Behemoth / Suicide Silence / Devilish Impressions
7 February 2008
ULU, London

It had been a long time since I’d been to the ULU and it doesn’t appear to have got any more organised. Two queues stretched either way from the entrance, with no direction as to which one we should be in. Apparently we‘d picked the correct queue, however, due to the general confusion at the door, Devilish Impressions were already on stage as we entered the main hall.

Aside from magazine compilation CDs, I’d not had much exposure to Devilish Impressions, though had been aware of their presence as one of the clumsily named bands that frequent the adverts in Terrorizer and tend to get 6 out of ten. That’s probably a fair score for their set, which whilst enjoyable should little signs of originality. With names like Quazarre, Armers and Starash, the Poles sound like members of Dimmu Borgir on more than one level. T.H.O.R.N.S. and I Am The Son Of God got the crowd down the front punching the air, but are highly reminiscent of the Norwegian’s, with the symphonic backing of Turqouissa’s keyboards taking us to a spiritual black dimension.

In fairness the “Satanic Chaos Society” made for a good start to the evening, but paled whiter than their corpse-paint in comparison to what closed the show.

Devilish Impressions set list included:
T.H.O.R.N.S. / I Am The Son Of God

Suicide Silence stuck out like a sore thumb that had been battered by their jackhammer attack, though strangely it worked in the context of the evening. Pushed to label them, I’d probably stick these Californians under the deathcore bracket, with Job For A Cowboy the most obvious reference point due to their recent London show. Though, Suicide Silence’s performance tonight left the show from the much lauded MySpace phenomenon, JBAC, in the dust.

With a good sound and an incredibly tight attack, songs from the band’s latest album, The Cleansing, came across well. If there was an eye of suspicion from the gathered legion in black, it was cast at frontman Mitch Lucker, who had not only dared to wear a white t-shirt but, shhhh, had styled hair! Slowly but surely, many are won over by the sheer energy of his performance. Whilst his top end yelps and squeals could be quite abrasive, his guttural roar was unworldly for a man of such wiry frame.

Whilst Lucker stalks the stage, the rest of Suicide Silence remain in position, wind-milling and headbanging with regimented precision. Mark Heylmun and Chris Garza’s guitar have the added seventh string present to allow the thicker gauged variety to be pounded relentlessly and it was not until No Pity For A Coward, that something approaching a solo or melody surfaces. Brutal and to the point, Suicide Silence’s set was like a welcome aural dose of salts.

Suicide Silence set list:
? / Bludgeon To Death / The Price Of Beauty / Swarm / No Pity For A Coward / Green Monster / The Fallen / Destruction Of A Statue

With the horns of Rome 64 C.E. heralding the arrival of Behemoth, a swift exit from the bar was required. However this was impossible given the entry’s proximity at the front corner of the stage. Hence, much of opener Slaying The Prophets Ov Isa was spent battling our way through the crowd. Finally securing a vantage point revealed the Poles backed by a giant Apostasy backdrop, flanked by twin headed eagles and with a large wrought iron star in front of Nergal’s microphone.

As the opener wound to a conclusion, a chant of BE-HE-MOT arose, identifying the large contingent of the band’s fellow country men present tonight. [Note. I’d been advised by a Polish friend, they don’t pronounce the final H]. Antichristian Phenomenon followed, with Behemoth showing themselves to be on their usual top form.

“Rejoice my brethren!”, announced Nergal, “There is no God, there is Demigod. So join us and chant along!” The crowd needed little encouragement as that classic riff flooded the venue. Taking us back to blacker days, and the band’s first full length release, Nergal announced, “We are Behemeth and we come From The Pagan Vastlands”. The band’s history dates back to the start of the nineties and it’s a culmination of all the hard work and persistence since them that sees Behemoth deservedly playing a show of this stature tonight.

Prometherion brings us bang up to date and was simply crushing, with Inferno left alone to clatter around his kit at the conclusion. This is a mere warm up for his fire breathing later in the set. Switching backdrops to the Zos Kia Cultus design, the more restrained riffing of As Above So Below, from that album, followed with head’s nodding in appreciation. The whole band were kitted out in corpse-paint, though Orion’s shaded arms gave him a monster like look as he roamed the stage.

There had been some news in the metal press of Nergal potentially getting into some trouble back home in Poland for tearing pages from the bible. Obviously this doesn’t seem to have bothered him, as he removed pages from that Holy book prior to Christgrinding Avenue. Meanwhile, for Chant For Ezkathon 2000, Nergal emerged wearing a mask whilst the whole band seeped blood from their mouths.

This had been a flawless performance by Behemoth and Nergal conceded that “This has been the highlight of the tour so far”. After all that brutality a cover of Turbonegro’s I Got Erection came as a light relief (so to speak). Though Pure Evil & Hate closed the evening in fitting style.

Behemoth set list:
Rome 64 C.E. / Slaying The Prophets Ov Isa / Anthichristian Phenomenon / Demigod / From The Pagan Vastlands / Conquer All / Prometherion / Slaves Shall Serve / As Above So Below / At The Left Hand Ov God / Summoning (Of The Ancient Ones) / Christgrinding Avenue / Christians To The Lions / Sculpting The Throne Ov Seth / Decade Of Therion / Chant For Ezkathon 2000 / I Got Erection (Turbonegro cover) / Pure Evil & Hate

LINKS:
Behemoth
Suicide Silence
Devilish Impressions