Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	October 19, 2007
Event:	1349: UK Tour (Website)
Location:	Junktion 7, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Galleries:	1349 - Nottingham, England, 17th October 2007 by Baz Anderson (20)

1349 are one of the most, if not the most, extreme band I had ever seen, so it only seemed right to get very excited about the prospect of seeing 1349 in my own country for one, and also in such an intimate environment. Junktion 7, Nottingham - I had never been to this venue before and so I didn't quite know what to expect. Upon arrival I met with a couple of the 1349 guys for a really cool interview and sat in the pleasant bar downstairs until show time. Upstairs lies the stage and another bar all in a room that you would probably struggle to fit more than one hundred people in. The stage had no proper barrier, just a long metal pole in front of the marginally raised stage. This was quite clearly going to be a very, very intimate show, an experience like none other when you are standing in front of 1349.

I cannot stress enough how small the main room was, it was like someone's front room with a bar and stage in one corner. The stage so small that the first band, Derby based death metal machine Lordaeron did not even perform on the stage, but on the floor in front of the stage with a gathering of people standing around them. It was quite bizarre really, it was like we were all at some friend's house watching our friend's band play it was that intimate. They looked relatively young but they did not sound like a young band at all - these guys unfortunately pulled the short straw and were first on and so the audience of probably fifty or so people at this point had not warmed up therefore meaning there was not a whole lot of action. Lordaeron only had a set of twenty minutes or so but they really blew us back. From what I had heard of them before the show I knew they would give one of the best performances of the night and I was not wrong at all - these guys play really fast brutal death metal much in the style of Aeon and such bands. The normal problems with young bands were not evident here at all - the guttural vocals were superb and the drumming very impressive indeed, perfectly executed live - that is a good sign! Not being on a stage let us look down onto the drums and watch everything, which was quite a unique experience. If Lordaeron keep going how they are now and release their debut album, these guys will become one of the best death metal bands in the English underground.



Unfortunately Lordaeron ran out of time and once the drum kit had been moved out of the way we could move up to the bar in front of the tiny stage to where London based death metallers Dãm would come on and give us there version of a death metal show. With a set lasting around half an hour we again got a really good, professional sounding show. Dãm are no way as brutal and extreme as the latter band, but what they lack in utter brutality they half make up with technicality, progressive touches and passion with some raw and extremely heavy death metal. These guys put on an entertaining live show, it is one thing being able to record a great album in the studio - but being able to perform live is a totally different thing that I am glad all the bands tonight were more than capable of doing. The vocals with Dãm are not guttural, but more in a screaming manner, which unfortunately was the only bad point about the show - the band actually performed an instrumental track half way through the set, and the break from hearing the vocals and main focus shift to the actual music was possibly one of the best highlights of the set. These guys already have found themselves with a big label and so I cannot see any other reason why Dãm will not continue to grow and grow with their impressive recordings and live performances.



Setlist:


So we had had our English bands of the night, it was now time to hand the night over to the Norwegians. The first of the Norwegian bands Goat The Head I got the impression no one had heard much of - but I can guarantee everyone from the show can remember Goat The Head now. These crazy guys play "primal caveman death metal" and they take this to the extreme by dressing the part as well. Coming out onto the stage wearing nothing but bits of (probably fake) dead animal to cover their precious parts they got a lot of funny looks from the audience as you may be able to imagine. On the stage they act like real cavemen, fumbling about, kicking each other pulling faces and generally acting like buffoons. This, although may sound weird, and is weird, was actually rather entertaining. Their show was funny which was a nice break from all the serious, crushing death metal. Goat The Head were of course capable of playing their instruments, their music is as they say, very primal, nothing too special overall musically but it certainly does the job - drums constantly being smashed made the show one of the easiest to bop your head along with.



This buffoonery could not go on all night though, and eventually the stage was handed over to the band we were all there for, 1349. Normally the set opens with fire breathing but this was totally impossible here as you could touch the ceiling standing on the stage and the audience were pretty much in the band member's personal space all night. As usual the band come out looking the part, I don't know how many people were there but it could only have been around one hundred - this tiny room was nearly full. The venue was so small and the show so intimate that even standing right at the back of the room must have seemed still so close to the band, and for us at the front it was unbelievably intimate and close. This was the most intimate show I have been to, so intimate I felt my hair get caught on Archaon's guitar a few times, and also of course I got to feel his hair a few times as well.



What you hear on a 1349 album is what you get live, pure, unadulterated, extreme black metal that sounds just as amazing live as it does on CD. The show didn't go without it's minor faults, the guitar cut out for a short while and also in-between songs we had a strange silence after the initial cheer after each song - which some idiot decided to shout a couple of offensive things towards the band, but this must be overlooked. Also Tony Laureano had been touring with 1349 earlier in the year, but I don't know who exactly was playing tonight - they seemed to lack the sheer speed and intensity that Tony (and I am sure Frost) brings to the band, but still the guy did an awesome job - it's just a shame he had such huge boots to fill. All the favourites got their play though, "Riders Of The Apocalypse", "Nathicana", "Chasing Dragons", "Manifest" - looking down the setlist there is not one weak song there. The hair was certainly flying both on the stage and in the audience by the loyal and dedicated fans of the band. We all know that metal is something special, and when we get to experience such an intimate show with a band we love - it just cannot get much better. Headspinning along with the band a foot or two away from you and touching fists in-between songs just made it a great night - English, Norwegian, wherever you are from - metal is metal and we all love it just the same. Coming in for an encore of "Sculptor Of Flesh" and "Manifest" the band had a set length of one hour which unfortunately seemed to pass all too fast, but not fast enough to not let us enjoy ourselves witnessing such a respected name in the world of black metal.



Setlist:


Thanks go to Archaon of 1349 for putting me on the guest list and of course along with Seidemann for the cool interview.
Written, and photos by Barry Anderson