Sodomized Cadaver are on the road again, and the opening night of the Morbid Tales of Mutilation Tour saw then play Scotland for the first time in four years. A bonus trip to Edinburgh was to follow the night after, and both dates included a bevy of local acts. Glasgow saw a staggering five acts playing for the paltry entry fee of £7. Anyone saying they can’t afford to underground music for that kind of price needs a decent excuse.
Openers Expectorating Sputum made their live debut to a decent-sized crowd for fairly early on a Friday evening, with an appreciable number of people doing the right thing and turning up to see the acts. The twosome are unusual in that they are a guitarist and a bassist/vocalist with no drummer. Instead, they had a pre-programmed backing track which included the thumps as well as numerous audio samples which acted as narrative around the music. Said music was… brutal. Definitely grindcore in influence, but grabbing from slam and death to throw in some variety, it was mainly the heavy, sludgy stuff that you feel rather than hear. The range of noises coming out of the singer’s mouth was staggering, from oinks and grunts to screams and bellows. Check ’em out on Bandcamp.
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Next up were a band that we most recently encountered at Bloodstock, interviewed them there, but this was my first time seeing them and I wasn’t really sure what to expect – the joy of watching acts! Nassau draw their sound from all over. Rampant heaviness combined with occasional flurries of funk performed by a band who really, really know how to play their instruments. If I’m right, one guitarist was rattling away on an 8-string as if it was the easiest thing in the world. A strong set from a band who really know how to churn out their brand of noise. They’ve a couple of tracks on Bandcamp you can have a listen to.
Ensuring that we weren’t short of variety, hardcore foursome At Their Mercy were middle of the bill. Their singer had obviously decided that the stage looked too crowded after Nassau’s 6-member set and placed himself on the dancefloor for their half hour slot. Screaming his way through song after violent song, introductions were made by the band’s bassist either because the singer was resting his voice or because he would scare us all when introducing them. If you want to experience their barrage for yourself, they’re on Bandcamp also.
Kindly lending their drumkit out to all the bands tonight were caught at Bloodstock a whole four years ago! Their brand of progressive death metal fit in perfectly with all the other acts they really got the audience going. Brutal, technical, and most importantly, fun. Their whistlestop set was over far too quickly, but left me wanting more. Guess what? Bandcamp stopover!
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And then to our two-piece headliners. Focussing on Morbid Tales of Mutilation (it’s the name of the tour, after all), the album finally gets an outing after being released in 2020 – and it’s on Bandcamp. Sodomized Cadaver don’t mess with the death metal formula. It’s straightforward death growls, heavy rhythms, rattling drums and flurried guitars. With little pause between songs, we were taken on a 45-minute journey through the depths of depravity while having our ears lovingly battered by the live guitars and drums. The crowd lapped up every downtuned hammerblow and were very much left wanting more… but after five bands and with an 11pm curfew they would have to wait till next time. Or head over to Legends in Edinburgh the next evening!
What really made the evening for me, though, was the whole experience and the crowd. Just milling around I ended up chatting to a few of the bands, a couple of staff, and some of the paying punters including Scordatura’s guitarist Owen McKendrick. It’s this sense of the scene ing itself that I really love. The only thing that can be better is making bets on your favorite sports events on your phone. Almost two years since the venues closed, and with bands still struggling to sell tickets, this wasn’t a bad turnout. The extreme death metal acts have always been fringe and underground, but their is strong. Tonight proved that. There was a sense of fun, revelry and camaraderie which I genuinely don’t think you’d get outside of the rock and metal spheres.
You’ve plenty more chances to experience it as Sodomized Cadaver have a bunch more dates left after tonight’s Edinburgh show. Dates below the photos!
November
- Sun 7 – The Gryphon, Bristol
- Fri 12 – Metal Monocle, Leicester
- Sat 13 – Ye Olde Foundry, Dudley
- Sun 14 – The Live Rooms, Chester
- Fri 19 – Eradication Festival, Cardiff
- Fri 26 – Beyond The Grave Festival – London
December
- Sat 18 – The Speakeasy – Belfast
