Cattle Decapitation and Broken Hope at Fuel, Cardiff - live review

The Gospel live

Crowd shot

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Following on from some bands half their age initially makes BROKEN HOPE [7] seem a bit turgid, but as their grim death metal slowly builds and seeps into listeners’ minds, the Chicago veterans deliver on both new and old ragers alike. Even by their standards CATTLE DECAPITATION’s [9] set tonight is an all-consuming sonic violation. In possession of the most uniquely unsettling voice in metal, Travis Ryan contorts his face and vocal cords into all manner of grievous forms to match the maelstrom behind that threatens to come apart at the seams. With material solely from their three most recent releases it’s an intelligent as well as intense experience, with the epilepsy-inducing We Are Horrible People meeting the trippy Pacific Grim. The crowd revel in the sweaty climate, with the band’s topical chants and Ryan’s cheeky interactions the only things saving your mind being ground up and spat back out ready for the sadistic gravitas of Kingdom Of Tyrants. Repugnant yet riveting.

Following on from some bands half their age initially makes BROKEN HOPE [7] seem a bit turgid, but as their grim death metal slowly builds and seeps into listeners’ minds, the Chicago veterans deliver on both new and old ragers alike. Even by their standards CATTLE DECAPITATION’s [9] set tonight is an all-consuming sonic violation. In possession of the most uniquely unsettling voice in metal, Travis Ryan contorts his face and vocal cords into all manner of grievous forms to match the maelstrom behind that threatens to come apart at the seams. With material solely from their three most recent releases it’s an intelligent as well as intense experience, with the epilepsy-inducing We Are Horrible People meeting the trippy Pacific Grim. The crowd revel in the sweaty climate, with the band’s topical chants and Ryan’s cheeky interactions the only things saving your mind being ground up and spat back out ready for the sadistic gravitas of Kingdom Of Tyrants. Repugnant yet riveting.

Adam Brennan

Rugby, Sean Bean and power ballad superfan Adam has been writing for Hammer since 2007, and has a bad habit of constructing sentences longer than most Dream Theater songs. Can usually be found cowering at the back of gigs in Bristol and Cardiff. Bruce Dickinson once called him a 'sad bastard'.