Adherents of old school death metal are in for a treat tonight. Reunited German death metallers Morgoth are in London for the first time since 1991 with support from America's Incantation – evidently always welcome in the capital seeing as their 2014 show sold out.
This tour is death metal veterans Incantation's 25th anniversary celebration and it is safe to say they are the primary reason for most of the attendees here tonight. The opening notes of 'Carrion Prophecy' from 2014's 'Vanquish in Vengeance' are performed with the band's backs to the audience. Doom-laded death metal riffs pound the punters while guitarist/vocalist John McEntee's brutal growls punctuate as the Americans proceed to plough through their 45 minute set. 'Shadows of the Ancient Empire' from the highly lauded 'Dirges of Elysium' has the fans cheering in celebration. The tortuous guitar leads build the song to a fantastic climax and has the audience eating out of Incantation's collective palms.
'Nefarious Warriors' makes the set, a rarity that is not on any official Incantation release and although the audience's overall lack of familiarity is visible, the song solidly stomps through the venue adorned with the band's signature sound. 'Emaciated Holy Figure' and 'The Ibex Moon' do a stellar job at representing 'Mortal Throne of Nazarene' while 'Unholy Massacre' brings debut album 'Onwards to Golgotha' to London. Surprisingly, there is an absence of the enthusiasm that the audience typically give to death metal acts in London but Incantation's set has been a true delight for their fans. Closing with 'Impending Diabolical Conquest', the quartet receives a buoyant response and thanks the attendees.
Germany's Morgoth formed in 1987 and split up in 1998 but 2010 saw the five-piece reunite. The audience has noticeably shrunk for the headliners – understandable given Incantation's larger profile in the metal macrocosm and more protracted career path. Tonight they commence their festivities with 'House of Blood' from last year's 'Ungod' album, illustrating that they still have teeth in their older years. This release is the focus of the set with the majority of the night's track listing being composed from it. 'God Is Evil', 'Snakestate' and 'Black Enemy' serve up a range of tempos and typical death metal bludgeoning, which the fans devour. However, songs from first two albums 'Cursed' and 'Odium' truly have the audience salivating with prime cuts being 'Body Count', 'Isolated' and 'Resistance'. It goes without saying the Germans do not venture into their industrial era and stick strictly to the death metal.
The band's stage presence is serviceable but the songs themselves have little variation between them, which wears down the audience somewhat and sees attention dissipate. To worsen matters, the vocals of Karsten Jäger are low in the mix and difficult to make out. Nonetheless, there is ample opportunity to headbang to their metal, which members of the crowd are eager to act on and the show is far from unwatchable.
Although Morgoth leave a little more to be desired, Incantation's set was excellent and those in attendance surely do not regret their plans for the evening. Hopefully the band will return to London soon and Morgoth have not been deterred by the smaller gathering watching them.
FUTURE GIGS
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