FESTIVAL REVIEW: Rabidfest 2022
With the Summer festival season now a distant memory and the cold rapidly creeping in, if there’s anything that would warm those chilly black hearts, it’s a visit to Rabidfest 2022. Now in its sixth edition, this indoor rager is back at Oxford’s The Bullingdon for a two-day bonanza of heavy metal blasts and filth-laden bops. Proffering up a discerning mix of local, national and underground bands, you’d be hard pressed not to experience sufficient aural delights here to wet those proverbial whistles. And with proceeds going to chosen charity Parents and Children Together (PACT), it’s a highly altruistic affair to boot. Team Distorted Sound were on hand to capture all of the sonic bounty and shenanigans the weekend threw upon its patrons. So without further ado – let’s get to it.
Saturday – November 5th
Bass in the place Oxford! If you’re partial to the old school ways of bands cranking out a shit-ton of NWOBHM riffs and extended solos, local lads 13 BURNING (7) will be manna to your ears. When they aren’t singing about peace in the Ukraine, the five-piece are invoking their inner SABBATH and Dream Caster’s dark and doomy overtures delight. Once the technical issues have been put to bed, it takes but a blink of an eye for death metallers DISINHERIT (7) to whip this modest crowd up into a windmilling frenzy. Vocalist Carl launches himself to the slick floor whilst the likes of Brought About By Fear – awash with cranium-piercing screams – and new single Pleasures Defective send pints flying and fists skywards.
Haters be damned – there is no such thing as a ‘guilty pleasure’ in music when the moves and grooves are as pervasive as that of PULVERISE (8). Coming fully front-loaded with an arsenal of 90’s hardcore-cum-rap metal cuts, bars are tightly spat and screams unleashed with caustic aplomb; and then the next minute, we appear to be having ourselves a bonafide throwback to the glory days of CYPRESS HILL via a medley of mid-set covers. “This is for all the bearded lads. I wanna see you get sexy and have a boogie!” Jojo Millward yells, her dreadlocks frequently taking on a life of their own during a thirty-minute Oxford debut that drips with exuberance. It’s a tough act to follow for SULVAIN (7) whose NOLA grunge (by way of Northamptonshire) doesn’t quite have the drawling Southern charm you’d crave after such a supercharged display. Fifth Whiskey’s usual on record strength falls sadly flat as a result of its strained vocals.
ALUNAH (8) on the other hand are positively kaleidoscopic tonight on the Devolution Stage, with the trademark doom upon which the Birmingham plied their sonic trade peppered with fifty shades of shimmering psychedelia – all lush vocals and proggy flourishes to boot. Chanteuse Siân Greenaway is a smouldering tour de force during Hunt. The award for most revealing ensembles (yes, that’s definitely a mankini) / entertaining band of the day surely belongs to Manchester party thrash overlords FOOTPRINTS IN THE CUSTARD (9), with anthems like The Horn and Don’t Be A Cunt proving to be the thirst-drenched, profanity-addled masterpieces we didn’t know we needed. “I wanna see you all throwing magic at each other. Or clapping” they announce prior to a ridiculously overblown Merlin in Berlin as excruciatingly non-PC lyrics about partying, piss-ups and penises reverberate around the room to huge cheers.
Whether you’re a diehard fan or just relishing the opportunity to tear your neck muscles to some fantastically chuggy riffing, KRYSTHLA (8) never fail to deliver. Proudly flying the UK underground metal flag, the Northamptonshire five-piece’s 45 minute set is unleashed with equal measures of forceful, energised and hugely satisfying chaos. Meaty percussion, punishing chord progressions, blistering vocals – it’s all here to be greedily savoured. Zero Sum Game – jam-packed with jackhammer tempos, maniacal screams and furious blasts – once again proves why it’s such a fan favourite.
Inspiring everything from grindcore to thrash genre-wise and covered by everyone from ARCH ENEMY to SEPULTURA, if there’s one band who can blow all preceding ones out of today’s proverbial water, it’s Stoke-on-Trent’s seminal hardcore punks DISCHARGE (9). Stalking the stage like an apex predator, Jeff Janiak’s anti-war / government lyrics are dispensed with unmistakable vigour – dynamic riffs played at warp speed are accompanied by a rumbling bass and merciless, galloping drumbeats. The likes of Accessories by Molotov and War Is Hell erupt with grinding blasts of distorted guitars whilst Protest and Survive reminds Rabidfest exactly why groundbreaking debut album Hear Nothing See Nothing Say Nothing was exactly that.
Sunday – November 6th
Any lingering hangovers in the room are swiftly obliterated via the larynx-shredding, filthy grindcore blasts of PUBLIC EXECUTION (8) who move relentlessly between their utter disdain for the town’s police to the horrors of eating dodgy curries (cue the aptly titled Extreme Fire Terror). Caustic screams prove to be the two-steppers in attendance’s modus operandi, who proceed to throw out more spin kicks than this set has songs. Approximately 19 scathing blows to the head later, there’s just enough time to chuck in the longest song PUBLIC EXECUTION have ever composed – it’s about ingesting a certain narcotic. Who’d have thunk it?!
The thrash battery of ELIMINATION (7) is almost gentle by comparison but furious cuts like Straight to Hell and Icons Of Despair are sufficient to get the bodies moving. Unfortunately, the usually mesmerising instrumental stylings of local duo WALL (7) fall somewhat short after the tsunami of sound before them. TO OBEY A TYRANT (8) are stepping in on less than 48 hours notice to fill in for a poorly DRACONIAN REIGN. Not that you’d ever know it. Because what follows suit is a thirty-minute, slamming downtempo deathcore inferno with Sanctus Infernum, Herald Ov Chaos and Ov Fire And Sulphur all proving to be bonafide pit starters. Necks are snapped and legs are kicked. Sleep on these guys at your absolute peril.
Expertly balancing searing cleans with low-end growls, BLEED AGAIN (7) have anthemic choruses and high-octane grooves in abundance, but the blistering, riff-drenched maelstrom HARBINGER (9) exude right after the Brighton metalcorers is genuinely staggering. Hate File explodes with all the strength of a hirsute grenade, it’s opening Zenith Passage-esque verse offset by eye-popping drumwork before Antagonist’s crunchy riffing and stomping hooks – not to mention Dilan Alves’ innate ability to segue between throat-tearing blasts and effortless cleans – intertwine to mercilessly drag this crowd by the scruff of their collective necks. His command of “we wanna see as many people off the ground as possible!” is all this rabid throng require before surrendering to the blunt force trauma of A Fractured World; which maintains the set’s initial frenzy via a bombardment of heavy-hitting instrumentation and some meticulous solo work. That, dear friends, is how babies are made. Category is: Band of the day – if not the entire festival. Muito fucking foda!
RED METHOD (8) are noticeably late in making their appearance. Word on the street is that it’s drum kit related, but it could also be due to the elaborate backdrop the London wrecking crew are proffering this evening. Suffice to say, there’s barely room to contain the visceral onslaught when the sextet do hit the stage – the ensuing reaction being a cacophony of noise from a now rapidly swelling crowd. Coming out swinging amidst a frenzied melee of schizophrenic rhythms and glitchy electro-noise, caps are heavily doffed to early SLIPKNOT/00’s nu-metal during pit-starter Messiah whilst a feral Split switches between bile-laced screams of uncontrollable rage and soul-searching introspection.
Headliners DIVINE CHAOS (7) are back for the second year running but despite their melodeath-meets-thrash finery, there’s a distinct feeling here that we already witnessed Sunday’s climax. It’s a shame as there’s very little to dislike about METALLICA-influenced (well, unless you hate METALLICA anyway!) Upon The Shrine and the enamel-peeling fervour Jut Tarbor emanates on colossus Serpent Words – it all just feels a little, dare we say it, flaccid after what came previously.
Rabidfest – it’s been a blast. Same time next year? We’ll see you all down the front.
Check out our photo gallery of all the action at this year’s Rabidfest from Serena Hill Photography here:
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