By Nina Saeidi
A freezing London night saw the Relentless Garage down the road from the local fetish shop and abortion clinic fill will those rearing for some disgusting, dirty and downright dark black metal.
Aosoth kicked off the night with their chaotic French death metal, pummelling some seriously heavy blastbeats into the audience and making it clear that they were more than worthy to support Watain on the Death Holy Death tour.
Slightly insane Swedes, Shining are commonly described as ‘suicidal black metal’ due to the bleak nature of their lyrics and generally gloomy nature of their sometimes haunting, often desolate music. Singer Kvarforth is infamous for courting controversy whenever he can, drinking blood before shows and admitting to enjoying the consumption of urine off his wife’s feet are among some of the things he claims to to. He even lived up to his reputation and did his trademark throwing-up-halfway-through-the-set number before taking off his shirt to reveal a back tattoo depicting the Nazi eagle with the Jewish Star of David replacing the usual swastika. Some phenomenal drumming and even an unexpected solo accented a bass heavy set that went on for more than 40 minutes. Those few audience members not enraptured by the intense presence of the band were hotly anticipating the appearance of the even more intense Watain.
Watain were indeed intense. The stage was littered with severed pigs heads impaled on spikes, blood red candles and towering iron torches which shot giant bursts of flame at the appropriate moments. The stench of dead animal and stale blood mixed with smoke and toasting flesh resulted in an aroma that resembled something that had died twice and then re-processed into a brand of toasted rat-sausage. Crowd members were sprayed with animal blood and clothes became infested with the smell of death as Watain blasted through a powerful set. The climax of Total Funeral resulted in a truly terrifying moshpit that giant semi-naked tattooed men rugby tackling each other.Those of you reading this in Europe should definitely check out the remainder of the Death Holy Death tour if you like your metal dirty, black and smeared with blood.
Setlist:
Death's Cold Dark
Malfeitor
Storm of the Antichrist
Rabid Death's Curse
My Fists Are Him
Reaping Death
The Serpent's Chalice
Wolves Curse
Total Funeral
On Horns Impaled
Encore: Legions of the Black Light
