Where: Orto Bar, Ljubljana, Slovenia
When: Sunday, 15 Dec 2019
2019 is drawing to a close, and the touring season is winding down with it. Only a handful of bands are still out on the road. Among those final runs was the Trek Tech tour, headlined by Canadian extremists Archspire. Canada’s Beneath The Massacre also returned to the stage after a long absence. Before them, South African slamming deathcore merchants Vulvodynia flew the flag for the genre. And warming things up were American technical death metallers Inferi. In short, for fans of extreme and technical music, this show was absolutely mandatory.
Judging by the crowd already waiting outside before doors, the concert was shaping up to be something special. Archspire have built up a massive following over the past few years. Last year, as a support act, they drew more people to the front than main support Revocation did (full report HERE). This time around, Archspire were rightfully the headliners. The band genuinely stands apart from the rest of today’s extreme acts with their style, and they have a well-earned reputation for being incredibly hard-working.
The surprise of the evening was, without question, Americans Inferi. Not exactly an unknown band, but this was their first time playing Europe, which meant plenty of people in the room had no idea what to expect. Clearly Inferi’s style pulls people in, because a solid crowd had already gathered by the time they hit the stage — they definitely weren’t playing to ten people. The band has a handful of albums under their belt, but as the first support act they didn’t have much time, squeezing in just five songs. With those five, Inferi absolutely delivered. The band deals in technical death metal with a generous helping of melody. The guitars are fast and precise, the solos are downright virtuosic. There’s a hint of The Black Dahlia Murder in there, but Inferi push the technical demands considerably further. The shrieked vocals meshed perfectly with the guitarist’s deep growl, and the rhythm section was on fire throughout. The bassist got to show off some of his lines, though unfortunately he was a bit buried in the mix. The drummer, meanwhile, nailed it — fast, precise, locked in. As a unit, Inferi work, and live they are absolutely worth catching.
Next up were South African slamming death metal/deathcore act Vulvodynia, who were arguably the weak link on this tour. The band lives and dies by slow riffs — mostly just “chug chug” from the guitars. There’s not much of a sense that the band has a particularly vivid imagination. The vocal style is the standard slam unintelligibility, which does add a certain brutality to the whole thing, but at that point the lyrics become complete gibberish. Despite the lack of originality, the crowd — visibly moving in the front rows — gave the band a warm reception. Vulvodynia prove with their no-frills approach that you don’t need to reinvent the wheel or go to music school to get people moving. Their recipe is simple: no rhythmic gymnastics, no demanding guitar wizardry. They said what they had to say very plainly — although after two songs it all starts to feel a bit dry, since there’s nothing new to grab onto.
With Beneath The Massacre, there was an initial question hanging in the air: could a band returning after roughly eight years away still convince? Because Beneath The Massacre are known for music that is both brutal and technically demanding. Turns out they never really put their instruments down. The performance was surgically precise. And we’re not talking about the simple playing style of Vulvodynia — Beneath The Massacre showed that they still rank among the leading names in brutal technical death metal. The band also announced a new album, Fearmonger, for the following year, which only confirmed their renewed momentum. With one new track in the set, Beneath The Massacre made it clear they haven’t budged an inch from their principles. The band still runs on Elliot Desgagnés’ deep growl, Chris Bradley’s guitar antics — including the odd sharp atonality thrown in for good measure — and Dennis Bradley’s thunderous bass holding it all together. Behind the kit dominated the experienced Patrice Hamelin (Gorguts, Martyr), who is always the ideal choice — capable of playing fast without ever sacrificing precision. Based on this performance, it’s safe to say Beneath The Massacre are very much still in the game.
Archspire returned this time as the headliner — undeniably a peak achievement for a band widely regarded as one of the fastest in metal. Even the vocalist had “350 BPM” printed on the back of his shirt. But what makes Archspire special isn’t just the speed — it’s the show. Everything is executed with pinpoint accuracy, and there’s no point even trying to put the speed into words. It’s not just the guitars and drums that are fast. Vocalist Oli Peters delivers his lines at warp speed too, pulling off what sounds like hyper-speed hip hop flows, except with a full-on growl. For this tour, Archspire chose to play their most recent album Relentless Mutation in its entirety — released in 2017, it’s their most successful record, so the decision makes complete sense. The set wasn’t long, but it was relentlessly intense. Not a single song showed any sign of letting up. Drummer Spencer Prewett was blasting all over the place and breaking speed records on the kick pedals. Guitarists Dean Lamb and Tobi Morelli ran their fingers off churning out one technically demanding riff after another, with solos naturally peppered throughout. Bassist Jared Smith wove it all together with his bass lines. But without Oli Peters’ moments of humor, an Archspire show would just be another brutal band’s night out. There’s something about Archspire — a certain quality — that draws a bigger crowd, and you can feel exactly why.
Archspire, Beneath The Massacre, Vulvodynia, and Inferi made sure 2019 went out with one last concert packed with brutality, technicality, punch, and melody. A genuinely varied night for fans of this kind of music.
