Finland grindcore heroes Rotten Sound are back to playing live in London – their only UK date on this tour in promotion of new aural assault 'Abuse to Suffer'. For the first time, the four-piece are playing a venue that is not the Underworld and there is an appreciable number of attendees in the Boston Music Room in north London tonight.
Americans Abigail Williams have a varied career. Having formed in 2004, the band released their debut 'In the Shadow of a Thousand Suns' after a brief breakup in 2007. The debut boasted of a youthful hybrid between deathcore and symphonic black metal – two genres largely at odds with each other. Another breakup surfaced in 2012 but the band reunited the same year and last year saw out the release of 'The Accuser', a notably more mature atmospheric black metal release that won over those put put off by the deathcore twang in their sound. Tonight, this Wolves in the Throne Room-esque take of black metal is served up for the fans with each of the individual band members manifesting a stage presence isolated from their band mates, which suits the mood of the music. Despite the genre difference between the headliners and themselves, the audience approves of Abigail Williams although the music does get a little stale as the set unwinds, failing to provide much in the way of fresh ideas.
Grindcore is a genre of music that wastes no time in delivering a haughty fist to the face and likewise, Finland's own Rotten Sound figuratively mirror this action with their show. The doomy intro of new number 'Yellow Pain' breaks into a fully-fledged assault of untamed messy grindcore that spurs a particularly violent mosh pit in the centre of the Boston Music Room, lasting for the entire duration of their set with no signs of easing up. Short tracks feature hardcore violence, the drums' sole objective is straight-forward battery while Keijo Niinimaa's vocals are coarse, crazed and pissed off. Occasionally the punters are spared the grind vehemence with a slower doom-laden passages that allows the guitars to breathe before the tempo increases.
A sizeable chunk of the set focuses on 'Abuse to Suffer', unflinchingly bombastic grind that forces heads to bang and fists to fly. The likes of 'Lazy Asses', 'Crooked' and 'Fear of Shadows' provide a varied representation of the Finn's seventh album while older songs like 'Salvation' and 'Slay' entice the rowdier spectators to mosh to something more familiar. In spite of the compact stage, the band members are full of energy, playing while staggering and headbanging.
The conclusion of the set comes suddenly after forty minutes despite Niinimaa's countdown to the final tracks. Music this fast and aggressive rarely (if ever) succeeds in occupying a more traditional headlining duration but Rotten Sound have presented a salubrious short sharp shock, finishing off with 'Targets' and a round of thanks. The crowd remains attentive for an encore but soon enough, the band begins to pack up their equipment and the house lights begin to glow. Nonetheless, Rotten Sound's commitment to ferocity has left an impact on the attendees tonight in under an hour – an impressive way to start the week.
FUTURE GIGS
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