A weekend to make your ears bleed!

I was hoping to do a detailed blog post (possibly two!?) dedicated to last weekends unbelieveable gig with Atrax Mantis, Abysmal Torment, Slave Zero and Sanatorium in the the Zoo Club on Saturday and Sunday, but with a huge list of college assignments and work to do I’ll have to settle for a recap on the heaviest gig EVER in Kilkenny!

I hit the Zoo Club early on Saturday evening and entered the calm before the storm; Eddie, John and Bob from Slave Zero were setting up their gear, the rest of the lads were eating, the guitarist from Abysmal Torment was fast asleep on the couch (a welcome break from sleeping in a car as they tour Europe), Sanatorium were setting up a huge merchandise stall in the front, and the lads from Atrax Mantis were out the back taking abuse for some new drastic haircuts.

It wasn’t long before sound checks were finished and the doors opened, the crowd gathered, I heard several conversations containing the sentence “I can’t believe Sanatorium are playing the Zoo!” and the lights went down.

Atrax Mantis were up first. A different band from the last gig I witnessed, they were taking this gig seriously and were completely sober. Their set was tight, they continue to go from strength to strength and get better every time I see them. They pummeled through ‘Condemned to Hatred’, ‘The Ropes End’, ‘Devoured’, “Cower in Fear’ and finished up with a new song.

I’ve shot Atrax Mantis several times at this stage, so I spent their set trying out some new techniques; setting the shutter on manual, letting the flash go off, then crash zooming and closing the shutter. Some of the shots turned out damn cool but I’ve yet to perfect it.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard anything quite like Abysmal Torment. From the very first note the guitarist, bassist and two vocalists leaned over so far their heads were practically hitting the floor. They moshed throughout their set in these spine breaking poses. Their set was nothing short of furious, as they viciously arched themselves. During their 2nd song they all came off the stage to fill the space at the front.

With two vocalists it meant there was a consistent growl or roar throughout, one vocalists always picking up where the other left off. Between this and the drums (which were brilliant) it was hard to even hear the guitar or bass. But they were there, I could at least see them twisting their vertebrae on the stage. During the last song, one of the singers caught an accidental headbutt from somebody in the crowd. I’m not sure if his nose was broken but it bled for the next two hours.

Slave Zero had a tough act to follow, but they were well up for it. Starting with a new song, ‘Antidote to Suffering’, it wasn’t till their 2nd song ‘Soul of Ruin’ that they really got going. They were clearly having a great time on stage as they blasted through ‘I Fear for You’, ‘Sacrifice for the Greater Good’, and the ‘Pain Remits’. I lost my pen after that, so the note taking went out the window.

The lights went down completely as Sanatorium began their set, which I could only describe as brutal (in the best way, the metal way!). The crowd roared for ‘Fetus Rape’ which the band happily played next. This is their first tour of Ireland and judging by the amount of people wearing Sanatorium hoodies and t-shirts, people have been waiting for them. Sanatorium are exactly as their t-shirts state ‘brutal guttural sickness’ and the dedicated crowd loved every minute of their set.

When it was all over the lights came back up. No need to pack up the gear because of the all ages gig tomorrow so all the bands and crowd sat down, talked and drank. I left the Zoo as everyone headed to an after gig party, but I was going home to bed.

Sunday morning came too quickly. I met Slave Zero walking towards the Zoo that afternoon, a small crowd starting to form outside. The gear was checked as people arrived in various states of hungover. The doors opened and the young crowd poured in. Sanatorium told me a great story about playing a gig in Sweden where they somehow ended up supporting some emo band. After 8 minutes of scaring the shit out of 400 people, they were quickly told to stop!?

Atrax Mantis are first up again, they erupt on-stage showing no signs of hangovers (although Gilly failed to removed the giant penis somebody drew on his chest last night). From the very start the crowd go completely apeshit to Atrax Mantis. I’m right at the front to watch the people slam into the monitor and knock it over. Bodies are flying through the air as Atrax blast through ‘The Ropes End’, ‘Devoured’ and ‘On No God’ (which they dedicated to Vitek). They play a new song for the 1st time, then ‘Eyes of the Damned’ before finishing up with ‘To Those Who I Oppose’.

Abysmal Torment once again erupt into another relentless onslaught, pounding and slamming themselves (and their spines) onstage. They never once lose steam even though their set is longer today, and once again it is an unbelieveable display of “extreme metal from Malta!”

Slave Zero once again have a tough act to follow, but once again they rise to the challenge. The intro starts; a consistent heartbeat and voices before they break into ‘Relief’ followed by ‘Insult that Feeds’.

Halfway through “I Fear for You’ Graeme gets the crowd to split in half before they all slam into each other as the song continues. The crowd seem to never stop moshing and there’s always somebody flying through the air during ‘The Pain Remits’. The highlight of Slave Zero’s set comes when they call T from Atrax Mantis onstage to provide some vocals on ‘Last Breath’. Before they start, they insist he puts on a stripey wooley jumper (with his new slaphead haircut he looks the perfect scumbag), when the song finishes the jumper is ripped and dragged in all directions (as he still wears it).

Sanatorium’s set is once again, nothing short of brilliant. I don’t catch any of the song names, I have a pen this time but I just can’t understand what he says in that low guttural voice. But it’s clear people in the crowd know the songs, constantly shouting out names and roaring along, the lads from Slave Zero are at the front for the set and at one stage Bob helps out with some vocals. Sanatorium finish up with ‘Oral Fist Fuck’, much to the crowds delight.

As people clear out I get the bands to take to the stage one last time for some group photos. It turns out to be hilarious as cheesey pop music fills the Zoo, the bands responsible for Kilkenny’s heaviest ever gig still on the stage. Within minutes the gear is packed up, Atrax Mantis head home, Slave Zero head back to Dublin whilst Abysmal Torment and Sanatorium head for France to continue their European Tour.

Lets hope we see them back in Kilkenny sometime soon. But for now you can check out all my photos of them from this weekend in the KilkennyMusic Galleries.