LIVE REVIEW: Cattle Decapitation @ Boston Music Room, London

Life in the UK is looking pretty bleak at the moment, the country is in the worst financial state it has been in for decades, the unions are striking for basic necessities and believe it or not, we need rain more than anything. So as ever, we turn to music for release and a night of extreme metal music in the capital sounds like just the right escape. Despite the train strikes causing chaos throughout the city the show has sold out tonight and fans have piled into the Boston Music Room in Tufnell Park, North London to watch CATTLE DECAPITATION lay waste to the famous venue after months of delays due to COVID as part of the Death… At Last tour.

The room is slowly filling as CRYPTIC SHIFT hit the stage. The band have a real throwback look about them complete with waist-length hair, skinny jeans, and white high-top trainers almost as uniform. The music, however, is a modern take on extreme metal. Melding technically proficient death metal riffs, machine gun drumming and circle headbanging with hauntingly atmospheric sections in between songs (the band don’t even pause to receive the applause they have earned). The band’s scathing rendition of Planetary Hypnosis is a highlight of the set. Showcasing the musical prowess of all the members with its intricate mind-blowing riffs, thrashy guitar solos and constantly shifting dynamics ticking all the boxes for what you want to see from a band on this line up.

Rating: 7/10

By the time CELESTIAL SANCTUARY hit the stage the room is full, and the fans are hungry. The band waste little time in diving into their bag of old school death metal riffs. The lads are here to entertain, and they look like they have a tremendous time doing it, interacting with the audience with great charisma whilst laying waste to their ear drums with ferocious songs like album title track Soul Diminished and Rid The Gormless. There is something to be said about the connection between a band genuinely looking like they are having fun and an engaged audience that connect with the band on the same level and CELESTIAL SANCTUARY have managed to achieve just that tonight and provide the perfect warm up to the madness that is about to unfurl.

Rating: 8/10

From the very moment the band tread the stage the fans are jittery, and ready to go. The boys then throw themselves headfirst into the colossal The Geocide and the entire venue becomes a warzone with bodies flying in every direction. The band sound as tight as ever, with vocalist Travis Ryan looking maniacal as he continues to prove that he his unparalleled and stands atop the extreme metal pile even now. The inclusion of more melodic sections on Death Atlas has been used to great affect when penning the setlists with songs such as Bring Back The Plague and One Day Closer To The End Of The World being emphatically sung back towards the stage by the adoring audience before them.

No CATTLE DECAPITATION set would be complete without the inclusion of the classic Forced Gender Reassignment. The song is an extreme metal staple and is treated as such tonight with the crowd going understandably insane the moment the opening chords are struck. It has to be said that at this point the soundman has nailed the mix and the gutturals from Ryan carve through the blasting drums and shake the very bowels.

One thing that is apparent throughout the set is how much the band themselves appear to be enjoying themselves and that comes through in the performance. The charisma of Ryan is immeasurable tonight as he interacts warmly with the audience in the front row and tells a hundred tales with his facial expressions alone. This is what happens when experience and showmanship coincide together in perfect harmony.

One of the highlights of the set comes in the latter stages in the form of Plagueborn. A song that sounds a vicious today as it did when it was first released. It goes to show that no matter how well received the new material has been tonight there is always room in the hearts of devoted metal fans for a little hit of nostalgia.

By the time the set comes to a close with a crushing rendition of the tour’s namesake track the band stand over the crowd like conquering heroes and soak up the rapturous applause that they have so rightfully deserved. The UK has always had a special relationship with CATTLE DECAPITATION. One that is acknowledged very openly by the band (and enthusiastically returned by the fans) as they say their final thanks and goodbyes. The world may well be in a pretty torrid state, but thankfully we have metal music to escape to. And with nights like these, you can’t help but forget everything that is going on in real life and appreciate just how welcome a sonic battery can be.

Rating: 9/10

Check out our photo gallery from the night’s action in London from Anne Pfalzgraf here:

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