Jello Biafra
once remarked
that death metal "is the first form of rock music that has caught on
with poor people over the world"; he also noted that the bands "sound
more than a little bit alike." I'm not sure that fans in Malaysia would
appreciate being lumped in with Jello's "poor people", but the sentiment
is spot on, and seems to be especially true about "slam". What started
off as a New York-centric style is now a worldwide phenomenon, with
Suffocation's disciples popping up everywhere from
Las Vegas to
Laos. That all the bands seem virtually identical hasn't slowed its spread one iota; message board
C.H.U.D.s
can't seem to get enough gurgling vocals and palm muted chugging. I
only recently warmed to the style but as someone always whinging about
the death metal scene in KL (or rather, the lack thereof), I'm not in a
position to be picky.
I regret missing
PunahRanah, who are one of the better death/grind bands in the scene (actual songs!) and who I haven't seen
since the end of last year. By the time I arrived,
Sick Society
were onstage and had a pit going - five people running into each other
like bumper cars still counts, right? Despite ostensibly playing "brutal
death metal", their songs occasionally betray that "Roots Bloody Roots"
and "Territory" are probably closer to their hearts than any Devourment
album...but that was probably true of their audience as well.
When I saw
Flesh Disgorged at
Singapore Deathfest,
the cavernous hall and marble floor conspired together to make them
sound like the world's most gore-obsessed cement grinder; the only way I
could tell their groove parts from their blasts was when their singer
leaped in the air. This time, the sound was clear enough to show that
the Singaporeans aren't just fast, but ridiculously tight. They made
sure to bring their stage gore with them, making me wonder what their
white t-shirt budget is (because there's no way they're washing and
reusing them, right?). Their setlist was almost as long as the
headliners, but no one seemed to mind. Bloody good fun.
 |
| apparently my camera made this animated GIF. not really sure how or why. |
Infectious Maggots
are scene veterans, one of the few still playing shows. Seeing various
Rumah Api mainstays watching reverently in the front row says a lot
about IM's status in the scene, as did their vocalist's playful and
relaxed banter. Their material doesn't sound dated even though the bulk
of it was recorded in the 90's. At a time when most metalheads are
victims of nostalgia for an era they didn't actually experience, it's
always a pleasure to see an old band and not just one trying to be "old
school".
Here's an honest admission: I know virtually nothing about headliners
Disgorge, except that
there's more than one band with that name. Between subwoofer-rupturing bellows, their vocalist paced back and forth as if he was in the middle of
Hulking out.
Despite his intimidating presence, his calls to "fuck shit up" sounded
less like a demand and more of a polite invitation; but one the crowd
was still eager to take him up on. Disgorge are as no-frills as brutal
death gets; even their slam riffs go straight for the throat without the
"ohhhhhhh shit" pandering that made deathcore devolve into self-parody
so quickly. But their set was over way sooner than it should have been. I
don't know, I thought all the kids climbing over each other to high
five the band would have encouraged Disgorge to go for another 15
minutes at least. But after the obligatory single encore, they wisely
slipped away before they could get mobbed by all the kids and their cell
phone cameras.
STRAY BULLETS
Since most of the audience at the Disgorge show seemed to be new to the
whole "death metal concert" thing, a few tips on etiquette:
• You don't have to hold hands in the circle pit. This isn't a
Greek wedding.
• Attempting to crowd-surf and then headbanging while you're in the air
only encourages the rest of us to drop you. Which we will do, because
you're making our arms tired.
• Yes, I know it sucks that the promoters kept pushing you off the stage
when you were up there headbanging with Disgorge, but people paid to
see the band and not you. There's a stage for a reason. If you're up
there longer than 10 seconds, you're just asking for a shove.
• Headscarf with skulls beats patch jackets in the KVLT sweepstakes any day.
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