Live Review : Obituary + Pest Control @ Club Academy, Manchester on September 10th 2023

The template for a UK tour by a stateside metal icon is a tentpole London show and then, if we are lucky, a couple of reconnaissance trips into the provinces. Obituary have, as ever, decided not to play by the rules and since late August they have been haunting every byway and layby of this fair country. We as fans have responded to their commitment by getting out of the house and getting down in front. Obituary’s reward for commencing a 20-date plus never-ending trek around this fair country has been sold out signs across the board. This Manchester show may be at the tail end of the excursion, but Club Academy is still as full as you get on Sunday night. 

The other really interesting perspective is the demographic. Yes, there is a plethora of clientele my age who were around when the band first reared its ugly head in the late 80’s, however there is a good chunk of attendees who weren't even born (hell whose parents were probably not yet out of nappies) when “Slowly We Rot” was released. We get told endlessly the guitar music is dead, well explained that to the hordes of teenagers I saw this evening in e-Bay bought faded T-shirts.

Pest Control come from that millennial generation. They are taking an ancient art form (a.k.a crossover thrash) and make it very much their own. Essentially this is musical archaeology as their style feels ripped from that burgeoning era in the mid-80s that produced Suicidal Tendencies and DRI. What is obvious is that they are doing this for the utter love of the music. Leah has the exuberated air of someone who can’t quite believe they are being allowed to do what they're doing. She stalks the front of the stage like some possessed preacher, firing out her curdled lines with both fire and brimstone.

They are still very much a work in progress (they only came together during the first lockdown) and there are some things, such as their between-song patter and the rather abrupt ending to the set, that need to be perfected. However all in all they are a deliciously modern take on a bygone era. The groove is big and bouncy, the guitars are frantic and the whole thing is precision-engineered to make you want to throw yourself about.

Obituary have grown into their exalted slot as living legends. After having seen their star wain significantly in the nineties, there must be something comforting about enjoying such a revered afterlife. There is no great “I am” about Obituary, this is a band that are overjoyed that anybody is still listening and still prepared to put the work in (hence the hefty nature of the UK trek).

Things don’t quite go to plan in the initial stages of tonight’s performance. ‘Redneck Stomp’ is a genius opener, resplendent in its instrumental might. However, when John Tardy makes his stage entrance at the conclusion of the track he obviously steps on something as ‘Sentence Day’ is a mess of missed cues and misfiring sequences. The face of John’s brother Donald on drums screams “What the fuck was that? as they stumble through the track. There is a lot of serious faffing as whatever had come out of place is shoved back into position, but as ‘A Lesson In Vengeance’ reigns down upon us, we are back in business.

The way they deal with the technical failure is a personification of Obituary’s evergreen appeal. There are no histrionics or prima donna strops. They stop, fix it and get back to work with a minimum of fuss. Its that no-frills attitude that has served them well and goes some way to explaining why the tracks from new album “Dying of Everything” are greeted with the same furor as the, to be honest rather meager, three tracks from the first chapter of their career. They have no interest in being a nostalgia act and the way they concentrate, without apology, on post-reunion material wins over the multi-generational crowd. 

The set is short (and as said, light on anything that could be classed as classic material) but it is immaculately presented with a vim and vigor that would put younger outfits to shame. It is obvious that they are at the tail-end of the tour as everything (from guitar breaks to between-song banter) is now highly polished. But there is no sign of boredom or fatigue, everything is played with the same level of exuberance you would expect on opening night.

We, naturally, get an encore and within it get we get the evening’s two big guns. ‘I’m in Pain’ and show closer ‘Slowly we Rot’ illustrate why Death Metal felt such a revelation when it first emerged. Heavy, feral and unburdened by any of the niceties that late eighties metal seemed to be developing, it’s anti-social derision spoke to the teenage soul (including my own) like nothing else. The latter track is heading toward its thirty-fifth birthday but it still feels like the last word in vicious nihilism.

So more would have been nice and more older material would have been nicer, but to moan feels redundant as what we do get is bloody brilliant and presented with such a lust for life. A masterclass in malicious wonderfulness but can we have the advance course next time please? 

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Obituary, Pest Control