A View From The Back Of The Room: Ofnus (Matt Bladen)

Ofnus, Onieros, Saarkoth & Sanhedrin, Ye Olde Salutation, Nottingham, 31.01.26

When band start to change members that can so often change there entire dynamic of them. Vocalists especially are a funny thing as there have been multiple famous acts who have struggled to find replacement for their singers.

That sound of the voice is so often the make or break on whether you like the music, just look at Cradle Of Filth. A voice in the black metal scene perhaps seem a less important but many bands from that style hook their tremolo picked satanism on screams from their singers. Go to any major black metal act and I bet you'd be able to name the singer over any other member.

Anyway I digress and I'm going into this deeply because when I heard that the object of my fanboy affections Ofnus were getting a new singer I did have a tinge of trepidation, as this was the lone up that that had records two incredible albums and played numerous gigs most of which I had been to.

Their original singer Will had mutually parted ways with them just as they were coming off their biggest show ever at Bloodstock, so felt like a gut punch at the worst possible time. However Ofnus are a band born from frustration and from the need to create so they quickly searched and found a new singer.

I'd not heard new vocalists Brendan's other band Old Blood but I was assured he could definitely step up to the plate, filling the shoes that Will had left easily. Maybe this was bluster, but I had to find out myself, so I booked a ticket to their debut gig with Brendan at Ye Olde Salutation in Nottingham. It was an easy decision as I had missed their finals show with Will through illness, so I needed to be at the beginning of their second era.

Alongside the headliners there were three support acts who perfectly warmed up the crowd.

First up were Samhedrin (7) a blackened thrash outfit from Derby who kicked off the evening with some frantic riffs and aggression, interlinking guitars that are influenced by the blackened likes of Behemoth and Dimmu Borgir but also Melodeath Children Of Bodom and thrash of Kreator too.

Fast and furious they got the crowd moving however I'm not quite sure what was going on about the additional clean vocalist who popped up for two songs and then creeped back onto the crowd. He was decent addition, bring a melodic element however it was strange that he only sang on two tracks and aesthetically was the polar opposite of the long haired thrashers on the stage.

Still that was a me thing and if I wanted tradition then I didn't have to look far as next up was the more traditional take on black metal from Saarkoth (7). A band with corpse painted faces, cloaks, trem-picking and songs about paganism and the natural world were the order of the day here and the Lichfield based unit.

Having released two albums, they've gained quite a following, meaning that many had witnessed these sermons before. As an outsider I was impressed by what I saw as Saarkoth take the melodic black metal style of Winterfylleth and Agalloch as their mantra and they manage to hit all of the marks these bands have laid down while also retaining their own uniqueness, flashes of atmospheric metal and post-black metal came washing in.

With Saarkoth things moved further towards the darkness of the headliner but first the emotional level had to increase and with Onieros (8) it did exponentially. Although a one man act in the studio, live Alex Wills has brought together a very talented band to bring these atmospheric, melancholic tracks to life. He's even borrowed the drummer of the headliners, meaning that poor Ethan had to blast like hell for a bloody long time, though he probably loved it.

Onieros brought in the atmosphere, a foreboding, introspection that was there to carry on through to the headliner, ethereal and evil, yet focussed on the natural world again. The songs twist and manipulate their way between furious blasts and stomping workouts, the epic and melodic moments not going to waste when they pair the pained growls and shouts with clean lead moments on top of the trem riffs.

A quick word about Phil Core & Tortuous Promotions who promoted the event, and I can say nothing but good things, Phil brings plenty of extreme metal variety to Nottingham and from what I saw most of these monthly showcases in Ye Olde Salutation always seem very well attended, the show this night was pretty much sold out.

All the changeovers are slick, the sound was brilliant considering the room dynamics and anyone without a ticket trying to sneak in from downstairs was promptly told to fuck off. It also proudly supports it's local MC which I always think adds credibility to rock venue. If every city had a Torturous Promotions equivalent more would be in better health.

So the headliners and as I said in the preamble I will always find time for this band as I love what they do and them as people. There was frisson in the air in Nottingham and expectation but also a hesitation, would this be a shining new era? Or would it call turn to ash? I had immense faith and I'd say most of the crowd who knew the band did too.

The opening backing track began and they exploded into Burned By The Soul Of The Moon the opening track from Time Held Me Grey And Dying and fear subsided as the band locked into the intense opener as Brendan began to deliver with ferocity. I found it apt the opted to open with the first track from the first album, a definitive statement about the new line up. "Thanks for supporting us before, here's who we are now"

From here it was into The Shattering, and this is where things really started to move, the song itself is already one of their most potent but there seemed to be something more to it now, Brendan's vocals are not only excellent (more on that later) but he has a presence, a menacing, stalking, theatrical presence that allows him to embody these songs better than his predecessor.

You can feel the bitter, rageful, sadness of the lyrics through him, the vocals shifting from black metal screams, the death growls and even the harsher tones of DSBM, where he bree's like it's a harsh noise floor. Throughout he is wide eyed, grips the mic with intent and threatens you to get involved. He also is understand but imposing on the between song moments, saying little but striking a chord.

You can feel that the band are now enjoying it, the anxiety has gone and they're loosening up, Throes Of Agony made way for Grains Of Sand, the rhythm section of Ethan (drums) and Rich (bass) blasting away for their lives, the shifts in pace and tone massive as this progressive, atmospheric blackened metal act owned the stage.

One either wing Alyn (guitar) was a massive of hair cranking out the lightning riffs while James (guitar) locked in on the other side, the delicate leads and melodies sounding as lofty as he is. They then treated the Nottingham crowd to a new song, Lamentations Of A Life Regrettable, one written with Brendan's vocals in mind and if this is the route they are taking from now on then I'm 100% behind it as this was an epic glimpse into the future.

With the whole room on side, Brendan's mettle proved it was time to turn on the waterworks as Proteus shifted into Zenith Dolour, cue crying and headbanging from the front row contingent as the symphonic strains of this one led to the insane blast moments in the latter half. It will be their closer forever at this rate but no one would mind that I'm sure.

Ofnus (10) made an imperious first statement in the first show of version 2.0, even my miserable soul shed a tear. If you are at Reaper Fest in this weekend, go to their Manchester debut. DO NOT MISS THEM!