Live Review: UK Slam Fest – Saturday

Following a deluge in the morning as we were driving over to Manchester the Gods of Metal were kind and decided to bless us with nice weather by the time we arrived at the Bread Shed, home to Slam Fest 2024. Getting to the venue nice and early meant I was in there in time to catch up with a few friends before the festivities began and one of the most loved and respected festivals in UK extreme metal got underway.

Two-piece slam monsters TYPE A SECRETOR opened up proceedings, their heavy and violent slams making sure all cobwebs were blown away both inside the venue and in punters heads, particularly those still suffering from the excesses of the previous night. Bassy and over the top this duo got bodies moving, just want you want from an opening act to a festival.

Due to a shift in scheduling, there was space for a secret band to perform next, who could it be? All mystery evaporated once Joe Mortimer and the COLPOCLEISIS boys took to the stage. A really tight and polished set followed that was both immensely enjoyable and impressive. Their material added a few more dimensions to the slam blueprint laid down by Type A Secretor and added variations in pace, intensity and speed, the crowd responded well and the secret band was an overwhelming success!

SLUG GORE were next up, one of the numerous Italian bands performing today, they took to the stage to a crazy video game inspired backing video showing metal slug and various other pop culture elements all edited into a frenzied, chopped up miasma. This pretty much describes their music too, taking grind, death, slam and pretty much everything else you can imagine and vomiting it forth onstage as a violent and delirious chaos

The Razor’s Edge’s very own Dan Phipps and crew of SPAWNED FROM HATE took the stage, and though a little less frenetic than Slug gore these guys were no less impressive. Material from their album ‘Elective Amputation’, released this year, really shone in the live environment, its intricate yet brutal riffs coiling around each other creating serpentine atmospheres of dread and mayhem. This is one band that I find provides the perfect balance of technicality and brutality with these two elements complementing each other and creating really interesting and deep songs.

Time for ANOXIDE to play next, another band that combine a more technical approach with outright brutality. Their socially conscious death metal providing plenty of tasty riffs and drum patterns to get heads banging and people moving.

‘Super Group’ IMPURIST were the next band to take to the stage, made up of members of classic bands such as Gorerotted, Extreme Noise Terror, Winterfylleth and Introrectalgestation their straight forward approach to death metal and aggressive performance went down a storm with fans clamouring for more by the time they had finished

Hailing from the Czech Republic ANIME TORMENT were next to destroy ear drums and their hyper kinetic amalgam of death, grind and slam flew by in what seemed like a blur. Savage and delirious this was an impressive set replete with plenty of blast beats, crazy sweeps and seriously heavy breakdowns

Judging from the number of fans that were desperate to meet the band after their set and the fact that the band sold out of shirts at the merch booth it would seem that FULCI are really making a name for themselves within the death metal scene. Fans anxiously waited for their set as their video backdrop played out scenes of gore and terror from cult Italian horror director Lucio Fulci’s splatter epics. Basing their songs on the great maestros' movies is an inspired idea and gives them plenty of material to write about, whether it is rotting zombies under the tropical sun or deranged killers stalking the streets of New York they have some great inspiration behind their music. With a hugely satisfying sound made up of old school death metal a la Bolt Thrower with some modern influences, slams and even some hardcore based groove and bounce they have the song writing chops to back up the hype surrounding them. Some great chugging sections in their songs made you head bang whether you wanted to or not, the future is really bright for this band

Over to special guest reviewer Dan Phipps who said this about DEVANGELIC, again from Italy and again wowing the crowd with brutality and intensity.

“The Italians deliver what can only be described as an absolute clinic and the performance was that savage it should have been hit with an assault and battery charge. A relentless 30 minutes effort with tracks from the discography where I got to witness the 2 recent albums material live for the first time and boy was it something!”

What Dan said!!

Finally, it was the turn of brutal death metal legends DISAVOWED who put on a masterclass in live metal. Combining supreme technicality and unmatched brutality with an unbridled energy and enthusiasm they laid waste to the bread shed and brought the curtain down on the festival. With a hugely likeable frontman who spent more time in or on top of the crowd than he did on stage and some great musicians they really were a joy to watch. Masters of their craft they showed why they are so respected by other bands and why they were the headliners.

To conclude, I had a really neat time at Slam Fest, it is such a well-run and organised festival, changeover times are lightning quick in between bands combined with a super friendly and welcoming vibe make for a really smooth and enjoyable festival experience. The north is spoilt for choice in terms of death metal fests, with this, Offal Fest and Flesh fest all combining to create a buzzing scene for fans and musicians alike. Make sure to don’t miss Slam Fest next year or the other festivals mentioned, you won’t regret it!