For various reasons, I had yet to see Decapitated live despite trying since 2012 on the Carnival Is Forever Tour but finally being able to experience their live set with such a stacked bill was a rewarding experience and one that any self-respecting death metal fan should witness first hand.
Decapitated are regular visitors to the UK but this particular outing was special. Decapitated opted to play what is widely considered one of the greatest death metal albums of all time in its entirety, Nihility. Ever since its announcement, this tour featuring Obscura, Inferi and The Materia, has been highly anticipated and it delivered a ridiculous amount of blazing hostility and blistering musicianship.
The Materia was first and their breed of atmospheric death metal was full of Meshuggah influence in the best way possible. The groove always seemed like the priority in their songs and having listened to their album Darklander, it’s clear they have a lot to offer in the future.
Their set was made up of heavier tracks like ‘Rain’ and ‘B-17’ but their back catalogue offers a wealth of progressive and diverse tracks and hopefully they will be back in the near future for a headline show. They are definitely a band to keep an eye on in the near future.
Inferi were next and while they were still a formidable force on stage with their melodic death metal style riffing working in tandem with the breakneck blast beats and frontman Stevie Boiser’s demonic vocals, bassist Andrew Kim’s presence was missed.
The playback was more than likely a recording of Kim but having toured incessantly and having just joined Brand of Sacrifice, his absence is understandable and even made the rest of the band amp up the intensity to make up for it.
Inferi are an overwhelming barrage of devastating complexity and it’s understandable if you consider it all too much but it’s hard to deny the immense skill on display. The scream at the start of ‘Behold The Bearer Of Light’ reached unthinkable heights and genuinely needs to be seen to be believed.
Obscura were next and despite playing in a small venue, their ominous choir intro and harmonised guitar lines were gigantic and led into ‘Forsaken,’ a hulking 7-minute epic complete with awe-inspiring string skipping riffs full of complicated and strange chords as well as intimidating sweep picking. A portion of this was done by vocalist Steffan Kummerer which is all the more impressive considering how intricate the lyrics are on their own.
Obscura are a band that has had many lineup changes over the years but one of the most exciting aspects of this show is the triumphant return of Christian Muezner. Steffan introduced Akroasis by saying “All eyes on this man in my right“ knowing that some of the most insane guitar work ever committed was about to come from Christian over the next few minutes and even though there were some slight differences from the record, it was still a masterful sight to behold.
Obscura appearances in Manchester have been rare with their last appearance being in 2019 on the Diluvium tour. It’s always a momentous occasion to hear tracks like the crushing Morbid Angel-inspired steamroller of ‘Ocean Gateways’ or the preposterously fast and complex finger-breaking riffing on ‘Anti Cosmic Overload’. Perhaps Obscura will return with a headline show in the near future but in the meantime, it was amazing to have seen so many flawless musicians in their element.
Decapitated were next and with no hesitation, they launched straight into the Nihility set beginning with ‘Perfect Dehumanisation (The Answer?)’ and it’s instantly clear how much power is on stage. The breakneck tremolo picking and near-impossible harmonised guitar riffing from Vogg and the blast beats from James Stewart, their most recent addition on drums, shows a band that is operating at the peak of their musical ability.
James Stewart plays Vitek’s parts perfectly and manages to pull off some incredibly difficult passages and solos on tracks like ‘Eternity Too Short’ and the breakneck ‘Symmetry of Zero’ which feature intricate lighting cues and make these sections a momentous event to more than just the drummers in the venue.
Vocalist Rasta has been with Decapitated for almost 15 years and his screams still sound as devastating and brutal as ever and that’s best exemplified on ‘Mother War,’ an iconic track in the Decapitated back catalogue. Full of stop-and-start riffing and rhythmic weirdness that gives it an almost Meshuggah feeling without sacrificing that heart of pure death metal.
‘Spheres of Madness’ is a unique track, it feels reserved, easily digestible with melodies that are easy to follow and even sing along to, but it still has its eir of punishing difficulty that requires a great deal of technical proficiency to replicate. It’s a masterpiece of a song and there’s a reason why it’s been on the setlist for almost every Decapitated tour since its release.
The Nihility set ended with a cover of Napalm Death’s ‘Suffer the Children,’ a landmark extreme metal track that shows off a more punk-influenced side of Decapitated without sacrificing any of that death metal charm that made them a staple of the genre. Vogg’s guitar tone on the breakdown could be one of the most crushing and abrasive experiences I’ve had live this year.
Nihility is arguably one of the most important death metal releases of the early 2000s and it’s easy to see why. Tracks like ‘Nihility’ and ‘Babylon’s Pride’ sound like they could be released today with very few changes and they would still sound modern and cutting edge. Modern technical death metal owes a lot to Decapitated and even their modern material, which made up the latter part of their set, is still unique and interesting.
Personal highlights include the two tracks from Organic Hallucinosis, a masterclass of blending rhythm with extreme intensity. ‘Day 69’ and ‘Post (?) Organic’ features an air-tight rhythm section despite playing through some intense and complex riffing but that just speaks to how advanced they were as musicians and songwriters despite being minors when Decapitated first formed.
Tracks like ‘No Cure’ and ‘Just a Cigarette’ give a clear indication of where Decapitated is now and the contrast between these songs and the Nihility set shows that the same Decapitated DNA is present and that pure death metal still runs deep in their veins.
The final song of the night, ‘Iconoclasm,’ was dedicated to Vitek. Any self-respecting fan of death metal knows that Nihility features some of the best drumming in the genre due to Vitek’s phenomenal ability as a musician and this show makes his drumming the star of the show.
While Vitek may no longer be with us, his influence is felt throughout the entire spectrum of extreme metal and his work continues to inspire and influence not only Decapitated but aspiring musicians everywhere. It’s important to appreciate everything he gave us as death metal fans and continues to give through his influence.
