It is festival time again. Many bands will tour a large number of festivals during the summer, and sometimes they squeeze in some club dates as well. And suffocation did so. The original support would by Profanity but they had to cancel due to illness. The club added a last minute support act to the bill. The venue was quite full, which also means that it was hot inside.

That was the opening act of this evening, namely Devoured Elysium. This is rather chaotic, and fast death grind, often more grind than metal. And had nothing to do with the old school death metal sound that they said to enjoy. They lack a bass player and have only one guitarist, hence the sound is quite thin. Nevertheless these three guys are quite frantic, yet all the songs sound quite similar. Some improvement to the songwriting would make it more memorable. The Deicide cover was unnecessary and rather different from their own style.

The second support act was Sinister Neocaesar, which is comprised of only ex-Sinister members. They play a lot live these days so it is hard not to see them. I saw them a few months ago with Vader. Each time I see them they sound better. This is the successor to Sinister’s Hate. Instrumentals aside, they played all the songs of their debut album. And actually they are really good.

Then Suffocation. A band that can’t really let down. They are fast, brutal and tight, as expected. Yet it is always a question who is singing. This time they brought Ricky Meyers again. I preferred the singer they brought last year. Thought of course Frank is the real Suffocation singer. The set was comprised largely of older material, from before the split in 1998. Songs such as Breeding the Spawn and Infecting the Crypts are stunning then, and are still now. I was hoping to hear a tune from Souls to Deny, but they only played a couple of songs from the latest album, and Entrails of You as the first encore. Jesus Wept is a less played tune, that closed the set. Great gig.