Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Location: Orto bar / Ljubljana
Concert date: October 30, 2017
The club gig season is in full swing, and it has brought us the first brutal package of the fall, headlined by old friends of our stages, the mighty Dying Fetus, who are using this tour and their new album to remind everyone that they are not to be fucked with. The Americans brought along a trio of interesting support acts, so with the holidays and days off it was to be expected that the show would be well attended, but this time the turnout surprised even the organizers. It had simply never happened before that the line to get into Orto stretched out the door all the way to the loading ramp, or that the hall was jam-packed from the very first note, and at a relatively early eight o’clock, no less!
Because of that unexpected line, I sadly caught only the last two songs from Disentomb, but at least I got to hear something. The Australians served up a textbook lesson in hard-hitting brutal death metal with plenty of slam elements, delivering a merciless blast of quality death metal from the get-go, with brutal growling and a hurricane of an instrumental performance. Definitely a band worth checking out in full the next time they swing by here or somewhere nearby.
When a Canadian death metal band takes the stage, it’s almost 100 percent certain the word “technical” will come before it, since it’s well known that Quebec and Montreal in particular are a breeding ground for countless top-notch bands working in the genre with that prefix. Technical death metal maniacs Beyond Creation are without a doubt among them, and this time they played here for the third time in a little over a year. Even though their latest record Earthborn Evolution is already celebrating three years of existence, catching the Canadians live is a real treat every single time. In forty minutes the Montrealers once again wove a tornado of complex death metal stuffed with hundreds of riffs, simultaneously tapped solos and arpeggios that make your eyes bulge, wowed with top-level, flawless tightness, and surprised with the title track of their debut The Aura, which they hadn’t played in years. Outstanding, but it’ll soon be time for them to lock themselves in the studio again.
From cold Canada, Tasmanian devils Psycroptic moved Orto to the other end of the world. They used to be a fixture on our stages years ago, but lately their visits have been pretty rare, so it was all the nicer to see them as part of this tour package. Brothers Dave (drums) and Joe (guitar) Haley have led Psycroptic since 1999, and despite the geographic distance they’ve (be)come one of the most recognizable technical death metal bands out there. Their set was mostly about excellent stage energy (probably thanks in part to the jam-packed hall and the active crowd), an outstanding instrumental performance, and a varied, ferocious vocal that fit this time like a koala on a eucalyptus. Psycroptic again focused only on their later work, meaning albums from 2008 onward, which is a shame, since next to The Colour of Sleep they could easily have thrown in another little goodie from The Scepter of the Ancients, but you can’t have it all.
Given how often Dying Fetus visit us, I didn’t expect even in my wildest dreams worst nightmares that they’d manage to fill Orto to the last corner, but that’s exactly what happened, and the legendary Americans, riding the wings of a great crowd, played one of the best death metal shows in recent memory. Though the trio haven’t been reinventing the wheel for a long time now, the brand-new album Wrong One to Fuck With, despite its juvenile title, is a solid punch of quality, consistent death metal, which is honestly more than we even expected from Dying Fetus. They didn’t overcomplicate things and charged mercilessly through an hour-long setlist that held no major surprises, but the Americans once again proved that with just three standard instruments death metal can sound mighty, crushing and refreshing, because the trio ground up the crowd like a meat grinder from start to finish. The band’s top-notch technical chops were topped off by John Gallagher with his well-preserved vocals, and by Trey Williams and Sean Beasley with a sick rhythm section. Dying Fetus lived up to the high expectations and confirmed that, despite the frequent visits, it’s great to see and hear them every time. The only criticism goes to the song selection, which is pretty overchewed and could really use a serious airing-out. Still, the title track of the new album sounded great live, followed by the cult double punch of Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses) and the anthemic Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog. What a start to the concert fall!
Setlist
BEYOND CREATION:
1. Omnipresent Perception
2. L’exorde
3. Earthborn Evolution
4. Neurotical Transmissions
5. The Aura
6. Fundamental Process
DYING FETUS:
1. From Womb to Waste
2. Fixated in Devastation
3. Grotesque Impalement
4. Induce Terror
5. Your Treachery Will Die With You
6. One Shot, One Kill
7. Subjected to a Beating
8. Invert the Idols
9. Seething With Disdain
10. In the Trenches
11. Wrong One to Fuck With
12. Praise the Lord (Opium of the Masses)
13. Kill Your Mother, Rape Your Dog
Photo Gallery
