Insect Warfare/ The Atrocity Exhibit/ Nekkrosis/ Black Skull Squadron @ The Racehorse, Northampton, 2/10/09

 

Grind legends Insect Warfare grace the UK for their one and only tour on these shores. I dragged my lazy all the way to Northampton to see them in the back of a scuzzy pub called The Racehorse and was pleasantly surprised to see it was well populated. Shits on Milton Keynes. Opening act Black Skull Squadron pull the crowd from the bar and pump them up with their blend of crusty Oi! Punk that sits somewhere between Ambex, The Exploited and The Filaments. A tight and enjoyable set that builds to a climactic ending with gang shouts and noise. Quality opening act! 

 

Next up are the UK bludgeoners Nekkrosis. Recently signed to F.E.T.O. records, owned by Shane from Napalm Death, I have high expectations of them. Talk about an opening! The vocals sound like they could rip your face off and vomit all over it. Griff has a massive stage presence and paces around like a wild man while the band behind him blast out technical, groove-drenched death/grind. It doesn’t happen often, but they impressed me so much that I bought their CD there and then! Next up are local lads The Atrocity Exhibit. Merging grind with some noisy sludge breakdowns, they are an interesting proposition and get the home crowd going.

 

The Racehorse is definitely the right venue to enjoy a band like Insect Warfare in; basically the back room of a pub, it’s small, cramped, sticky and grimy, perfect for the unhinged savagery the band exude. Plus they play Reth between bands, so double win for them there! Substitute vocalist Chris barks and wails and contorts himself on stage like a man on the edge of something. The rest of the band look thoroughly in a world of their own, spewing forth some raw as fuck grind. The whole set seems on the verge of collapse yet is incredibly tight and well drilled. Mixing covers of bands like Refused and Assück as well as their own classics like Street Sweeper, they play for little over half an hour but still completely destroy. Short, sweet and intense, like all good grind.

Carl Sucharyna Thomas