It was a warm Saturday, and there’s no better way to turn the heat up than heading to a sold-out show at the Rescue Rooms in Nottingham for a night of incredible death metal (and a bit of thrash too), as the Infernal Bloodshed Over Europe tour arrived in town.
I walked in just as Carnation began their set. The Belgian death metal outfit delivered sharp, heavy riffs to a decent-sized crowd for an opening band.
I wondered how their vocalist was functioning in a leather jacket as he stalked the stage. He looked like the most death metal ladybird or version of Keiji Muto you could ask for, draped in chains and growling like a loose animal. Carnation was a more than suitable opener to raise some blood pressures.
Image Credit: Carnation Band (via Instagram @carnationbandofficial)
With a clear statement that they are “here to crush”, Warbringer brought the superb catchy thrash riffs and made sure there was lots of fun to be had. Any band that starts brandishing a sword on stage has my vote!
The crowd started getting wild with circle pits, a few people falling over one another (and swiftly getting helped up) and a lot of smiling faces. I recently recommended their new album, calling it ‘the era of Warbringer‘, and they’ve more than proved it.
They had the crowd in the palm of their hand from start to finish.
Canadian destroyers Cryptopsy are the epitome of brutal. Some of their past albums are some of the most ear-shattering I’ve heard, and they brought that mentality to Nottingham.
Each song was a murder in plain sight as they taught a lesson in death metal violence. A guy walked unsuspectingly into the pit with his beer, and, unsurprisingly, it disappeared.
Animated frontman Matt McGachy is so charismatic, he knows how to whip a crowd into a pack of rabid animals. Drummer and founding member of the band, Flo Mounier, is utterly ridiculous. No one should be able to play like that live. It’s what made me fall in love with Cryptopsy back in the day.
Finally, the legendary Decapitated hit the stage to mop up whatever was left of the packed crowd. It’s hard to find a better technical live band. They had a blistering performance of ‘Spheres of Madness’.
My neck was already going to ache like hell from everything that came before this, but this sealed the deal on that.
Eemeli Bodde is a great fit on vocals, looking and sounding gigantic. All eyes (certainly my eyes) were on founding member. Vogg and his unreal display of wizardry on guitar, never missing a step.
The band ended with a riling version of ‘Iconoclast’ that left everyone barely alive enough to leave the venue.
Death metal tours don’t have better line-ups than this. This is already a top contender for gig of the year for me.
Featured Image Credit: Infernal Bloodshed Over Europe, 2025
The Mourning Paper 