England invented heavy metal, right?

On February 8th, I was lucky enough to attend the last show of Decapitated’s first tour since 2007, when their drummer, Vitek, was killed when their tour bus collided with an oncoming vehicle. Their singer at the time, Covan, also suffered substantial head injuries, and was unable to return to the band. Their original bassist also decided to leave the band in 2008, leaving founding member, guitarist Vogg, as the only familiar face left.

I had seen the band play twice before in Toronto, and they absolutely killed it both times. I remember running into strangers in the pit both times with my brother. The crowds were totally engaged with the band on stage and we fed off of each other’s energy. Both shows took place at the Opera House which, if you don’t know, is a relatively small venue with a capacity of about five or six hundred, and where I have witnessed a plethora of amazing shows. The Foo Fighters played an exclusive show there in 2001. They only way you could get tickets was lining up at 102.1 The Edge on Yonge St a couple days before the show. When I heard the announcement after I got home after school, I raced downtown and luckily I was one of the first dozen or so people to get there. It was a terribly sweaty and in-your-face rock show. Seeing Chromeo there was the most unreal dance party ever. I was up on the balcony with my friends Devo and Suzie and everybody was just dancing. I’ll never forget looking down at the crowd and just seeing all that unbridled joy expressed through dance. Anyways…

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!

The show took place at the O2 Academy Islington. I had never been there before, so I had a little trouble finding the venue (I walked about 10 minutes in the wrong direction on my way there). I bought a ham sandwich at Sainsbury’s and got in line. The doors opened and I headed inside. This was the first time that I haven’t been frisked at the door. I don’t know if this is standard procedure but I found it quite strange. The venue was pretty small, and I’d venture to guess that you couldn’t fit more than 400 people standing. Supporting Decapitated would be Man Must Die from Glasgow, Scotland, and fellow Canucks Kataklysm. Over years that I’ve been going to shows, there have been very few opening bands that have caught my attention. Unfortunately, neither of these two acts did so. Man Must Die opened up the show to a sparsely filled room. I understand that you want the crowd pumped up for your set and those to follow but asking for a circle pit when there are 5 dudes in front of the stage probably isn’t going to get the blood flowing. Musically, the band was alright, if just a tad generic. It’s always a good thing when an opening band has some good tunes that you might want to look up on YouTube later, but it’s very difficult at metal shows when all you can hear is “This next song is called BRRRRAAGAGHAG WHGAHGA ARRRRGAGAR!!!!!!!” Kataklysm came on next, and I was a little bit intrigued to see what these guys had to offer. I’d heard a few of their tracks before and I used to have their album “Serenity In Fire” which was wasn’t bad. When I got home after the show I got on my computer and started reading some metal blogs and came across a post about Kataklysm where they were described as mediocre. I would have to agree. They’re show wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t great either. Their songs rely on simple riffs, little variation, and absurd song titles/lyrics such as “The Ambassador of Pain.” One thing that really bugged me, however, was the complete incompetence when it came to the guitar solos. I am by no means suggesting that I am a great guitar player, but I feel that when I had my band I could hold my own. I usually wouldn’t solo and I would award that duty upon our other, better guitarist Simon, and instead focus on songwriting. What I heard was from the guitarist of Kataklysm, frankly, embarrassing. If you can’t shred, don’t try. It just sounds bad. Also, a delay pedal doesn’t cover up the awfulness of your solo, it multiplies it.

At a quarter to ten, Decapitated finally took the stage. The room was packed. I was nervous to see how the three new band members could hold their own in one of the best technical death metal bands in the world. Their debut album Winds of Creation is, in my eyes, a modern classic of death metal. The album was recorded when the guitarist Vogg and drummer Vitek were only 18 and 15, respectively. I had seen videos of their new drummer Krimh online, but live shows are a very different beast than the studio. I am pleased to say that they sounded great. Not fantastic or stellar though. There was a certain tightness missing, but that most certainly will correctly itself once they play more and more shows together. One thing that bugged me was the crowd’s response. I didn’t feel the energy was there on our part. The band was certainly giving it their all, but at times the audience fell flat. Perhaps it was because it was a Monday night, but this was the band’s first tour in almost three years! I hope this isn’t an indication of what other crowds in London will be like. I have tickets to see Mastodon in two weeks!

Here’s some video that I shot and uploaded, and was featured on the blog MetalSucks.net.

I’m really excited to see what new music this band will do in the future, and I wish them all the best. They’ve had enough bad luck.