlas and suddenly the crowd kicked off. After stirring us up the band went into their classic A Living Breathing Piece Of Defecating Meat, a true crowd pleaser which was met with thunderous cheers and gritty sing a longs. As was the next banger The Prophets Of Loss* a wondrous melding of the three latest releases from this now worshipped band. It would seem that the band knew what the crowd wanted as they failed to deviated from their latest ‘trilogy’ if you will. With further bangers in the form of Not Suitable For Life, Forced Gender Reassignment and Bring Back The Plague. The band galloped through tracks with little dialogue between songs and finally came to their climax in the encore which consisted of Manufactured Extinct and Your Disposal. A fitting end to a brilliant evening of Death Metal bliss. It was clear to see from this performance just why Cattle Decapitation are so highly regarded, indeed they are the future of Death Metal.

*It should be noted that during this song I proposed to my now fiancé, who said romance is dead?

Review George Caley 

Photos Andy Pountney

 Cattle Decapitation interview to follow