Originally booked for The Well on Friday 1st March, this triple-header of metal mayhem not only found itself relocated to The Library and put back a day due to the closure of Leeds’ premier rock and metal venue, but rescheduled for a rather curious matinee slot, with doors at 1pm and the first band, Enabler, hitting the stage at 1:15.
Despite the fact it was still lunchtime, the student pub found itself swarmed with heavily tattood, pierced bearded types who were raring to go, and to reward them, hit the stage Enabler certainly did.
The sound was impeccable: crisp, clear and loud, enabling (no pun intended) their technical and detailed sound to come through unimpeded. The US hardcore / punk / metal quartet tore through their short set, drawing substantially on their belting 2011 debut ‘All Hail the Void’ and showcasing material from their upcoming ‘Shift of Redemption’ EP.
Martyrdöd take things up a notch. It may just be my opinion that they’re at their most interesting during the slower breaks, because the audience are all about the full-throttle frenzy – and a grimy mess of guitars and throat-wrecking vocals it is, too. A mess of unwashed hair, three-week worn jeans, beards and battered bullet-belts, Martyrdöd are the living embodiment of crust punk. The dense, murky racket hits like a juggernaut and the moshing really gets into full swing.
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As for Rotten Sound... well, the sound’s still pretty good, and far from rotten. Best of all the volume is devastating, as is the band’s performance, which is nothing short of explosive. Abrasive, aggressive, confrontational, the Finnish grindcore merchants pound and hammer through their short and monstrously powerful set amidst a growing tide of bodies making their way onto the low stage and careering off into the enthusiastic crowd. And that’s precisely what this is all about: Rotten Sound’s nihilistic sonic assault may be against everything, but it’s also a raging roar of noise to become completely immersed in, the perfect antidote to all the shit that is everyday life. Blasting through tracks with a running time of a minute or less, they pack in a good chunk of their catalogue, including their most recent ‘Species at War’ EP. It’s fucking brutal, and it’s fucking brilliant. Anger is an energy, alright, and when channelled, that energy can be totally life-affirming.
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