Unleashed wrap up Incineration Festival sublimely

Incineration Festival 2015

Saturday 9th May 2015
The Black Heart, Camden, North London, NW1 0AP, England MAP
£38

2015 sees the second edition of London's Incineration Festival, the grandest all day extreme metal festival in the capital. Last year, the debut event was held at the two stages of the Garage and was received superlatively well, selling out and leaving late-comers in tides of disappointment. Now it returns to a multiple-venue location in Camden, able to afford a significantly larger capacity spread across the Electric Ballroom, Underworld and the Black Heart. Showcasing a sensational line up of premier death and black metal from homegrown and foreign talent, Incineration Festival is one that metal adherents do not want to miss.

However, the days proceedings start of quite badly as the queue snaking around the Black Heart to get wristbands moves in near slow motion, meaning some punters are waiting for over an hour to collect their wristbands and missing the first bands on stage. Hopefully the organisers will look at ways to evade this mishap next year, possibly having the ticket collection open earlier or introducing print-at-home tickets that can be scanned electronically.

On surprisingly early in the day are Norwegian black thrash metallers Aura Noir at a bustling Electric Ballroom. The four-piece adopt a no-nonsense approach to darkened thrash metal riffs with vocal duties divided between Apollyon and Aggressor. Serving songs from throughout their consistently outstanding career such as 'Black Metal Jaw', 'Deep Tracts of Hell' and 'The Stalker', the band has no issues in getting the audience to move so early on the in the day. Closing with favourite 'Conqueror', Aura Noir destroy the capital yet again with their merciless black thrash attack.

Next up in the Electric Ballroom albeit with a comparatively shrunken crowd compared to Aura Noir are Finnish black metallers Oranssi Pazuzu. Formed in 2007 and with three albums under their belts, their take on the genre incorporates intriguing psychedelic elements. Threads of ambient and doom can be traced in the music's veins, all contributing to a hypnotic and nightmarish sound. Unfortunately, the audience does not seem particularly overwhelmed at such a refreshing take on black metal and OranssiPazuzu deserve better.

Over at the packed Underworld, brutal death metal is being churned out by Prostitute Disfigurement. These Dutchmen echo the musical sentiment of a more brutal version of Cannibal Corpse with a dose of subtle technicality, forming blistering death metal that rampages at a variety of tempos. The heated crowds appetite for the band seems insatiable as they storm through a set of compelling headbanging metal.

Back at the Electric Ballroom are melodic black/death metallers Keep Of Kalessin. Initially conceived in the straight-forward black metal vein, as the Norwegians have released more albums, they have reduced the black metal influence and created atmospheric and symphonic melodies in its place.Tonight's affair sees the three-piece concentrating on these more accessible melodic releases as they air out tracks such as 'Dark Divinity', 'Introspection' and 'The Divine Land'. Although the energy of the band on stage is adequate, there is something underwhelming about the show that leaves an audience reaction with more to be desired. After closing with the more recogniseable 'Ascendant', Keep of Kalessinvacate the stage and leave behind a divided audience.

Up next is Israel's Middle Eastern metal cohort Melechesh, enjoying their second appearance in London. Opening with 'Tempest Temper Enil Enraged', the band wastes no time in firing out aggressive black thrash metal endowed with Middle Eastern folk melodies, birthing the band with a sumptuous sound. Initially the lead guitar sound struggles among the other instruments but as the set winds on, this issue is largely rectified. Pounding through a set of 'Deluge of Delusional Dreams', 'Multiple Truths' and 'Grand Gathas of Baal Sin', Melechesh deliver uniquely scathing music that treads all pathways of extreme metal, easily securing a rapturous response from the eager audience. This band is seriously overdue a headlining appearance in London.

Over at the Underworld are Swedish genre-shifters Tribulation take the stage to a beer-addled congregation, equally comfortable accessing old school Swedish death, prog death and very recently goth rock. Selections 'Strange Gateways Beckon' and 'The Motherhood of God' from the new album 'The Children of the Night' are not too dissimilar to the likes of Fields of the Nephilim imbued with goth rock, the visceral 'Beyond the Horror' from the debut album 'The Horror' causes more movement among the attendees in the Underworld while 'Rånda' and 'When the Sky is Black' with devils are an aggravated take on progressive death metal. All three styles are played with a defining personality that ensures the quartet is not an imitating band in the genre and consistently retaining the venue's attention.

Still pissing off Christians after 25 years is Finnish black metal/grind iconsImpaled Nazarene at the Underworld. Naturally, the venue fills dramatically as the band storm through extremely blasphemous hymns. Their music is insanely frenetic with blastbeats pounding the venue walls mercilessly, accompanied by a tremolo riffing onslaught while vocalist Mika Luttinen's rabid snarls punctuate the music. The latestaudio assaultfrom the band from last year's 'Vigorous and Liberating Death' incorporates a dark dose of punk influence that contrasts the blastbeats and tremolo riffs and flavours the music as black 'n' roll, allowing for emphatic headbanging alongside the more vehement activity in the audience. The Finns blitz through their set incredibly rapidly and too soon, leave the stage in a blaze of cheers from the attendees.

Headlining the Underworld are Swedish death metallers Unleashed. One of the strongest original Swedish old school death metal acts, these Viking fanatics have evolved their sound, substituting the trademark buzzsaw guitar tone for more straight-forward but increasingly bludgeoning death metal. The popularity of their newer material surpasses the classic releases towards the inception of their discography and this is represented in their setlist that fixates on the last few albums significantly more. Last year saw the release of new album 'Dawn of the Nine' and 'Where is Your God Now' receives a solid applause. Headbanging rhythms and broad guitar riffs provide a muscular sound that rattles through the Underworld with frontman Johnny Hedlund's unique growls barking out Viking lyrical themes.

Unleashed's more modern outputs are incredibly catchy so fans recognise the tracks instantly and croon along to the chorus in between bouts of headbanging and moshing. The likes of 'Midvinterblot', 'Fimbulwinter' and 'Triumph of Genocide' are modern death metal classics while the older 'Across the Open Sea' and 'If They Had Eyes'satisfy those eager for the earlier music of the Swedes. With continuous headbanging on stage, the band dominates the venue with their stage presence and music working in tandem.

The success of a band's progress is often indicated when the closing song is one from one of their most recent output, particularly when the band has been in existence for longer than 25 years. Such is the case for Unleashed who close with the title track of their 2008 full-length 'Hammer Battalion' complete with fans singing along to the chorus, wrapping the set up in a particularly ideal fashion and seeing this year's Incineration Festival wrap up sublimely.

Aside from the slow admission process, it is safe to report that Incineration Festival's 2015 edition has been a total success. The choice of venues a two minute walk away from each other is the perfect location and the team did an admirable job at diminishing painful clashes as much as possible. Hopefully, 2016 will see another even more prosperous showcase that brings bands beloved by the London metal scene and rare to glimpse in this country. The UK has a woeful number of metal festivals compared to other European countries and considering this is the birthplace of heavy metal, this must be changed.

review by: Elena Francis

photos by: Chris Mathews