Ulcerate are one of the most interesting newer bands in the death metal scene, whom I only discovered last year. They went on a short European tour with only a single date in the Netherlands, so Nijmegen it had to be. And considering they are from New Zealand, I didn’t expect to have a second chance shortly. So regardless of all the snow and temperatures well below -15, I left for the Merleyn. Luckily it started late so the heavy traffic was not really a big issue, it took me over 2 hours to get there instead of 75 minutes it would take normally.

But when I got there, it was starting time exactly, but the first band was still sound checking; but after a short delay, it was Serotonin – a local band – that kicked off. This two man outfit plays some sort of industrial death metal with some black metal elements where the drums and bass guitar come from a drum computer and a single guitar is played manually accompanied by vocals. I never did like drum computers much, especially with blast beats and this time it was a bit so-so as well. Not really interesting, but not too bad either. The tour support slot came from the French Svart Crown who play a kind of fast death metal with some black metal influences. Technically a very apt band, and not all that bad, although they didn’t seem to be able to warm up the crowd (which would have been nice, as it was _cold_ inside as well). I just might check them out on CD some times as well.

Then finally there was Ulcerate that got to play, over half an hour later than planned. Man that band is _brutal_ and _fast_. The vaguely remind me of Gorguts at the time of Obscura, with music that is full of dissonant chords with a very high pace, but slows down to keep it interesting. Even though the music quite hard to digest and rather complex it was performed excellently, but the needed concentration probably limits their ability to have a strong stage presence. A varied set covered all three albums with a little focus on their latest album. So an excellent gig albeit a little short and definitely it was worth driving through the bad conditions. Hopefully they’ll return to Europe again soon.