Metal Hammer: Defenders of the Faith

Imperial Rocksoc was out in force this weekend to catch the Metal Hammer: Defenders of the Faith IV tour. It doesn’t get much more metal that a show headlined by modern day Vikings Amon Amarth with heroes of the grindcore and melodic death genres Carcass, the fresher faced Bleed From Within and cult 80’s heavy metal band Hell opening proceedings. All to a sold out Kentish Town Forum filled with excited fans.

Hell’s impressive stage set-up and backdrop is more than you would normally expect from the first band of four but doesn’t come as a surprise to those familiar with the group. Frontman David Bower delivers a theatrical performance during which he performs exorcisms on lucky crowd members in the front row and performs self-flagellation, all whilst sporting some pretty wicked looking red contacts. The classic NWOBHM sounds that accompany this spectacle more than match up to it. Having initially formed in 1982, a series of unfortunate events meant that Hell were only able to release their debut album upon reforming in 2008, having survived in the underground tape trading scene for the intervening period. It is a great disappointment that we are only treated to five songs and are denied the devil horns and stilts seen at bloodstock earlier this year.

Bleed From Within from Glasgow are up next; they are making a habit of getting onto some fairly major billings having supported Megadeth earlier this year. Given the animosity felt by some members of the metal community towards bands of the metalcore ilk, Bleed From Within might be forgiven for approaching a show featuring Carcass with some trepidation. As it turns out, there is no sign that the group’s confidence has been affected at all. A small group of fans manage to open up a pretty sizable, if sparsely populated pit, in the centre of the room. I also saw vocalist Scott Kennedy attempt to catch his own spit at one point, which is pretty strange behaviour, but whatever works for you I guess.

Carcass come to the show having released Surgical Steel in September, the legendary group’s first album since 1996. Carcass played a pioneering role in the grindcore genre with their early works, being among the first to record anything so musically extreme at the time. They hold an influential position within melodic death metal as well due to the album Heartwork, released in 1993, which helped establish the genre alongside bands from the Swedish death metal scene. The gory themes and imagery that they put forward, a deliberate statement given their own strongly held vegan views, as well track titles full of medical terminology and sound clips about autopsies have been highly influential. Not to mention the effect of the extreme vocals or furious technicality of their guitar and drum sounds. They are clearly the main draw for many at the show given the initial response to their ‘Surgical Steel’ banner. Frustratingly the Forum’s muddy acoustics mean that Jeff Walker’s gnarled vocals are often lost behind the music but this cannot fully hold back classics like ‘The Mortal Coil’ or ‘Corporal Jigsore Quandary’ which go down a storm regardless. Carcass are more than able to live up to their legendary status.

Bad news first, the forum’s stage is too small so Amon Amarth were not able to bring their Viking longboat with them for this show. If you are unfamiliar with the Viking themed melodic death metal group, that first sentence should tell you everything you need to know. They have a long ship! Is there anyone that doesn’t think that is awesome? Even without their centrepiece, frontman Johan Hegg can still sport a comically oversized hammer for the show, as well as the standard huge backdrop pictures of Surtur, Odin and many Vikings. Some snazzy looking tombstones make an appearance during ‘Runes To My Memory’ complete with glowing runes. From the moment ‘Father Of The Wolf’ starts, pandemonium descends, with a huge backlog of unstoppable anthems and an unlimited supply of epic, ridiculous bravado, Amon Amarth deliver pure fun for the whole of their set. Urging the crowd on and chugging from drinking horns, they give the impression that they too are having a great time. Having opened with newer material from the recently released Deceiver Of The Gods album, which proves the band is still going strong, more established tracks like ‘Guardians Of Asgaard’ and ‘Destroyer Of The Universe’ provide great opportunities to sing along. As is pointed out, it doesn’t even really matter if you know the words, it’s death metal, nobody can understand you anyway. Although I doubt anyone has that problem with tunes as catchy as these. Twin guitar harmonies usually reserved for power metal acts are combined with the bite of death metal and Hegg’s signature deep growls to produce an instantly identifiable sound. There was never going to be enough time for this many great bands and sure enough when 11pm arrives it seems like everyone is left wishing for more. Fortunately Amon Amarth have been announced for this summer’s bloodstock festival so they may just have their wish granted.