The first band on were Shadowsland, but sadly I missed them, as I was still at home, waiting for some cookies to come out of the oven. Don’t worry, the proceedings get more metal from here on in. I arrived just after they finished, and in time to see off a couple of pints before Spawn Of Possession took the stage. This was SoP’s first UK show, and was meant to be in support of their new album, however delays meant that they’re on tour without it. They opened with a new track, quashing any doubts that they might have lost some of their technical, brutal edge. Things sound promising for their second release, but when they unleashed ‘Swarm Of The Formless’ the thinly packed audience came to life. It was clear from a brief look at the crowd who owned the debut album Cabinet, or not. See, Spawn Of Possession are near impossible to headbang to, unless you’ve learned the breaks and choppy time changes. It’s pleasing to see such a relatively unknown death metal band get a response from the normally fussy Brighton crowd. Another new song followed, and the band then marched onto the imaginatively titled ‘Spawn Of Possession’, a firm fan favourite, with a growl-along-chorus. It’s at a time like this that I remember that I need to practice windmilling if I want to keep up to speed with riffs like those. SoP sounded dominant, with only the kick drums not coming through clear enough for my liking. Atleast the guitars sounded masterful. Another new track, ‘Lash by lash’ was followed by another old one, ‘Hidden In Flesh’, before the band closed with a fresh, slightly down tempo offering, sharply followed by the intense ‘Church Of Deviance’. All pretence of keeping in time was lost and mad hair-thrashing ensued. Spawn Of Possession seemed pleased with the response and left the stage to a decent applause.

Ok, I’m going to have a rant about the crowd at some point, so I might as well get it out of the way. Brighton death metal shows can sell well at times, and can be excellent. This gig did not sell awfully well, most likley owing to the £12 tickets, essentially London prices. Even so, half of the people who turned up seemed not to give a shit about the bands playing. I wouldn’t consider myself a Hate Eternal fan, but I’d like to see more of these types of bands down here, so I like to show support, and enjoy myself at the gigs. It’s quite disheartening to stand at the front of the stage, before a band like Hate Eternal with two other people headbanging, and everyone else backed off like they’re scared that enjoying satanic songs will get them a scolding from a nun, or something. Anyway, I digress. Hate Eternal came out on tour in absence of drummer Derek Roddy, after he left citing some piss poor reasons, and leaving his bandmates in the lurch. Reno Kiilerich, ex-Panzerchrist kit-man fills his stool, and sounded impressive. Erik Rutan made an imposing figure, pointy guitar and all, and sound checked with a brief Morbid Angel riff. Safe to say that I was paying attention at this point, as the band launched into their opening effort, possibly ‘Two Demons’ from new album, I, Monarch, but Rutan’s indecipherable mic skills left me wondering. Regardless, the sound was more crisp than for SoP, the drums sounding punishing, and the bass coming through strongly. However the man behind the bass, Randy Piro, looked less than pleased with the crowd response. I could only sympathise and tried desperately to pick out a rhythm to nod too. Fortunately, a couple of songs in, Hate Eternal unleashed some windmill friendly riffs, and I joined in with gay abandon (no Brighton jokes, thanks). At that point I began to wonder why apparently only four people appeared to be enjoying the set, since Hate Eternal were much better live than I found them on CD. Internet single ‘Behold Judas’ was furiously lashed onto the crowd, and was the only track that I actually knew. The band sounded impressive, and Rutan’s guitar skills were jaw-dropping, even in light of the earlier tech-fest that was Spawn Of Possession. Forgetting about the lack of crowd interest/lack of crowd became order of the day, and those few who cared seemed to love the personal atmosphere of the show, and revelled in a shower of fine death metal ruin. The Hate Eternal boys closed up with a track from their debut, Conquering The Throne, and cemented an evening of high quality performance. Although I went to see Spawn, I’d say Hate Eternal share the spoils, because their live show was impressive enough to make me dig out their promo again, after returning home and finishing off those cookies.

:twisted :twisted :twisted :twisted out of 5
Spawn Of Possession website
Hate Eternal website