HORRENDOUS

SAINT VITUS BAR, NEW YORK

It’s always a little bit disconcerting when a death metal band smiles instead of snarls. Yet this Philadelphia band’s enjoyment at playing together for the first time in a year is so infectious that it adds to the occasion as they rip through their odes to Death and Dismember.

The Stranger’s regal melodic build opens up a set from Brooklyn’s renowned Saint Vitus Bar that, while short, is big on surprises, with three songs played live for the first time. While the debut of the previously unreleased Sentence grabs the headlines, it’s Golgothan Times and Obolus from their last album, Idol, that best displays Horrendous’s dynamic brand of forward-thinking metal with its foot firmly entrenched in the genre’s roots. Multiple camera angles allow viewers to see Jamie Knox blast away on the kit during the fiddly Acolytes,

while all the blazing riffs and rhythmic shifts are performed impeccably, despite an almost lackadaisical approach from the guitarists and vocalists Damian Herring and Matt Knox. From the opening notes of Alex Kulick’s bass to the final squalls as the denim-clad

Knox writhes around on the floor, this is a death metal gig that reeks of fun rather than putrefaction.

ADAM REES