LIVE REVIEW: Tortured Demon @ The Joiners, Southampton
The continuing rise of TORTURED DEMON has been a joy to behold. The last time they played this venue, they were opening for EVILE and did a pretty good job. But in the intervening months, they’ve released a potential album of the year contender and put in a blistering performance at Bloodstock. They’re still a relatively young group, but they’re already holding themselves differently. They look more confident and assured, and even if tonight’s gig isn’t a sell-out, it’s obvious that TORTURED DEMON have some serious momentum.
One of their key selling points is that their brand of thrash metal has a modern touch, and isn’t completely enamoured of the genre’s glory days. The same can’t be said for tonight’s openers DESOLATOR, who are so old-school it’s a miracle that Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughan don’t show up. Clad in ripped denim and high-top trainers, they play only two types of song; fast and faster.
They’re also barrels of fun and very easy to like. It’s not entirely serious and the bit when someone in the crowd shouts “needs more cowbell”, only for the drummer to actually produce one and use it in the next song sums it up very nicely. DESOLATOR probably aren’t ever going to sell out a stadium, but they look like they’re having a great time and they’re just what the early attendees need. Pay close attention though and you’ll notice just how savage some of those riffs are; frontman Jamie Brooks has some serious guitar chops that are easy to overlook in the “grin constantly” atmosphere.
Rating: 7/10
Death metallers UNBURIER on the other hand are a more serious proposition. Curiously, they don’t seem to have a bass player, but the trio still make an ungodly amount of noise in their short, thunderous set. Death metal bands sometimes struggle to connect with thrash audiences, but they trigger an impressive pit after roughly three tracks and it keeps going right up to the closing moments.
So far, they’ve only got two songs out and the set is largely based on an unreleased EP. However, if it sounds as good as it does in the live setting, they could be onto a winner. 618 especially is a sledgehammer, frontman Ben Champion is a charismatic focal point and they leave a lasting impression.
Rating: 7/10
That said, tonight belongs to TORTURED DEMON. Drawing heavily from their excellent Rise Of The Lifeless album, for roughly an hour they play a vicious, energetic set that wrecks necks and gets the Joiners reeling. Kicking off with the wicked one-two punch of the title track followed by Virtual Death, it’s not long before the front of the stage is filled with flailing limbs and sweaty bodies. There’s a surprisingly early Disfavour (someone in the office predicted it would be the closer), as well as a welcome appearance from In Desperation’s Grip. Their earlier material doesn’t get much of a look-in, but this one would have been missed if they’d left it off.
Storming through the likes of Eyes In The Fire and the ace Global Threat, TORTURED DEMON more than justify the hype. All those hours on the road have turned them into an incredible live act and they deserve this headline spot. They round things off with another older cut in A Knee To The Face Of Corruption, a track so vicious it nearly caused the Jägermeister stage at Bloodstock Open Air to collapse once.
It’s a tight, efficient set and despite their growing success, TORTURED DEMON are still a humble bunch of lads. Frontman Jacob Parkinson thanks the crowd so many times, it becomes apparent that he can’t quite believe that he gets to do this and get paid for it. And we’ve got to reiterate this, TORTURED DEMON looked like more than just another bunch of thrash hopefuls tonight. There are elements of hardcore and groove metal in the mix that give them just the right amount of variety to stand out from the patch-jacketed throng. This was a blast, hopefully we’ll be seeing a lot more of these boys.
Rating: 9/10
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