LIVE REVIEW: Nails @ SWG3 Warehouse, Glasgow
It’s been a little over six months since hardcore act NAILS played live in Glasgow, supporting the almighty KREATOR alongside EXODUS and CARCASS in what was one of the best metal lineups of the year. So it’s surprising to see them back in Scotland so soon, especially considering their last voyage to the city was way back in 2013. While it was nice to have them open the aforementioned tour this year, it did mean they were only awarded thirty minutes to shake up the venue – not nearly long enough – so this headlining opportunity at SWG3 Warehouse is much appreciated.
It’s undeniable that the odd band out on this bill is black metal openers, INVUNCHE. This one-man project is led by Chilean El Invunche and focuses on indigenous folklore from South America. Draped in a poncho and bearing face paint, he’s accompanied by a live band, including a keyboard, to cocoon the venue with a lesson in pre-Columbian history. Opening with Antü from their latest stellar release, Ativismo, provides a summary overview of their discography. Its punchy rhythms are ferried along by melodically-inclined second-wave black metal. The sound is fantastic and portrays INVUNCHE in the best possible light. The bouncing rhythms prove palatable to some of the hardcore fans, many of whom get lively during the set. More Ativismo songs, such as La Luna, Elal and Últimas Días, exhibit intricate and atmospheric leads, South American folk meddlings and raw ferocity. Older songs from the debut album II feature more punky, black ‘n’ roll and Finnish black metal batterings.
Rating: 8/10
Finnish grindcore maniacs ROTTEN SOUND have been around the block many times. They’re an extremely dependable act and a welcome addition to any extreme metal bill. So tonight’s display is simply business as usual for the initiated. For the newcomers, it’s time to get their faces yanked off their skulls. As their bassist left the band last year and they didn’t grab a replacement, they’re now a three-piece, also accompanied by a stand-in drummer. Will this dull their ferocity? Not at all. They ignite their aural obscenities with Brave New World, a commendable intro given its build towards its climax, accompanied by samples from the Heaven’s Gate cult’s initiation tape.
Frontman Keiko Niinimaa dominates the stage with his spirited stage presence – impressive for a man in his fifties! The three-piece ploughs through the venue with hits from their most popular albums, Murderworks, Exit, Cycles and Cursed – namely Safe, Exit, Targets, Suffer (Niinimaa describes this as his tribute to NAPALM DEATH), Slay, Sell Your Soul and more – and other miscellaneous tracks. The non-stop barrage of blastbeats, gravity blasts and buzzing acerbic guitars is incredibly moreish. The mosh pit is highly receptive to this uncompromising grind and swells dramatically, creating bruises for the whole set. ROTTEN SOUND are truly purveyors of good, friendly and violent fun.
Rating: 8/10
Was the name of the genre ‘powerviolence’ coined for a better band than NAILS? The Americans, led by Todd Jones, waste no time waylaying the crowd, beginning with I Will Not Follow. The savage belligerence of the NAILS‘ mishmash of hardcore punk and grindcore goes down a storm and is perfect for the live environment. The guitar is admittedly low in the mix and competes with the drums for dominance, but this doesn’t detract much from the show. The compact nature of the songs means they’re rapidly fired out one after the other, akin to being on the receiving end of an assault rifle barrage.
The setlist takes a journey through all four full-lengths, as well as the two songs off the new single Dollar Bin Generation and Fear Based Life. Highlights include Violence is Forever, You Will Never Be One of Us (this one gets the wildest of the night), Savage Intolerance, Tyrant, Conform and Friend to All. The songs are occasionally separated by Jones‘ surprisingly loving and fawning stage banter: “We love you guys!”, and another instance where he encourages the crowd to disparage BLINK-182 for not being a proper punk band (huge swathes of the younger crowd are noticeably quiet in response).
The band are surprisingly static on stage but the audience more than makes up for it. As the show progresses, the central space occupied by the possessed moshers continuously swells, shoving the innocent bystanders further towards the periphery of the venue. After a svelte and far too brief 45 minutes, Jones enquires how much time the band has left. On learning that there are still fifteen minutes before the curfew, he commits to giving the fans a well-deserved trio of unplanned attacks: the title track Abandon All Life, Suum Cuique and Imposing Will, the latter being an elegant expression of what NAILS did at SWG3 Warehouse tonight. An outstanding show, and here’s hoping Jones delivers on his promise to return soon.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Glasgow from Duncan McCall here:
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