Festival Review: Ritual Ascension Fest II - War.Cult.Supremacy.‏

The date was set for the extreme strike on Kolkata (Calcutta). But then the inevitable had to happen, guess it's what is keeping the Kolkata scene from rising up to the highest of levels. The headliners of Ritual Ascension Fest II, Nafarmaan, got bombed and battered on their way, you could guess that the people understood their fake nature will be ripped wide open by these guys, hence this made it impossible for the virtual earthquake to hit the Indian ground! But can this really prevent the love and support for Extreme Metal to up rise in Kolkata? Hell no! And that is how Ritual Ascension Fest II was carried out.

Yes, many didn't turn up due to various reasons, but there were enough to show their passion and rage on the Extreme Metal wagon! We all got the unfortunate news that, Nafarmaan could not make it, but those who made it were looking forward to how the Putrid Ascendancy hordes would respond and they sure didn't disappoint! Though it started a tad late, but that's bearable if the show is a great one, read on for what transpired!

The first on stage was Armament, from a general point of view we have seen how these guys have gone from strength to strength, almost making the Black / Thrash Metal genre their own for good. They started with "From The Past Comes The Storm" (Sepultura tribute), a cover which the band is perfecting with each passing day. The gig started off on a real high note, although this was a slightly down performance compared to the other Armament performances witnessed beforehand. It seems that way because of the high standards fans come to expect from these guys. Their originals as always had the crowd really gripped onto them, and the demo video of  "Gas Chamber" released a few days before only made it better. But it was really the last two covers which was the highlight for these guys. "Crush Kill Destroy" (Sarcofago tribute) left the crowd really wanting to crush down the false people, and then came the big moment. The ex-guitarist of Armament, "Syd Myers", joined forces for what was to be a nostalgic performance from Ritual Ascension Fest I. They paid tribute to the mighty "Sodom", with "Remember The Fallen", although there were a few glitches here and there but it was the moment more than the song which was important in this one! With this Armament completed a set list with full of the extra ordinary energy these guys bring on stage and some moments of absolute brilliance! They go on to play Thrashfest in Mumbai, and rest assured Mumbai will experience what the cream of the Kolkata scene can offer!

Complete Set list:-

1. From the Past Comes the Storm (Sepultura tribute).
2. Hammer of God.
3. Wings of Death. 
4. Gas Chamber.
5. Crush Kill Destroy (Sarcofago tribute).
6. Remember the Fallen (Sodom tribute).

[Armament at Ritual Ascension Fest II - War.Cult.Supremacy.]

Next up we had Kapalin. This band has gone a long way from their debut performance at Morbid Death Fest II. They understood what was missing and in time added a new vocalist, released the bassist from vocals duties and recruited a drummer to have a complete line up. Black / Death Metal has to be one of the toughest genres to play and applause must be given to the guys for attempting it. This time around Kapalin showed why they have great potential for the future. Maybe it was the occasion, maybe it was the more complete line up, maybe it was more rigorous practice but these guys sounded at least 100x better than what was displayed at MDF II. They paid some essential tributes to the gods of the genre in "Blasphemy" and "Bestial Warlust" by covering "War Command" and "Till The End" respectively. In amongst these gems they inserted their originals filled with rawness in the form of "World War III" (original, not the Exciter number), "Warstrike", but the best moment of their performance was the original "Funeral Sleep". This is the number to really look out for. Overall a much tighter performance and it will be really interesting to see how these guys go about in the future!

Complete Set list:-

1. Intro
2. War Command - (Blashphemy tribute).
3. World War III
4. Warstrike
5. Till The End - (Bestial Warlust tribute).
6. Funeral Sleep
7. War.Terror.Rape.

[Kapalin at Ritual Ascension Fest II - War.Cult.Supremacy.]

And then came the band of the night. Necrodeity slayed with full power and real aggression. They started of with a pre-recorded intro and then really jumped into their originals. Some of them are becoming Necrodeity must see's whenever they go live. But the only cover they featured was definitely the moment of the gig too, "Fear Of Napalm" by Terrorizer. You need real balls to cover the masters of Grind and Necrodeity are making it a thing of their own covering Terrorizer. Without any doubt the best tribute by any band that evening and a real highlight of the gig. If you were there and missed this you might as well ask for your money back, it was so f**king epic! Bestial hails to the Necrodeity horde as they march on to their second consecutive show at the annual Trend Slaughter Fest IV at Bangalore!

Complete Set list:-

1. Atazothic Initiation XI (Pre-Recorded Aural Submission)
2. Sorcerous Nex Invocation
3. Malignant Sempiternal Chaostotram (Pralayadoration)
4. Enshrined In Sulfurous Yantra
5. Mysticism Of Mundamala
6. Fear Of Napalm - (Terrorizer Tribute).
7. Obliteration Of Sephirothic Malkuth
8. Abysmal Serpent Conjuration: Paramount Levitation.

[Necrodeity at Ritual Ascension Fest II - War.Cult.Supremacy.]

Then we had the guys in Purgation hitting the stage. Fresh from their debut EP release "Exterminated Malfeasance" and the epic Banish the Posers Fest, Bangladesh unleashed their brutality with full force! Like Kapalin, there was major improvements in the performance by these guys from last time. Maybe it's the effect of the Bangladeshi winds which have helped these guys grow even further! They played their originals which all featured on the EP and also unleashed a new song which they just started working on about 2 weeks ago, and by the look of it something really cool waited on the other side, after the song is completely worked upon! Purgation also covered the song which is now almost a necessity in every Purgation performance, "Charred Remains" from Death Metal masters Autopsy. Overall a tidy performance and would be really cool to see how Purgation goes about their new Original(s) and probably a full length is not far off!

Complete Set list:-

1. Uncanny Obsession
2. Repugnant Flesh
   
3. Charred Remains (Autopsy Tribute).
4. Untitled New Original.
5. Immaculate
6. System Impaled
7. Communal Carnage
   

[Purgation at Ritual Ascension Fest II - War.Cult.Supremacy.]

And the last band for the day were Deadbolt. Well you got to feel for these guys, they had a really killing set list but one of the biggest issues to hit a gig, that is time hit these fellas hard. They missed out on two songs but made most of the time allotted to them. They started the set off in fantastic fashion with their original "Kill for Chaos" and had the crowd going really with them. But a technical glitch soon followed when the drummer's paddle came off but it is highly exciting to see such a young band being pro-active, that both the guitarist's and the bassist started doing impromptu instrumentals! This holds the band in good steed and shows how utterly professional these guys are! They continued their set and although one of their guitarists had a broken leg they never had a dull moment. A real highlight was the vocalist of Armament singing the first part of "Tormentor" from Kreator. They say it was impromptu too. Well if that's the case then we are sure they were a damn good bunch of people in the hall! Nevertheless ,it was an enthralling performance and although the crowd felt sorry for Deadbolt for the time issues, it's a part of the deal and they have to get along with it! Also, these maniacs make their way to the west coast with Armament for the Thrashfest in Mumbai, we wish them all the best and hope they Kill For Blood this time around too!

Complete Set list:-

1. Kill For Chaos
2. Necromancer (Sepultura Tribute).
3. City Of Rot
4. Tormentor (Kreator Tribute).
   

[Deadbolt at Ritual Ascension Fest II - War.Cult.Supremacy.]

It was a really fascinating day and it leaves no less excitement for the future endeavors of the Putrid Ascendancy horde! Yeah we all wish for better venues and of course more sincerity in the timings but this is how its is and you got to take it as comes.

Hail The Cult!
Slay The False!
Worship The True!