On this here cold Monday night, Manchester Rebellion was treated to a night of the extreme, a strong, 4 band bill, topped by Co-Headliners, industry veterans, Krisiun & Nile. 

Tasked with opening the evenings proceedings was Death Metal band, Decrepid. After what appeared to be a nervous start for the band, they soon settled in after receiving a warm reception for the, at the minute, pretty sparse audience, and were therefore able to open up a bit more. Whilst no ways innovating the death metal genre, Decrepid instead presented themselves as being a love letter to the genre, encompassing a wide array of techniques that would be commonly associated with this particular section of our world. It was this idea that they were paying homage to their heroes that resonated with myself and the audience in front of them. You could see how much they loved what they played with their vocalist taking the time during long instrumental sections to just headbang along with those in attendance. Musically, the band were also decent. They weren’t the tightest or most technically sound band I've ever seen however, it would be a disservice to take away from them their acumen when it comes to being able to structure complete, transparent, Death Metal.  

Second Band of the night, placed just before the two co-headliners, In Element was a strange one. They were quite clearly the lighter of the 4 bands, choosing not to rely on blast beats and death growls but instead offered more melodic vocals, with a heavy-ish twist that mean they didn’t look out of place on the evenings bill. In Element was a hard one to call for me, some points were fantastic, some points not so much. In between songs, industrial like samples played out over the PA to act as an introduction to their next song, and it was here that I thought “maybe they incorporated this style of music into their actual songs” which would’ve absolutely been up my street. Unfortunately however, this was not the case, and their actual back-catalogue was instead that of a bit more generic form of melodic death metal. What they did play however was not offensive, not terrible, just safe. The band were clearly passionate about their performance and offered a great energy on the stage, that the crowd at Rebellion took too from the off. Even their cover of In ‘The Air Tonight’ by Phil Collins seemed mightily impressive and was one of the few moments of the set in which they effectively incorporated the aforementioned touches of industrial music into their sound. If they had used this niche a lot more I would have taken to this set a bit more, but it instead was a mere teaser of the band they could be, which when transposed into a live sound, just wasn’t there. 

Tonights first Co-Headliner, the mighty Krisiun, are no strangers to a live performance. They have been going for nearly 30 years and are probably up there with the more recognizable Brazilian Metal Bands. Speaking to their Drummer before the set (interview here), it is clear that they are 3 guys who are utterly devout to their music, and the passion and intensity I got from this interview reflected this on stage, as it was 60 minutes of pure, unadulterated Extreme Metal Goodness. Each band member was performing like their lives depended on it, and between songs, you could see how much it meant to them. They came across as 3 extremely likeable guys however, its not just about this, but also the music. Krisiun know how to play, after 30 years you would expect them to be virtuoso’s at their respective instruments and this is clear in spades watching them play.  

Drummer, Max Kolsene proved himself to be an absolute juggernaut behind the kit, performing tight, technical blast beats for the full 60 minute set whilst rarely missing a beat, his performance on the double bass drum was especially admirable as it seemed like he never had a single moment in which that kick drum wasn’t providing the template for the rest of the band to play over. Vocally, Alex Camargo, who is also their bassist, managed to work his way around the neck of his bass, playing truly innovative patterns to complement the guitar work of guitarist, Moyses Kolsene, whilst still being able to provide some extremely impressive vocals simultaneously. All in all, I'd say this was a triumph for Krisiun. They managed to find a fan out of someone who is admittedly hard to impress when it comes to this style of music. 

I’ll get the elephant in the room out of the way off the bat when it comes to Nile’s performance, this seemed like a difficult night for the 4 piece. Power issues meant that, what appeared to be their backing tracks, stopped working, so they instead had to ad-lib a setlist on the night and plough their way through 70 minutes of material, so not to let their fans down. In between songs, Guitarist and Vocalist Karl played the role of electrician, making trips behind the backline to see if he can salvage anything from the equipment that lay behind there. This led to a real stop, start, stop start feel to the night, as they spent a bit more time deciding between them what song would be best to play next. This admittedly killed the energy that was built during their playing, and what an energy it was. When the music was in full swing, I thought it was fantastic. Their music has such a depth and power that it turned the tiny Manchester Rebellion into almost like an ampitheatre, especially when their mightily impressive group vocals added such a camaraderie and epic sound to their noise. Nile are a band whos lyrics are rooted in egyptology and the history of the Middle East and when they utilised these group vocals, it conjured up a noise so epic that it was worthy of Anubis’s approval.  

A huge mention must be made to stand in bassist Julian Guillen, who provided an exuberant energy to help rile up the already hellacious Rebellion crowd. He covered almost every inch of his space on the stage, throwing his arms about, providing some insane vocal depth on the aforementioned group vocals and was just the all-round ringleader of the night for Nile. Despite the technical hiccups that tainted their set, tonight can be seen as nothing but an achievement for Nile. They shown absolute professionalism in the face of adversity, where most bands may have just thrown in the towel, an insanely admirable feat. When the music was going, it was tremendous and I found myself at multiple times with a smile on my face just thinking “Fuck Yeah, how good are this band”. Nile have a gargantuan 37 date tour over the next month or so, if you’re reading this and find out they’re coming to a city near you, do yourself a favour and check them out. You will not regret it. 

Interview with Karl Sanders of Nile

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos! Nile, Krisiun, in Element, Decrepid