A sizeable, slow moving queue outside the venue means that I enter midway through Abduction's first song. Their brand of black metal sounds rather muddy and murky. I'd like more definition in the sound so I can hear the individual parts more clearly but it is still powerful and kinda suits their nightmarish vision. The cleanly sung opening to 'Razors Of Occam' provides a rich atmosphere and the contrast between that and the blasting is stark and impactful. Similar to the other bands playing tonight, Abduction create a maelstrom of noise live, and this is in contrast to the more refined and progressive nature of the studio recordings. A pounding, frantic and urgent '...Vomiting At Baalbek' closes their brief set.
The loincloth wearing, blood covered, metal spike adorned Aussies, Impetuous Ritual, play a feral, raw form of blackened death that is fucking ferocious. It's lightning fast yet complex and the vocals are savage. It sounds huge too, causing the aural equivalent of blunt force trauma. It's vicious, relentless, exhausting and pretty breathtaking. Just when you think that they can't get any faster, they put their foot on the pedal and become an intense blur. They also manage to conjure moments of skin crawling horror akin to tonight's headliners but overall, this is fast, raw and primal. An absolute revelation.
Portal's brand of abyssal death metal is nowhere near as immediate. The guitars come screaming from the void, frantically scrambling to avoid being sucked into a black hole but it oddly doesn't draw me in as it should for the first couple of numbers and I feel strangely disconnected from it. 'Glumurphonel' is more powerful but I still feel like an outsider who hasn't been allowed access to their universe. I feel like I am watching this chaos passively from a distance and whilst I can appreciate their craft, I haven't been fully sucked in. I can't put my finger on what is missing but something is. It's probably sacrilege to most here who are losing their minds, especially so when you consider how rarely they play on these shores, but I decide leave midway through the set as I'm not sure that anything is going to change.
Portal ***
Impetuous Ritual *****
Abduction ****
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