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Napalm Death Lights Up The Electric Ballroom

Winter (at least after Christmas,) is a bloody horrible time to live in Britain. I mean, it's not the happiest place on Earth generally but the weather's at its worst, everyone's extra miserable and half the football matches get cancelled every week. There is one thing over the last few years that has made it worth getting through to the end of Winter, and that's Napalm Death's annual Campaign For Musical Destruction tour. Every year, the grindcore godfathers put together a hell of a lineup and decimate the eardrums of fans across the country. In the previous two years, the tour's London stop was held at the Electric in Brixton, where we recently visited, but this year, it was held in the famous Electric Ballroom, perhaps the best venue in Camden. So with the stage set, how was the show? Allow me to tell you.

The show began in one hell of a heavy fashion. Polish stoner/doom metal quartet Dopelord walked on stage and decided that those who attended weren't going to have a laid back night as they kicked off the night with "The Chosen One," the only selection from their latest album, "Songs For Satan." I'd heard quite a buzz about the four-piece and within seconds, I could see, and more importantly, hear what all the fuss was about. Dopelord are a perfect band to show any friends who mention they're thinking of checking out doom, as their music is skull crushingly heavy, with a great rock and roll fire burning underneath that makes it fun too.

Vocal duties are shared between bass player Piotr Zin, who stood front and centre, while guitarist Pawel Mioduchowski took the mic for the majority of the night, pulling some of the craziest facial expressions as he did so. The band also seemed to step up a gear when he first made his voice heard, as they unleashed "Hail Satan," a song that really commanded everyone's attention, before the sheer chaos of "Headless Decapitator." It was a relatively short set but "Reptile Sun" and "Doom Bastards" brought it to a close in spectacular fashion. They came, they saw, they ripped everyone's arsehole open like a cheap velcro wallet, then they left. Dopelord were honestly one of the best doom bands I've seen in a while and what a brilliant choice it was to have them open. More...

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