Il portale della musica Heavy Metal

Napalm Death + Casket - 2/12/2011 - Nosturi - Helsinki

The evening sure could use some napalm, since the winter is still breaking records and it was cold as Siberia yet again. Arriving a bit later than usual, I managed to miss the first few songs, which was a shame since Casket only played for about half an hour. The relatively young guys from Lahti were playing their crushing death metal with the right attitude. There was more people to see the opening act than usually, and they clearly enjoyed what the band had in store for them. Not having heard the band previously really didn’t affect the experience, since the combination of brutality and groove was quite catchy. An act to keep your eyes open for in the future.

If you haven’t heard of Napalm Death, then you’ve somehow managed to miss the arguably first and definitely most influential grindcore band out there. Formed already in 1981, they have managed to re-invent themselves and develop their sound constantly even on their newest records. Not only is the band old, so seems to be most of the dedicated fans. Most in the crowd were at least 30, some pushing close to 50. Absent were the usually ever-present teenagers and young headbangers. This luckily didn’t translate into a funereal atmosphere, since the first pit erupted already during the first song. Utter chaos reigned the middle floor for most of the gig, and the bar was full of pleased people.
Barney ’s signature spastic stage behavior and Mitch Harris’ freakishly high shrieks managed to again entertain me right from the start. The speaks were of the leftist kind one expects, “war is stupid” and “this next song is about my favorite subject; religion == bullshit!”, and they really brought a smile to my face. They played a few cover songs even, but I didn’t find them very interesting since I hadn’t heard of the originals.
The final climax came with “Nazi Punks Fuck Off!”, but at that point I was already a bit bored. My level of awareness just didn’t quite fit the music’s high level of intensity, and the last fifteen minutes were a bit tedious. All in all, a very uneventful gig, but a good all-around performance by both bands. To conclude, it has to be said that Napalm Death truly is ugly music, by ugly people, for ugly people. And that’s why you can’t help but love it!


Photos:
Napalm Death


Casket


Report a cura di Markus Karppinen