By Jase Walker
A weather update in the Netherlands is that we are finally back in the comfort zone of wet and windy as October gets things started. It doesn’t matter for me, though, as I’m over in Utrecht for a night of pure mayhem and blastbeats thanks to an insane tour package headed by Shadow Of Intent. In addition to this are Aborted, Disembodied Tyrant and Soreption. A truly delicious selection for a person who likes blastbeats and screaming.
We get into the venue and after some yapping about whatever bollocks we needed to get out of our system on a Friday night, Soreption get themselves started. Admittedly I think the start suffers a little bit from being mixed down in volume as they don’t quite have the punch I would have expected from a tech death show like this.
To give them credit though, they’re tight as fuck. Their drummer hasn’t stopped hitting those bass pedals for almost their entire set, it’s been consistent to a real absurd level. I think I’ve got an idea for how this might be going to go and I’m going to spend a lot of time purely nerding out on the unreal technical ability of every member of every band.
Soreption have got the stage set for this and seeing each song filled with insane technical prowess executed flawlessly is amazing. I really just wish they were a bit louder and had a bit more meat to their sound, I genuinely think they were robbed of that. Either way I’m definitely keen on seeing these again, just hopefully at a level that feels like it’s going to blow my ear drums out.
Disembodied Tyrant get themselves started and the singer remarks that he’s sick as fuck, it’s the second to last show of the tour and it happens but you wouldn’t think it considering he’s already going at it hard as fuck. Their other guitarist seems to be filling in a bit at least so let’s have it.
The change in the level of volume is absolutely bonkers though: Disembodied Tyrant are loud as hell and absolutely blowing my face off right from the start. This is exactly what I was hoping for with my first experience with these! The symphonic elements go so unbelievably hard alongside some of the most face-melting riffing I’ve heard in ages, the moshpit going wild in the middle clearly agrees!
Genuinely I am in awe of this show. I was bummed I missed these guys the last time they came through but good god this more than makes up for it. Genuinely this set has been totally ridiculous in the best way, Disembodied Tyrant have truly left nothing but scorched earth in their wake. If you want a master class on how to absolutely destroy a support slot then this is it. Incredible sound and presence throughout and despite the singer saying he felt like death at the start of the show you wouldn’t know it otherwise. Truly bonkers.
Aborted gets started and the singer starts talking and I’m weirdly in a “I should understand this” moment because I know Dutch but didn’t get what he was saying, turns out they’re Belgian and I didn’t know, whoops. Anyway, more about the music, it’s time for disgusting toilet noises accompanied by blast beats, lovely. There’s always something incredibly relentless about Aborted’s approach to live sets, whether it’s the constant onslaught of riffs or ceaseless blast beats it just doesn’t end for the entire show.
A small breather between songs is a brief respite but it’s non-stop for the whole set. Their singer takes a moment to take the piss of their mum for a bit and get the crowd on side for doing squats (?) after the circle pit action. A mixed response but I don’t think I’ve heard “Time for sports!” used as a crowd call before so that’s amusing nonetheless. We’re not stopping with the weird calls, apparently an Arnie “eeiigh!” also works as a “please kill each other in the pit” shout as well.
Crowd surfers, mosh pits, we’ve got the whole thing going. Aborted shows pop off and watching them in action is always something I love seeing, it’s amazing! Ridiculous amounts of fun and it’s been another fantastic showing of that. Tech death at its most and also least serious, watch a band smash some riffs and lose your mind, excellent combo. Finally nothing says death metal quite like finishing a set using Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’ to see it out eh?
Finally, Shadow Of Intent get their show started and what an intro it is, orchestral parts and big riffs just what you’d expect. Good god their singer sounds fucking disgusting, there’s seldom many singers that can switch so effortlessly between different gutturals but he does it without any difficulty.
I think I’ve just spent most of the opening salvo in awe of their singers vocals, the guy’s always been super impressive but with the newest material under their belt and seeing it done flawlessly live is quite something. It’s unlike their support acts that have wielded the double bass pedal like a blunt instrument, it’s far more intricate than that. It’s relentless but with a different take, utilising their symphonic elements to carry it harder while delivering blistering riffs and absolutely disgusting gutturals.
I would go as far to say that Shadow Of Intent are fully a spectacle right now. Seeing how hard their crowds go whether it’s mosh pits spinning around like their lives depend on it or the sheer amount of crowd surfers I see going over the top of everyone. The amount of energy their music provokes out of people is dizzying, there’s no end to it.
Even when the band moves to an instrumental moment to help close the set out, everyone here still understands what the assignment is. You have over a thousand metalheads here that all just want to surrender to the riff and lose their fucking minds at the metal show. There’s no other option here.
Shadow Of Intent smash out the type of performance that I can only describe as witnessing. I’ve seen them a few times now and they’ve got this sort of thing down to an art form. What better way to spend a Friday night seeing some of the best tech death bands around right now melt your face off? Incredible tour package and show.
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