INSISION

REMASCULATE

A band by the name of Remasculate could not be native speakers of English and indeed these grind/death metallers were from Sweden’s capital, Stockholm. Particularly handy supports for Insision, Remasculate share the headlining band’s drummer Marcus Jonsson. Frontman Ludde Engellau does not look like a physical representation of the band’s music. With his skinny jeans and leather jacket over his bare chest, he looks as if he would be more at home in a glam rock group. However, he probably enjoys the sound of his own voice as he takes the time to have a grotesque spiel between every song on the set. Never judge a book by its cover; Engellau boasts a vicious growl over thundering drums and a visceral guitar. The music slithers between all of death metal’s denominations, from the orthodox approach to American-style slam to the odd, buzz-sawing Swedish death metal riffage, all dusted in a beautiful coat of rabid and modern grind. With only one album, creatively titled ‘Perversemonger’, the quartet bludgeoned the audience-deprived Purple Turtle with sadistic anthems like ‘Abcessories’, ‘Grease that Weenie with Rape Oil’ and ‘Nuke Kids on the Block’. Far from being a band that would open a sub-par UK death metal bill like the name suggests, Remasculate are a pleasant and entertaining surprise in addition to being a reminder that death metal isn’t quite dead!

DATE:

VENUE:

Sunday 28th February 2010

Purple Turtle in London, UK

DEAD BEYOND BURIED

Essex-based Dead Beyond Buried strangely manage to muster up the largest audience of the night. Returning to the live scene in support of their sophomore album due in April, Dead Beyond Buried are the lowest point of the evening and deserving of a trip to the bar. Insipid death metal is performed with a passionless stage presence in addition to...not much else, really. Cannibal Corpse did it all ages ago and to a far more memorable and proficient degree. There is nothing compelling about these men whatsoever.

DEAD BEYOND BURIED; REMASCULATE

Reviews by Elena Francis

INSISION

Sunday night is probably the reason the crowd was sparse for Insision, which is surprising given the amount of exposure ex-gutiarist Daniel Ekeroth received for his recently published ‘Swedish Death Metal’ book. A few years have passed since they were last in London so the absent London death metallers fail the scene tonight. Opening with the beastly ‘Before My Altar’, the quintet never look back in terms of ferocity tonight. Relentless drums paired with heavy guitars that occasionally deal out accents of technicality (at least when material from their first two albums were unearthed) are challenging to refrain from headbanging to. Occasionally the guitars are swamped when the overwhelming vocals come in but this can be forgiven. The drilling guitar melodies at the start of ‘Depleting the Non-Being’ translate so cleanly into the live environment and ‘Sado God’ probably knocked some teeth loose. Songs from the ‘Ikon’ album sound less linear live, with the atmospheric yet brutal ‘Into the Cold’ and the Morbid Angel-esque solo near the start of ‘Doubt Denied’, the prime cuts from the band’s last full-length. Four years have elapsed since that album but the band offer an insight into two new songs which sound particularly powerful and what one can expect from Insision. The stage presence of Carl Birath is formidable and he is markedly at ease with the live crowd. The astounding number of great rhythms makes the show speed by imperceptibly rapidly and before long, the Swedes are bidding London farewell. The poor turnout was criminal; the show was an excellent example of underrated death metal bands that can churn out a very memorable live show. Maybe next time they return to London, they will be more fortunate.