SKELETONWITCH

DEATHRITE THE DOME, LONDON

It’s fairly empty inside The Dome tonight, possibly due to the fact that, only hours before doors opening, German death metal duo Mantar were forced to pull out due to ill health. It might have put a dampener on the evening but the two bands that we do get are determined to more than make up for it. DeAthRIte have little in the way of visual thrills in their set, but they do have some command over their own sonic power. Their blackened death sounds inhumanly monstrous, leaving even the most hardened extreme music fans visibly wincing as they leave the stage to a ringing wall of feedback. Sometimes a line-up change can derail a band’s momentum, but SKeletoNWItch have rallied to release possibly the best album of their career, in this year’s Devouring Radiant Light, since Chance Garnette was replaced by Adam Clemens. Tonight they cement their reputation with the best live show London has seen from them in years. The new material sounds more brutal and savage, and classics like Upon Black Wings are played, not just faster, but with an intensity that is genuinely terrifying. A band reborn. Next time, be there.