Post by markwj on Aug 3, 2010 23:49:45 GMT
Hecate Enthroned, Nierty, Colonel Blast, Merciless Savage
Central Station, Wrexham
27/7/10
Subtitled “15 Years of Nightmare and Chaos” this was a celebratory return to their town of origin (though maybe only 1 of the 6 is still resident) for a band that has proven survivors, perhaps due to not over exerting themselves through playing very often! Central Station wasn’t even in existence when they started, and I spent the first year of those 15 playing as part of them in the likes of the Kings Arms in Wrexham, or the London Astoria, both of which they have outlived. Their status has remained held in mixed regard, either dismissed as second division by hearsay in the UK whilst lauded at festivals in Norway, Portugal and Eastern Europe. Still their death/black metal mix still brings the biggest crowd of the week to the venue, even if that is still only 60+
Those in the know also subtitled this “Incestfest” as all the supports had mysteriously acquired members of the headliners too. Hard for me to not be be subjective with the first band, given my love for the handsome and skilful bass player, but I’ll distil others comments as fairly as I can. Blackened death metal that some see reflecting lots of positive old school influences of the likes of Morbid Angel, regular shows here are evidently honing the set well. There’s not much good to say on the sound mix, but that never stops a full on performance, and there‘s an ep coming very soon.
Colonel Blast were an interesting twist on my expectations playing tracks from their forthcoming debut album “For the Greater Good” album and demonstrating great imagination as well as an overriding concept for driving it forward. Sure, they delivered expected ferocity of pace of deathly riff shredding that you’d expect under that moniker but effortlessly would shift into more expansive and atmospheric sections, either crunching breakdowns or melodic drift. This was all held together with a vocalist who could deliver harshness and yet had charisma too, demanding “claws” always brings a smile to me, and they were well received all round
Nierty had played here with Nachtmystium a few months back, and while the gasmasks of that anonymous approach had been ditched they still had some dark atmosphere swathed in the fog and low lights tonight. Fair play, their sound had improved a lot from that show too, the jarring harshness of their stripped down black metal rounded off a bit. Tunes were more distinct and songs better appreciated, there was also the addition of a female backing vocalist to provide a counterpoint to Dean’s growling, but she seemed to be still finding her feet a bit, still be interesting to see how it turns out.
The headliners have new material to showcase with an album self-recorded now (after some 8 or so on labels), and this ably demonstrates their current evolution. No longer, if ever, constrained by any black metal genre police constraints they made a significant shift themselves into more of a death metal approach a long time ago. Now they are free to experiment and vary the structure to please themselves. Yes it’s all still deeply steeped in the extreme metal genre but for all the blast beats there’s also a shift down in gear to more head nodding evocative sections, with the keyboards haunting their way through. Unfortunately it seems for all the sound mix tinkering ultimately the PA set up doesn’t have the balls to properly deliver the impact of their set, though I can still say the oldest of the old school “Crimson Thorns” is a winner. Though I can’t remember how to play it any more. Here's to 15 more!
Central Station, Wrexham
27/7/10
Subtitled “15 Years of Nightmare and Chaos” this was a celebratory return to their town of origin (though maybe only 1 of the 6 is still resident) for a band that has proven survivors, perhaps due to not over exerting themselves through playing very often! Central Station wasn’t even in existence when they started, and I spent the first year of those 15 playing as part of them in the likes of the Kings Arms in Wrexham, or the London Astoria, both of which they have outlived. Their status has remained held in mixed regard, either dismissed as second division by hearsay in the UK whilst lauded at festivals in Norway, Portugal and Eastern Europe. Still their death/black metal mix still brings the biggest crowd of the week to the venue, even if that is still only 60+
Those in the know also subtitled this “Incestfest” as all the supports had mysteriously acquired members of the headliners too. Hard for me to not be be subjective with the first band, given my love for the handsome and skilful bass player, but I’ll distil others comments as fairly as I can. Blackened death metal that some see reflecting lots of positive old school influences of the likes of Morbid Angel, regular shows here are evidently honing the set well. There’s not much good to say on the sound mix, but that never stops a full on performance, and there‘s an ep coming very soon.
Colonel Blast were an interesting twist on my expectations playing tracks from their forthcoming debut album “For the Greater Good” album and demonstrating great imagination as well as an overriding concept for driving it forward. Sure, they delivered expected ferocity of pace of deathly riff shredding that you’d expect under that moniker but effortlessly would shift into more expansive and atmospheric sections, either crunching breakdowns or melodic drift. This was all held together with a vocalist who could deliver harshness and yet had charisma too, demanding “claws” always brings a smile to me, and they were well received all round
Nierty had played here with Nachtmystium a few months back, and while the gasmasks of that anonymous approach had been ditched they still had some dark atmosphere swathed in the fog and low lights tonight. Fair play, their sound had improved a lot from that show too, the jarring harshness of their stripped down black metal rounded off a bit. Tunes were more distinct and songs better appreciated, there was also the addition of a female backing vocalist to provide a counterpoint to Dean’s growling, but she seemed to be still finding her feet a bit, still be interesting to see how it turns out.
The headliners have new material to showcase with an album self-recorded now (after some 8 or so on labels), and this ably demonstrates their current evolution. No longer, if ever, constrained by any black metal genre police constraints they made a significant shift themselves into more of a death metal approach a long time ago. Now they are free to experiment and vary the structure to please themselves. Yes it’s all still deeply steeped in the extreme metal genre but for all the blast beats there’s also a shift down in gear to more head nodding evocative sections, with the keyboards haunting their way through. Unfortunately it seems for all the sound mix tinkering ultimately the PA set up doesn’t have the balls to properly deliver the impact of their set, though I can still say the oldest of the old school “Crimson Thorns” is a winner. Though I can’t remember how to play it any more. Here's to 15 more!