Report

Metal Underground Goes To Hell: Incinceration Fest 2024

One of the wonderful things about Camden, a very busy area of north London, is the amount of venues there are. London in general has plenty of live music hosts, but it seems if one has to go to Camden, or a neaby area like Tufnell Park or Kentish Town, if they want to experience some live metal. This is exactly why many flocked to the likes of the Electric Ballroom and The Underworld this past Saturday, as Incinceration Fest returned for its ninth edition to celebrate black and death metal, as well as some other examples of the extreme, from the UK and abroad.

While Ante-Inferno kicked things off in The Underworld, this review begins a short time later at the Electric Ballroom around the corner, where east English veterans Fen took to the stage quickly after the doors opened. Heavily inspired by their home area from where they draw their name, Fen channels the beauty and fury of the natural world through their music, which is epic in scope and offers so much to be enthralled by. Guitarist, The Watcher howled and screamed his way through five numbers, two of which were taken from their latest album, "Monuments To Absence," and those who made their way to the Ballroom for this performance all seemed very impressed, myself included. The trio possess an imposing stage presence which makes the delivery of this absolutely fascinating music all the more powerful. An excellent way to begin the festival!

Appropriately for the next band, it involved a trip to the depths of The Underworld. Formed by ex Rotting Christ bassist Jim Mutilator and originally featuring Necromantia vocalist The Magus, Yoth Iria are both a loving tribute to the classic days of Greek black metal and an exciting, fresh group by themselves. This was one of the names I was most excited about and I'm happy to report that the quintet exceeded all expectations by putting on an absolutely blistering set, which began with the title track from their debut EP, "Under His Sway." Immediately, live vocalist Merkaal jumped into the crowd, leaving no room for casual onlookers, while the rest of the band, which included On Thorns I Lay guitarist Nick Perlepe, fellow axe man Naberius of Karma Violens and Disembowell drummer Vongaar, performed with incredible skill and discipline.

As one would expect, the rest of the set focused almost entirely on their album, "As The Flame Withers," including the excellent "The Red Crown Turns Black" and "The Great Hunter," which both went down a treat. Mutilator took the time to thank the crowd for turning up to see them and mentioned that it had been twenty nine years since he'd last played in London, before introducing a new song, "Mornings of the One Thousand Golds," which will appear on their sophomore full length, then finally ending the performance with "Tyrants." This was an absolutely glorious display of black metal, which reminded those in attendance why we love it. Thrilling, entertaining and above all, true to their artistry, Yoth Iria are welcome back anytime!

On my previous visit to Incineration Fest, I arrived just after Winterfylleth finished their set and like anyone who likes good black metal would be, I was livid. No way was I making that mistake this year and so it was a race from the Underworld back to the Electric Ballroom to see the Northern powerhouse storm the stage. Like Fen, Winterfylleth drews inspiration from English heritage and history and this can be heard on such songs as "A Valley Thick With Oaks," from their 2010 album, "The Mercian Sphere," as well as more recent tunes like "Absolved In Fire" and "The Reckoning Dawn." Fans were also treated to not one, but two new songs named "To The Edge Of Tyranny" and "Dishonour Enthroned," which were both received very well, before the set came to a close with "Whisper Of The Elements." For over fifteen years now, Winterfylleth has been consistently excellent when it comes to their music and their undeniable talent is plain to see in the live setting. Honestly speaking, they may even be the best black metal band to ever come from the country where the term was first coined.

London has some of the finest cuisine from all over the world, so after taking advantage of that and going to Wendy's, it was time to return to the Electric Ballroom for some Norwegian black metal, represented this year by Carpathian Forest. Hailing from Sandnes, the sextet got things going really well with "Vi åpner porten til helvete...," from their most recent album, "Fuck You All!!!" (which itself is eighteen years old now!) There was tremendous energy from the band, which was reciprocated by the audience as frontman Nattefrost tossed Norwegian flags into the crowd before launching into their eponymous song. Norwegian black metal has a well earned reputation for not being particularly fun, but that wasn't the case here, with more classics like "Submit To Satan" and "He's Turning Blue" brought out, ultimately concluding with "Bloody Fucking Nekro Hell." This was a great example of the variation that can be found in black metal and a lot of fun from beginning to end.

Crossing over to The Underworld once more, it was there that "blackened hardcore" band Hexis were plying their trade. Witnessing them, one is immediately struck by the presentation, where the band mostly plays in darkness, save for flashes of light, making it seem like the kind of band performances that used to be common in nineties movies. Hexis was definitely something different for the festival, with some people getting really into them, while others struggled to decide what to make of it. Breakdowns and barked vocals may not be what you'd expect at what is ostensibly a black metal festival, but it was a change from corpsepaint and Satan, so in that regard it was quite refreshing. They're not for everyone and may even have been out of place here, but they're worth a look if you're a hardcore fan who likes their music on the darker side.

Are Belphegor the best metal band from Austria? That all depends on personal preferences and opinion of course, but it's hard to argue when they're on form in the live setting. Opening their set in the Ballroom with "The Procession," the extreme battalion immediately got the place moving, perhaps even a little too much. Mosh pits are all well and good, but if you see a scared young person, with their parents arms around them, trying to get out, and your instinct is to keep pushing them back in so they get hurt, you're scum. Pit etiquette in general seemed pretty poor today and the night before at The Black Heart and it's something that needs to be addressed. Festivals and gigs are where we come together to celebrate a band and our shared love of music, not for meat headed twats to cowardly stick a boot in or purposefully injure someone. Do better.

As for Belphegor themselves, they continued to put on a hell of a performance, making great use of the lighting to strike some really eerie poses and expressions, all while such songs as "Sanctus Diaboli Confidimus" and "Lucifer Incestus" burned into the ears of everyone in attendance. Still supporting their 2022 release "The Devils," the four-piece weren't shy about promoting it, bringing out the title track as well as "Virtus Asinaria - Prayer" and closing number "Totentanz - Dance Macabre," which were all received very warmly. Belphegor has always been an interesting band, with an image and delivery that some may feel borders on parody, but the music is really good and comes across even better when everything is set up the way they want it.

Once again, The Underworld offered something a little different from the black and death metal which dominated the day, as Liverpool doom metal favourites Conan walked on to crush their enemies. There's very little in the way of showmanship when it comes to Conan, preferring instead to let their devastatingly heavy music do the talking, which it does very well. Perhaps the most exciting news to come from this set was the announcement that they'll be returning to the studio later this year to record a new album and fans were treated to a brand new track which is scheduled to appear on the record. Jon Davis has a voice that grabs you by your very soul and it was in fine form at this event, bellowing across the venue as the instruments wailed and pounded away. The sound of Conan live is absolutely skull crushing and they continue to stake their place as one of the finest active doom bands in the country thanks to performances like this. Not to be missed for anyone who loves their music slower and meatier.

Returning to the Electric Ballroom, it was time for one of the most extreme acts on the bill; Anaal Nathrakh. I was fortunate enough to see them in London a few years ago where they were supported by Sigh and at the time, there were questions as to whether that would be their final gig. Luckily for extreme metal fans, that turned out not to be the case and so Dave Hunt continues to deliver the band's signature mix of black metal, grindcore and industrial to live audiences. Fans were delighted to welcome them back to the capital today and the group paid them back with an absolutely exhilarating performance that thrilled all in attendance. They got the ball rolling with "Acheronta Movebimus" and "Unleash," which transformed the venue to a scene of total chaos and dipped into their latest album, "Endarkenment" with "The Age Of Starlight Ends." "Between Shit And Piss We Are Born" was a real highlight, as was "In The Constellation Of The Black Widow," all played with a furious energy in between Hunt humbly thanking everyone for turning up and coming across as one of the most likable people in extreme metal. The set was brought to a close with the title track of "Endarkenment" before they left the stage, safe in the knowledge that they had just done an incredible job.

To the depths of the Underworld we descend one last time today, as Greek death metal veterans Dead Congregation were the final band to perform in the underground venue. Honestly, they're not a band I'm familiar with at all, but I love Greek metal and was told that they're very influential so I was looking forward to seeing them. One gets the impression that they've been copied a lot, because while good, they didn't come across as particularly ground breaking. Their music is extremely low, from the tone to the vocals, which creates a punishing sound that bores its way into your stomach. Frontman Anastasis Valtsanis is also a notable presence, standing proudly as he growls with severe menace into the microphone, while the group as a whole were tight knit and very precise. Dead Congregation won't offer much to those who aren't keen on this brand of death metal, but they are really good at what they do and will surely have made some new fans tonight.

Finally, it was time to bring the curtain down on what had been a very enjoyable event. The Electric Ballroom welcomed metal fans for the last time this weekend as they flocked in to witness one of Finland's most revered bands, Amorphis. Amorphis has a very interesting and eclectic back catalogue, from which they can draw a variety of atmospheres and styles and that's exactly what they did tonight. Two years on from the release of their latest album, "Halo," the band are still keen to promote it, and rightly so, as the record's opening number "Northwards" also kicked off the show at Incineration Fest. There were a couple of other "Halo" demonstrations, which came in the forms of "The Moon" and "The Wolf," with the former going down especially well.

Naturally, Amorphis had to re-visit their classic album, "Tales From The Thousand Lakes," which they did first with "The Castaway" and later on via the excellent "Black Winter Day." The band themselves appeared to be having as much fun as the fans and it's nice to see a band who can be so heavy not have any pretenses about being too dark for fun by smiling away as the music spread across the room. More recent favourites such as "Wrong Direction," "The Four Wise Ones" and finale "The Bee" were also performed much to the audience's delight, as was the seminal song, "House Of Sleep." Amorphis can entertain death metal fans while fascinating progressive metal stalwarts, all while putting on an exciting show where the music takes on a life of its own. I would say they're essential viewing for metal fans of any sub-genre and they were the perfect end to an absolutely wonderful festival.