Gig Report - Bonecrusher Fest - Make Them Suffer, Gorod, Beneath The Massacre, JFAC

< Performing the splits is always a painful experience

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A six band metal fest sounding like a mammoth marathon when staring at who is lined up for this evenings extravaganza, the mass of fans queuing outside gave a slight indication that this night was going to be huge, they weren't wrong. Clambering up on stage first was Australia's rebels Make the Suffer of whose Symphonic Death Metal ailment soon cured the frozen fans who stood outside patiently, waiting to get into the warmth of Camden's Underworld venue. Emblazoned with an image that smacked faces across the room, Make Them Suffer made light work of getting a mosh pit initiated, it was as if they clicked their fingers and just like robots the crowd started moving; although the apt pun of them playing Industrial Metal would have sufficed the former quip. What Make Them Suffer does that most bands don't seem to of late is lean into the crowd, on occasions the guitarists would lean into the crowd as if to offer them a slight touch of the fret or as one fan did, rape the guitarists leg with his hands, quite literally massaged him. For what seemed like a long set, in fact the band had blitzed through their set, only to find that the next band was warming up in the wings and that band being France's As They Burn (a Nu Modern Metal machine), whilst elsewhere an interview was in line of sight.

[8]

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Whilst As They Burn were tearing down the venue, the interview with Job For A Cowboy's drummer Jon Rice was conducted and can be heard below.

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Gorod weren't happy when they learned French wine was not available at the bar >

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Gorod are a tricky band to pin down, emanating from what was heard to be the mathematical sounds of Technical / Progressive Death Metal, as if it was a ticking time bomb, with each second producing a sound-wave that shook the very foundations of Camden. This French lot certainly expressed and preached their metal to the masses and in doing so may just have earned themselves the right to be recognized as another great French export alongside legends Gojira. As Julien explained later, the French Metal scene is not all happy dappy. Still the quintet never gave into the relenting surge that swarmed in front of them as they played, caressing the various moshpits and occasional stage dive that surmounted the evening as perhaps the most well received band, although later on that all changed. What amazed the crowd about this French lot, was that for every song played, Julien the vocalist spoke to them in general conversation, commenting on how they love playing in the UK and how privileged they are being here tonight. Song after song, comment after comment and the bar was constantly flowing beer, perhaps signalling a call for Gorod to shut up shop and down a pint or two, for War From A Harlot's Mouth were already wielding their axes to go into battle and deliver their own slaying. Meanwhile another interview was about to take place, this time inside a coach (first was in a nearby bar)

[8]

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Whilst War From A Harlot's Mouth were tearing down the venue, the interview with Gorod's vocalist Julien Deyres was conducted and can be heard below.

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< Patrice Hamelin did not realize he could drum with his eyes closed

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Hailing all the way from the French province of Quebec in Canada, Beneath The Massacre delivered a knock-out punch performance that would make Frank Bruno look like John Inman in 'Are You Being Served?' It was that powerful, trickling out their own style of Death Metal the Québécoise musicians made no mistake in keeping the torrential outburst of extreme metal flowing this evening, right from the first note the entire room once again started moshing, even extending to the point where numerous crowd-surfing moments was taking place, whilst this was happening subsequent stage diving also take place and at first it seemed as if the fans were doing it in sync with the musical beat, but then it was apparent to be more ad hoc than systematic, but what was systematic was the band's live performance, for each song had a unique structure that made poetry seem to flow more easier over the music itself, for the lyrics were not generic lyrics but lyrics with a poetry feel to them. The continual pummeling of the ground was beginning to get even louder and louder until there was a break in the musical massacre, a deafening silence had dawned as if the battle line had been drawn, this was the sign of something elephantine, something brutal, something that needed help with, this was a Job For A Cowboy acknowledging their arrival.

[8.5]

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Nick Schendzielos had to resort to turning his bass lights on after the stage lights blew up >

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So it came down to the headlining act Job For A Cowboy to deliver the final obliterating blow to end what has been a total apocalyptic explosion over the borough of Camden. Fuelled by the enraged crowd from earlier brutalities encountered, it was clear the audience was up for more and more they got as the American armada set sail on the river Riff, down to the drumming delta and used the vocals as a springboard to unleash what only be called as pure hell. During the course of the set there was more and more moshpits, crowdsurfing and stage diving as each song got heavier and heavier until cracks appeared in the ceiling, resulting in the band setting the stage alight and burning bright with a stage presence that would make Cannibal Corpse stop and stare. Nearing towards the very end of the set the sound reached its peak and the bassist did no more, he switched on a rather ingenious piece of technology, LED's embedded in his bass guitar's neck, giving an eery green color and leaving the crowd gasping in sheer amazement, one fan shouted out "Every f**king metal band should have a guitar like that, f**king guitar companies don't know s**t!" To be fair he was right, this is the sort of thing that should appear in the vast majority of band's guitar arsenal, on the other hand there is only one Job For A Cowboy and so that image belongs to them.

[8.5] RHYS STEVENSON

As the music began to die down, the atmosphere was still ringing from riff shrapnel throughout the night and on the way out, one final interview was made, this time it was with a fan called Francisco 'Frankie' Cañardo who came all the way from Argentina to see his favorite bands play!

And they say fan dedication is dying?