Written by:	Baz Anderson
Published:	October 20, 2009
Event:	Devildriver & Behemoth: U.K. Tour
Location:	Rock City, Nottingham, United Kingdom
Galleries:	Devildriver, Behemoth - Nottingham, England, 19th October 2009 by Baz Anderson (45)

Five extreme bands in one evening. They could have even labelled this U.K. stretch of the tour as something-fest to make it sound more exotic, without overstretching it. The doors opened for the main hall of the venue at 18:00, with the first band rushed onto the stage just twenty minutes later.





Malefice were the first band on stage. Judging from the first song of the evening, these guys were competent musicians and were having a good crack at waking the audience up and getting them in the mood. The -core elements were soon evident however, and on that note, your blushing author's services were needed backstage for other business.

Trigger The Bloodshed get everywhere these days. They are a young U.K. death metal act working hard and touring at every possible opportunity to get the word out. They deliver a straight up death metal act with no frilly breakdowns or ponsy singing choruses. Trigger The Bloodshed are a young band that just hit the nail on the head when it comes to performing their death metal. The band however lacks in the department of versatility and creativeness, and so although it brings great joy to listen to some death metal - there is no X factor just yet to carry them further.



Suicide Silence from California in the United States next. Clearly these were the band that the younger members of the audience, especially the girls screaming "I love you!" to the singer, had been waiting for. Deathcore doesn't conjure great images to the mind, but Suicide Silence were actually good. Yes, the singer had stupid hair and silly shoes. Yes, he screamed and liked pulling dramatic poses, but these things along with the occasional breakdown could be overlooked because the music was good. Suicide Silence were the first band of the evening to put on an intense performance that captured the audience's attention. Musically more diverse than the previous bands, they blended their breakdowns and screams with some high quality death metal. The enthusiastic drummer of this band had a particular style that gave the band an edge that saw them become the surprise of the evening.



Behemoth were a big draw towards this tour for a lot of people, even though for these U.K. dates the band are not headlining. The stage was dressed up with bird statues at each edge, hanging logos, and Nergal's centrepiece in front of his microphone. Blasting off with a new song, the band soon drew the audience back in to familiar territory with the combination of "Demigod" and "Conquer All". Watching Behemoth live is not just about hearing this extreme death metal, but also being stunned in that how the band pull it all together, especially Inferno on the drums, in the live environment. It is literally staggering the speeds Inferno can play. With this shortened set time, the band however elected for some more approachable, slower songs to wave their banner under. Especially with the morbidly slow "Lucifer" as the last song of the set, the band put on a visually entertaining set but left the existing fans craving for more. Hard to complain after a blastings of "Slaves Shall Serve" and the crushing "Chant For Eschaton" most definitely did the job, and even the epic ending of "Alas, The Lord Is Upon Me" must have blown a few fringes back. Unfortunately given the circumstances, this was more of a teaser for what Behemoth can actually do, not the full show itself.



Setlist:

Ov Fire And The Void
Demigod
Conquer All
At The Left Hand Ov God
Slaves Shall Serve
Alas, The Lord Is Upon Me
Chant For Eschaton
--
Lucifer



To see the interview conducted with Nergal earlier in the evening, follow this link.

DevilDriver can definitely call the U.K. their second home. These guys sell out big venues, and are the reason Behemoth were in the main supporting slot instead. The band stepped out in full confidence before their loyal disciples to a massive roar as they opened up what would be a fantastic, extreme set of pure metal. The band played well, although compared to the previous band were not perfect in the drum-tightness department, but nonetheless didn't make any difference to the brutality of the band in the live environment in front of such audiences. DevilDriver's thing is the infamous "circle pit", of which they may or may not have the world record for creating the largest. It was then no wonder that many times during the night the audience opened up to create a tornado of people sucking in innocent victims, none more than during "Meet The Wretched" at the end. The band mixed both new and old material equally and didn't miss out any obvious choices from the relatively short headlining slot. The band seemed thrilled to once again receive such an enthusiastic from a British audience, but it really is no wonder when the band produce such sledgehammers of metal with the unstoppable ending to "Before The Hangman's Noose" and intensity of "Meet The Wretched" which were the real highlights of the night. DevilDriver certainly didn't have an easy job of being the standout band of the evening, given the supporting bands. The band did steal the evening, all before 23:00. It was always going to be theirs to take though, headlining.



Setlist:

End Of The Line
Not All Who Wander Are Lost
Nothing's Wrong?
Pray For Villains
Clouds Over California
Fate Stepped In
I Could Care Less
Hold Back The Day
I've Been Sober
Back With A Vengeance
Before The Hangman's Noose
These Fighting Words
Meet The Wretched
--
I Dreamed I Died



Thanks to Adam Sagir for the accreditation and interview.
Written, and photos by Barry Anderson