Written by:	omne metallum
Published:	November 06, 2024
Event:	Kill-Town Death Fest 2024 (Website)
Location:	The Dome, London, United Kingdom

Between Incineration, Desertfest, Celestial Darkness, Cosmic Void, Beyond The Grave, Portals & Metal Brew Festival, you could say that London's capacity is stacked for metal festivals and must be nearing critical mass, something that seems plausible when you consider that others like Titanfest, Stone Free, UK Deathfest & Camden Rocks have fallen by the wayside in recent years. However, this hasn't stopped others from trying to find a space of their own in amongst this packed scene; indeed, one October weekend would see Kill-Town Death Fest try their hand at putting on a metal festival, one that would catch my eye... and my wallet.

With such a plethora of choices, you may ask what makes Kill-Town Death Fest stick out from the competition, especially given death metal shows in London aren't uncommon. Well, Kill-Town Death Fest caught my eye with its line-up full of rare, in some cases debut, appearances from artists across the globe that I wouldn't have put money on appearing in the UK anytime soon. Speaking of which, the price point reflected its London location, with Saturday tickets being over £50; I initially was put off by such pricing, only attending when I happened to come across a resale ticket at a reduced price. Still, I was excited to make my way into the event and finally see some rare acts for the first time.

While the festival would be a 3-day affair running Thursday to Saturday (a new one to me), the Thursday and Friday would be two half-days/warm-up gigs (so a 2-day festival split over three days?), while the Saturday was a full-day event that took advantage of the two stages the venue(s) offered, and was the one that I would attend. With all bands bar the headliner, Cancer, getting 45-minute sets, it allowed audiences to get a decent-sized showing from bands rather than the meagre taster portion you get at most festivals.

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Saturday's offerings

Cryptworm 14:30-15:15, Upstairs




Given the honours of kicking off the day, Cryptworm were a band I was eager to finally see live, and evidently I wasn't the only one as the room was well attended already from the off. The band's buzzsaw guitar attack, mixed with guttural vocals so unnatural that the guitarist/vocalist Hanyi almost pained during the times he would talk normally between songs, was the perfect way to start the day. With no sound issues that usually befall the first band on, Cryptworm played a solid set of disorientating death metal, with cuts like "Oozing Radioactive Vomition" rewarding those who arrived early. Ending the set with Hanyi in the crowd, it seemed the day was kicking off with a victory lap.

Mortuary Spawn 15:15-16:00, Downstairs




The Dome offers two venues that are connected by a small courtyard that doubles as a smoking area. The downstairs venue is the smaller of the two; however, this compactness did have the advantage of additional atmosphere as audiences could revel in the intimate club feeling.

Arriving to a room that was either on fire or with an engineer with an itchy finger on the smoke machine button, Leeds’ own Mortuary Spawn opened up the second stage with a solid dose of old school death metal... oh, and it was the smoke machine for those wondering.

One of the few bands with more than 3 members on stage, it meant room was sparse for the band. While Mortuary Spawn certainly nailed the sound and style, the band lacked in memorable material to really leave an impression that would stick beyond the end of their set. Enjoyable enough, but not something that will stick in the memory banks.

Adversarial 16:00-16:45, Upstairs




It was once again back upstairs for the act I was hyped the most to see, especially off the back of a strong album earlier this year in Solitude With The Eternal.... Kicking off their set, it sounds like northern hyperblast is alive and well if Adversarial and the sound engineer are anything to go by; the start of Adversarial's set amounted to deafening drums and a downturned blur...OK, most death metal is like that, but this was in the bad way.

Thankfully, after a few songs the sound engineer rectified the problem, so the audience could hear an unhindered version of "Witness To Eternal Light". The band had a hypnotic quality that had you hanging onto every note; given the reaction by the rest of the audience, I was not the only one lost in the rapturous death metal attack.

On any other day, this would be a set of the day, but the quality that was to come would give it stiff competition.

Coffin Mulch 16:45-17:30, Downstairs




Upstairs, downstairs, back and forth: I was getting my steps in for the day, all right. Up next were one of the bright young up-and-comers of the UK death metal scene, one whose old school style didn't hit the way I had hoped at Damnation Festival last year. Still, today offered a second chance, and one that the band took full advantage of. Despite the vocals being buried (presumably by 6ft) in the mix, the likes of "In The Grip Of Death" still hit hard thanks to the rest of the band's sound being on point. Coffin Mulch were able to showcase what they could do when not hindered by sound issues and the future is bright (actually, given how shows like this thrive in the dark, perhaps the future is bleak?).

Phobocosm 17:30-18:15, Upstairs




Up next was one of my most anticipated acts of the day, and one of the main bands that convinced me to attend; Phobocosm had a lot riding on them for me personally, and the omens didn't look good when due to technical issues the band started late, and the just-opened Ossuary merch meant half the crowd was in the queue.

Despite, or perhaps because of, these issues, the band appeared more determined to overcome the odds and steal the show, and to this end they were successful; turning their evident annoyance into power, the supercharged versions of "Tidal Scourge" and "Everlasting Void" that played out were some of the best performances of the day. Making up for lost time, the band just rolled the hits out, to the point your neck was sore from constant movement.

Phobocosm justified attending and then some, highly recommended.

Aberration 18:15-19:00, Downstairs




With the day now in full swing after back-to-back sets that continued to raise the bar, Aberration had the job of carrying on the momentum of a festival that was starting to resemble a runaway train.

The band's dissonant, delay doom death metal flew out of the gate and hit hard like the aforementioned train; however, the further their set went on, you could feel the momentum evaporate, in large parts thanks to the moments the band lent into the dissonant parts of their sound. It was during these moments that I couldn't help but notice the amount of people looking at their phones, or when I popped to the bar, the amount of people choosing to socialize in the smoking area instead of watching the band.

It was far from a bad performance, but perhaps bad placement, with the band's use of dissonant passages to create atmosphere instead leaving those now eager to move with little to do but shuffle their feet morosely.

Ossuary 19:00-19:45, Upstairs




After what felt like a misstep, Ossuary were left to pick up the derailed momentum and set it back on course; luckily for the festival, they seem to have struck gold in giving the band this slot, as they appeared to be the crowd's most anticipated band and the best suited to get the festival moving again.

Ossuary played to what felt like a hero's welcome, with a set that was tight and a sound that was on point throughout, bar the odd reoccurrence of feedback. The band lived up to the hype and then some, thanks to some cranium-shattering renditions of tracks like "Supreme Degradation". The crowd by this point was packing out the room and hanging onto to every reverb-drenched note and pained howl. Not only did they get the train back on track, but they got it moving faster than ever.

Cryptic Shift 19:45-20:30, Downstairs




Originally Left Cross were due to play this slot; however, their late withdrawal the Monday before the festival as a result of cancelling their European tour meant the bookers had to find a substitute at short notice. Up stepped London's own Cryptic Shift to fill the void.

With a somewhat tame sound hindering their Voivod-indebted attack, Cryptic Shift didn't connect as well as they could have. Though they were surprisingly tight for a band only playing at a few days’ notice, their technical thrash was let down not by any rusty or sloppy playing that could have resulted, but by the sound mix. The band did well considering the circumstances, though judging by the crowd size inside and in the smoking area, their efforts didn't muster the far-reaching audience it could have.

Anatomia 20:30-21:15, Upstairs




Travelling the furthest to be here today, Japan's Anatomia were seemingly faced with an uphill battle given how Aberration's low and slow set petered out. However, Anatomia managed to avoid this pitfall and had the audience at full attention, with the few extra hours of drinking perhaps making them more appreciative of a slower sound. A palette cleanser for sure, as my sore neck got a welcome break from fast-paced bouncing and could slowly nod in time to the music.

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Due to circumstances, I was not able to stick around to see Cancer 's headlining set, though given I have caught them several times over the years, it cushioned the blow of missing out on what is a solid live show. I did stick my head in downstairs for a brief watch of Fuoco Fatuo, but not long enough to really make a fair assessment.

Despite missing out on the headliner, Kill-Town Death Fest was one of the best days of music I've had in a long time, with back-to-back sets of the highest quality more than justifying the price of entry several times over.

It's a tough call for band of the day, as several put on performances that deserve recognition, but I would have to opt for Phobocosm, considering how they had to overcome a delayed start and an audience that resembled a queue at the start.

With the festival appearing well attended, it seems to have been a success, which will hopefully lead to a return so that it can give more bands who are rare sights on these shores an opportunity to take to a stage.