It’s the first slam gig of 2026 and it just so happens to be a sellout with a cracking lineup. You can’t ask for a better start to the New Year. It’s bitterly cold outside (but miraculously free from the snow plaguing the rest of the country) and the tiny alleyway where Aatma is located is absolutely jam-packed full of punters ready to get in from the cold and have some seriously heavy music blasted at them. Perfect.
Opening the show is Prestonian one-man slam project Erectomy, who has built up quite the reputation in less than a year on the scene, having made his live debut only a few months ago. That reputation is violently evident tonight as he has the crowd moving mere minutes after doors open with an aggressively groovy set full of bass drops. Erectomy is one to watch in the slam scene for 2026.
East Midlands-based slam/beatdown crew .300 Blackout are up next, bringing a combo of good-natured crowdkillers and two-steppers to life. Their energy is infectious, the tunes seriously heavy, with their live material taken from their 2025 EP Lifeloss being enthusiastically received by the crowd.
Another newbie on the scene, 12 Gauge Autopsy smash the place apart in their very short set. A mix of their tiny back catalogue, a Waking The Cadaver cover and even a brand new track has the audience revved up, with the vocalist himself crowdkilling the audience at the end of their set. They only released their first EP in October but it’s clear the crowd is excited to see more from these guys.
Hartlepool’s finest Rumination start their set with the instrumental music from the film Braveheart, a strange choice but somehow it works. They have a more brutal death metal sounding vibe compared to the previous slam onslaught and the crowd knows it. Suddenly the hardcore dancing all but disappears and headbanging and circle pits fill the small venue instead. Their riffs are super-groovy in places, fast-paced in others, and the audience absolutely loves them.
Manchester’s own slamming brutal death four-piece Coprocephalic Mutation are the penultimate band this evening. Having been a fixture of the Slamchester scene since 2017, the crowd is rabid for them, heaving and sweating, with bodies flying as far as the bar at the back of the room. Teasing the audience with the first few bars of a Waking The Cadaver cover on one hand, but giving them a cover of Infant Annihilator’s ‘Babykiller’ instead (with added loud calls for violence from their guitarist), these guys know how to engage an audience. It’s always a fun and brutally heavy time watching them.
The two-man violent slam .357 Homicide are tonight’s headliners and they start off by immediately thanking the crowd for selling out their very first show of the year. Despite only having two members, their sound is huge, with their contrasting styles of vocals (“Crocs, frogs and crickets” vs gutturals) avoiding any hint of vocal monotony, and the ‘caveman slam’ riffs just hitting right against the blastbeats and the breakdowns. Despite only being on the scene since 2020 they are prolific music-makers and draw tracks from multiple releases but mainly concentrate on their newest release Cremating the Dismembered, which is no problem for the audience as it’s easily their strongest release to date. For a two-man group from the North of England they are a prime example of the direction modern-day slam is taking. Ending the set with the rare sight of drummer Jake taking to front-of-stage vocals for a few minutes, to which the crowd goes absolutely mental, the audience leaves Aatma to be greeted by freezing cold winter air and ringing ears.
Photos by Andrew Campbell.