There is something about small pub gigs which suit Death and Thrash Metal right down to the ground. The atmosphere in venues like the Star And Garter is often better than many larger shows, and the crowd response is usually more energetic than they are in those larger venues. And this evening is no exception. By the time the gig starts, the venue is already heaving with Metalheads, and the electricity in the air foreshadows the chaos and madness tonight's gig will bring.
 

Manchester's own EXXXEKUTIONER receive a hero's welcome from the large crowd that have turned out in force to see them, and they do not disappoint with their brand of Blackened Thrash that has an air of HELLHAMMER about it. They are, not to belittle the other acts, the best band of the night. Their cover of CELTIC FROST's "Into the Crypts of Rays" goes down extremely well with the crowd. They play like they are headlining, and don't miss a beat. The only downside is that their set was far too short.
 

EVEN WHEN DEAD, by contrast, do not pull a large crowd, probably no more than 25 people, and perform a mediocre set. They stand out like a sore thumb, being the only Hardcore band on a line up comprising of Death and Thrash Metal bands, and so, to be fair to them, they are victims of disinterest from those assembled rather than of bad showmanship on their part.
 

Then it is time for Bristol's SEPREVATION to take the stage in front of the once again packed room. They blast through many numbers off of their brilliant debut album, as well as a few from their equally good "Ritual Abuse" EP. By this point, the crowd has worked itself up into a frenzy, and many people are stage diving into the moshpit throughout their set. SEPREVATION walk off to cheers at the end of their set.
 

After a short break, FLAYED DISCIPLE began and storm through their set in front of the surging crowd. Singer Tim Whyte eggs on the stage-divers and has an incredibly imposing onstage presence throughout their set. They play with confidence and are incredibly tight as a band. It is bands like these guys who truly make gigs at venues such as this so fantastic.
 

Finally, it is time for the headliners BONDED BY BLOOD to take the stage to thunderous cheers. They fire through some of their classic tunes and get the crowd moving again. They make it look easy, surging through even the most complex tunes in their set with finesse and style, and even  pull out some surprises during their set, including being joined onstage by BLOODSHOT DAWN's Josh McMorran, who plays guitars for a song or two in the middle of their set. The crowd surfers have begun to dry up, but they are still throwing themselves into the pit with everything they've got as the night comes to an end.
 

Overall, this was a great night for the bands and fans alike. The atmosphere in the Star And Garter was great, the bands were equally great, and the crowd response is fittingly intense and energetic. I sincerely can't wait to see all of these bands out on tour again at some point in the near future.

Setlist:
1. Shepherds of Rot
2. Psychotic Pulse
3. Civil Servant
4. Prison Planet
5. Repulsive
6. Among the Vultures
7. Mind Pollution
8. Crawling in the Shadows
9. Restless Mind
10. I Can't Hear You
11. The Aftermath

Photographs: Kelly Quinzel

Words: Danny Sanderson
 

Bristol based SEPREVATION have just released their first album, "Consumed", and are beginning to make their mark on the UK's Death and Thrash Metal landscape. Danny Sanderson sat down with the band to find out their influences, the new album, and their plans for the future.

First Question: You guys combine Death Metal and Thrash Metal in your music. What are your specific influences in this band?

Lluc Tupman (Bass, Vocals): For the band I guess we are into Morbid Angel, Death, bands like that, more of the old school, more of the 90's era of Death Metal. And with Thrash, we all like really old school stuff, like Metallica, and really a lot of bands ranging from Deep Purple to Black Sabbath, Judas Priest, Motorhead. Yeah, and stuff like Iron Maiden, Slayer, obviously.

Joss Farrington (Guitars): And we're into a few newer bands like Vektor.

Lluc: Yeah, it's pretty much all kinds of Metal, across the board really.

How is the tour going so far, it's the fourth or fifth date isn't it?

Ian Aston (Guitars): Yeah, yeah, it's been great so far. Bristol was definitely one of the best gigs we've ever played.

Lluc: It's our hometown.

Ian: We had the whole place packed out in Bristol, and it was really nice to come back, especially after we've just released the new album.

Lluc: It was good playing a home gig, and everyone showed up, on a Monday night, and went fucking crazy. London was great too.

Ian: Every band's been great on this tour too.

Have you ever played Manchester before?

Lluc: Yeah actually. We played about a year ago. Exactly a year ago if I remember correctly.

Joss: We might be a day or two out, but yeah, pretty much a year ago.

What is your experience with Manchester crowds, do you think they respond well to you?

Ian: We get a good reception a lot fo the time. Yeah, it was really good last time.

Lluc: Obviously we've played here once before and we've definitely had a few people come up and say they saw us, and they've come out again to see us. It's definitely good to have that support.

Ian: Even though we have only been here once, we really like Manchester already.

Llluc: It's good to be back.

Cool. So you guys are from Bristol, and a lot of the tour dates so far have been in the North of England, around this area. Do you think there's a difference between the way people receive you in the North and the South?

Joss: There is at the moment, but that's because we're from the South. We're from Bristol so we get a better reception down there because we play there a lot.

Lluc: Some people still don't know where we're from to be honest. [laughs]

Ian: Sweden…

Lluc: Of course, Swedish, and Glasgow, and you know, I don't think it's a big deal to people where we're from.

Ian: I mean, I'd say we have a bigger audience down there because that's where we're more widely known. We can get to London and places like that pretty easily.

Joss: having said that, we've played in places like Plymouth and it's been shit. [laughs]

Lluc: But we're more well known down south, definitely. There's a good bunch of people down there who support us.

Ian: It's fun up here as well.

I was wondering, you're manager is Josh McMorran from Bloodshot Dawn, and the video for "Slave to the Grave" was directed by Doug Anderson. Do you have a close relationship with them?

Lluc: I actually live with Josh. [laughs] Yeah, we've got a flat in Bristol. We've known those guys for a few years now.

Ian: Obviously we are goosd friends with Bloodshot Dawn, and we knew Doug through them, and we've stayed in touch with Doug quite a lot because he did our first video as well, you know, so obviously we got him back for this one.

Joss: Is that what you mean, like how well do we know them or did they influence us? They haven't really influenced us. [laughs]

Lluc: But yeah we are close friends with those guys.

Ian: I love Bloodshot Dawn, they're great.

Lluc: We're doing a tour with the in October/November, so yeah, I'm looking forward to that.

On your new album "Consumed" what were the specific lyrical themes, if any?

Lluc: It's kind of… it's based around a lot of grief and shit really. It evolved a bit from Ritual Abuse into being more realistic, just dealing with more realistic kind of things in life , and how you take them on and deal with it, I guess.

Joss: And a lot of that involves what happened with Ben.

Lluc: Well, I lost my best mate. He killed himself last year, so that had a big impact on quite a few of the songs, which are about that.

Ian: There were already some songs which kind of related to it, so we ran with it.

Joss: A lot of stuff like the album title and everything is sort of based around that tragedy.

Lluc: A lot of the stuff on this album is our way of dealing with that kind of thing. Obviously, of course, there's a lot of fantasy themes within it, quite dark things, but a lot of the lyrics came out of that, as a way of dealing with that emotionally. It kind of became the concept of the album, almost.

You guys are a Death Metal band, and over the last few years a lot of old school bands like Carcass have started getting back together, and a lot of smaller Death Metal bands are starting to get a bit more exposure. So do you guys think that Death Metal is making a comeback?

Ian: To a point, yeah.

Joss: I think it has for a fair few years, yeah.

Lluc: It's definitely a lot more widespread now with the younger generation of bands, and there's a lot of festivals in Europe.

Joss: The scene's definitely a lot stronger now, maybe even stronger than it was in the 90's. It's so popular now.

Ian: Not so much with Thrash now, I don't think.

Joss: Yeah, that lasted about five years.

Lluc: Well, I think that all Metal's come under one genre now, really. There's not so much straight up Death or Thrash, it's kind of just "Metal". I think that everyone likes it all. There's not so many people going "Yeah, we're just into Death Metal" and there isn't so much conflict between different subgenres anymore, and there's a bit more of togetherness within the scene, which is really cool to see. I love that.

Joss: If all of the "old" bands are getting back together and touring, it's great for fans.

Have you got any plans for when this tour is over, on the touring and festivals front?

Ian: Well, we're hoping for stuff.

Lluc: We're open to offers! If you're listening, Book us!

Ian: Well, we've got got the Bloodshot Dawn tour towards the end of the year, that's October or November time, that's in the bag already. In terms of festivals and such, there's nothing concrete yet, because we're in the negotiation stage at the moment, so we can't confirm anything.

Lluc: Again we're open to offers. [laughs]

Ian: We're going to play as much as possible and get the album out there as much as we possibly can. And to those who haven't already got, fucking buy it!

And finally, have you got anything else to say to your fans before we finish?

Lluc: A fucking big thanks to anyone who's heard us, if you haven't, check us out: you might like it. And thanks for everything. SEE YOU ON THE ROAD!

Cheers guys!

Cheers dude.