Oh how the heathens love their sins...how the children of the shadows rejoice at a chance to pillage the lands of fine morals and spread their seed of mischief. As they slither out of the darkest caverns and converge within a pit of gothic bliss, the strings shall not stop ringing until the thirst for blood is satisfied and the crows circle in a festive dance.
Now with that in mind, say, what better occasion for the aspiring heretic to dip a toe in the lake of fire than a Saturday night hosted by none other than Dani Filth himself? If you were at the Boston Music Room on the night in question then you already know the answer.
The illustrious evening however, was not without its initiations. As fittingly dark as the skies were, the volume of black rain that they so mercilessly exhumed was of the most torturous consistency, and given that the doors opened almost an hour later than expected, I ended up getting thoroughly soaked with some fine British precipitation. Nevertheless, the legion of scantly clad, chain-bound Gothic zealots stood unperturbed as their skin turned whiter than usual and tightened around the cold blue veins; all the cyclones in the world were mere teacup stirrings to this crowd.
GENERATION GRAVEYARD were already beginning to dig into the audience with their sounds as I made my way inside; jumping almost directly into the action without even having time to warm myself up with a lick of Jack. The band were 'attitude' incarnate. Even in charge of a rather scarce crowd their blend of Heavy Metal and old-school Punk had everyone in the room ready to riot. Even the ostensible issues with the sound couldn't hinder their studded recalcitrance.
After finally getting "warmed up" I was up-front and ready to take in SHE MUST BURN. The band didn't waste any time in taking the atmosphere to extremes and regurgitated a projectile cocktail of intense, energetic and vicious Metal across the room. I'm afraid however, that their explosive performance was it's own worst hateful enemy, for their unhinged chaotic concoctions were just to incoherent to have any lasting effect.
Nevertheless, the band gave it their all. Whilst vocalist Joseph Sinclair shredded his vocal chords with every line, drummer Daniel Ristic punished the drums with the athleticism of a norse warrior, giving their loyal fans an utmost committed performance.
Before long the crowd were chanting for Dani to grab the microphone and serenade them with his devilish crooning. As the Gothic luminary took to the stage in all his royal frontman glory and DEVILMENT kicked off their incredible set with an on-point rendition of JudasStein, the crowd unchained their inner monsters and were ready to devour every single soul in sight.
Each opus that followed was executed to perfection. Dani's vocal delivery was flawless and truly solidified just what a diverse and accomplished vocalist he really is. The rest of the band – even in all their gory animation – didn't miss a single note and the mesmerising Lauren Francis complimented each song with her own entrancing voice and melodic keyboard contributions.
Yes, as even Dani noted at one point in the show, the audience was rather mediocre in numbers, but their zeal for the band nevertheless managed to power a magnificent performance. That night DEVILMENT proved that beyond having the ability to produce thrilling records – such as this years stunning release "Devilment 2: The Memphisto Waltzes" – they are a solid live band that can deliver an awe-inspiring performance and conjure up the most enticing of evils regardless of where the road takes them.
