Blood Church, Incursion, ??? & Hellfekted, Fuel Rock Bar, Cardiff
And so, it came to pass, that a mere 19 days before consumer ecstasy, the hordes were summoned by Legion Promotions to their second evening of dark, sinister metal and malarkey. There was plenty of the former and even more of the latter, which we will get to in a short while. Kudos to Legion Promotions for putting a stellar bill together and even bigger cheers to all those who made the effort to get there. It was well worth it.
Fuel, like most of Cardiff city centre, was in vibrant move, and during the night the gig drew a reasonably healthy crowd. The curse of the opening act is that they invariably draw the smallest numbers of the night. Those that made it in time were richly rewarded as Stoke-on-Trent’s blackened thrashers Hellfekted (7) stomped a size 12 hole in the venue. A bruising and brutal set full of power and intensity, the band roared their way through their set, with riffage galore from vocalist and guitarist Liam, whose snarling delivery added spice and fire to the band’s sound. Alongside him, bassist Chris, splendidly attired in his Metallica battle jacket (who I found out later works with Demon’s Dave Hill) brought the thunder, linking neatly with drummer Myles whose rapid-fire attack cemented the band’s sound. With influences ranging from Power Trip to Bolt Thrower evident in their sound, Hellfekted certainly have captured the punishing side of those influences and threw a raging gauntlet to the floor for those to follow.
Shortly before arriving at Fuel, social media announced that Swansea thrashers Sepulchre had been forced to pull out at short notice. The reason? Because Darren Evans is a melon head who managed to pump petrol in the band’s diesel van. Cue much mirth but also a frenzied hour of sheer panic for Alyn and Tim who desperately searched for a last-minute replacement. Cometh the hour, cometh the man, and with Uber duly dispatched, Agrona, Cranial Separation and Levitas drummer Sam arrived in the nick of time for the Agrona Stripped (???) set. With Jonny from Incursion stepping in as well, their four-song set which consisted a cover of The Windmills Of Your Mind by Val Doonican, Cliff Richard’s Mistletoe And Wine and a rather lovely When A Child Is Born, most famously covered by Johnny Mathis. At least that’s what I thought I heard from outside the door. Reality may have been slightly different. Feedback from the weeping punters as they streamed out varied from “fucking awful” to “best thing I’ve seen in a long time”. I guess you had to be there.
2019 hasn’t been the easiest for RCT’s hob knob wielding holocaust survivors Incursion (8) and main man Jonny Foxhall but with the drum seat now occupied by maniacal Josh Griffiths and Thom Taylor giving the bass rumbles for a final time before heading to Canada, the band reminded all in the room that there is plenty of mileage in the Incursion wagon yet. Continuing with their green camo theme, the three emerged on stage in their battle garb, and hit through a knockout set which struck all the right chords. After the Agrona-lite show a bit more grit was welcomed, and the return of the hob knobs saw a slightly less violent but still energetic scuffle amongst the audience. With Scourge purged of those clean vocals Incursion proved there is still life in the old dog and 2020 should be an interesting year for the band.
It’s always good to be exposed to new bands and Telford Satanic blackened death metal four-piece Blood Church (8) were another ‘new’ band to add to the list. Their aural battery was intense, the meaty bass and extreme vocals of Chris Thomas pulverising whilst the razor-sharp duel attack of guitarists Liam Simpson and Scott Gater shattered ear drums. The Metal 2 The Masses finalists are a force to be reckoned with and their death metal was at best spine-crushing. A cover of Sepultura’s Roots Bloody Roots got the venue pumped and it’s fair to say that the atmosphere picked up. Thomas has a striking appearance, stripped to the waist, covered in chains and corpse paint, his wild image linking perfectly with the deathly sound the band deliver. Duel blasts from Chris Massey anchor this interesting outfit together. With time running out it was with regret that I headed for the last train, Blood Church continuing to punish those who remained.
*NB: There may be some artistic licence in this review. May be. *
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