Kellermensch

The chances are you are probably yet to have heard Kellermensch. Admittedly it's never going to be easy for a heavy Danish band who takes their name from Dostoyevsky's Notes From The Underground to appeal to a mainstream audience, but tonight's performance proved they deserve your attention.

There's a temptation these days to classify every band under a vague, meaningless genre, but Kellermensch are of one of the few bands who transcend genre and are genuinely unclassifiable. Yes, at heart they are a metal band, but how many metal bands make use of a violin, cello and organ? This is a band moving on from the tired cliché that has haunted the metal scene for years. This is a band which sounds like nobody else.

Quite how the stylish six-man band managed to fit onto the cramped stage at the Barfly remains a mystery, especially as they launched into their set with such relentless energy. With charismatic front man Sebastian Wolff staring into the audience as though somebody in the back row had just kicked his dog, there was something genuinely sinister yet captivating about the way they conducted themselves on stage.

An early highlight of the set was 'The Day You Walked' - a haunting funeral march that gradually built and built to a chilling and strangely euphoric climax. Better still was their brooding cover of 'Dirt In The Ground', a little known gem by Tom Waits. It's the wide range of influences, from Tom Waits to Black Flag, which make them such a fascinating proposition, both live and on record.

There was a peak in proceedings late on, as they played their single 'Army Ants', which sounds not too dissimilar to The Gaslight Anthem, with its contagious and anthemic melody. It's the sort of song that would be deemed "life affirming" if sung by the current crop of stadium bands; the kind of song that begs to be heard in arenas across the world.

The band brought the frenetic set to a close with a brutal rendition of 'Moribund Town', the pounding bassline and furious vocals left the crowd stunned – it was a frankly mesmerising finale.

There was no need for an encore tonight; there's surely no way in which they could have improved on what they just delivered. Perhaps the intimate setting of the Barfly helped the band connect with its audience tonight, but there's no denying that Kellermensch deserve to go onto bigger and better things.

Tonight Kellermensch proved to be something that few bands can honestly claim to be – vital.

FUTURE GIGS

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