Suffocation, Jungle Rot, Plague of the Fallen and Parasitic Infestation. American Death Metal bands combine to tear a new one at Galatos, as experienced by writer Chris Warne.
A few paragraphs of disclaimer from this reviewer are warranted before proceeding.
Death Metal is a genre I’ve merely flirted with over the years. I’ve caught the occasional live set. I’ve noted the death leanings of heavy bands I follow when they dip their toes into the genre before reverting to their mainstay groove, thrash or hardcore.
Being in the fortunate position to review the occasional concert is generally an easy assignment. Turn up to see a band I already love, notice my thoughts and reactions during the live set and then put them to paper. Occasionally I find myself writing about bands that I don’t have a personal connection with and don’t entirely understand the context from which they came.
Suffocation is one of these bands and it’s accurate to say there has been some learning on the fly for this assignment!
I’ve learnt that Suffocation formed in New York in the late 1980s and had a significant hand in writing the blueprints for the Death Metal and Technical Death Metal.
In the months leading up to the show, I made multiple attempts to find my way into the catalogue. Each attempt felt dense and impenetrable. An onslaught of precise down tuned riffage, double kick drum and guttural vocals.
Not a vocal hook or conventional structure in sight. The songs were difficult to memorize or even distinguish from one another. A few nights before the show as the pressure mounted as to how in the fuck I was going to write about this band, I finally had my Death Metal epiphany.
It was listening to 1995’s Pierced from Within where it dawned on me how much effort must go into writing and performing this music. Constant variations on a musical pattern, break-neck shifting of time signatures, unpredictable stabbings of rhythm and pause, razor sharp guitar leads that punch through the chaos.
This is music that demands active listening. Full attention required from one moment to the next. It keeps you on the edge of your seat as to where the composition will go next. Blink and you might miss it entirely. Get distracted and it retracts back into impenetrable noise.
I arrived at Galatos on Saturday night, just as Auckland’s own Parasitic Infestation were taking the stage.
The venue was already two thirds full as the 5-piece powered through half an hour of well received heaviness. Some of the catchiest riffs had an effective balance of chugging precision and pinched harmonics that broke out into a danceable slam.
They made effective use of pre-recorded samples between songs which provided an extra measure of atmosphere and confrontation.
I was pleased to recognize both the riffs and samples the following morning when I listened to their 5-minute, 3 song statement 2024 PROMO.
Christchurch’s Plague of The Fallen were up next. The well-groomed four-piece demonstrated a confident and refined stage presence, each member distinctive in their physical movement and visual aesthetic.
Their approach to the genre felt modern and refreshingly accessible to my ears. A sense of space pervaded their music. More psychological thriller than gore-fest.
They made frequent use of repetition, allowing me to hear the riffs just long enough to stick in your brain before throwing curveballs of dissonant brooding texture or pummelling palm muted lower fret work.
These dynamics made it easier to pick out the nuances and contributions from each individual player.
Drummer Stuart Minchington proving most valuable player, frequently capturing my attention with his ability to play blast beats interspersed with creative, almost jazz infused fills and patterns.
The band appeared familiar to the audience, who consistently banged their heads and whipped up several respectably violent pits during the set.
I highly recommend 2023 full length Amongst the Rats where the full force of Plague of The Fallen’s ominous intensity is accurately captured and tastefully produced.
Suffocation were clearly big fans too, throughout Plague of The Fallen’s set. Suffocation band members watched side of stage, passing up beers, shots, and words of affection.
Wisconsin’s Jungle Rot were up next.
Lead by frontman Dave Matrise, Jungle Rot have been grinding it out since the early 1990s, yet somehow this is their first visit to Aotearoa.
Judging by the number of punters sporting Jungle Rot t-shirts, it appears their visit was keenly anticipated.
When doing my pre-show listening, I was surprised that they were considered a Death Metal band. Yes, guttural vocals abound and semi-frequent blast beats, but they prioritize the straightforward energized riffage of thrash metal.
Had they not been around for a few decades, I would have assumed they were amongst new-school thrashers such as Toxic Holocaust or Havok.
Jungle Rot’s performance was a little ham fisted at times, mimicking machine guns with their guitars, or their old school call and response shtick, but hot-damn were they consistently fun and danceable. I pumped my balled fist and wore my best beer drinking grin throughout.
Also, shout out to the Galatos bar staff member collecting empties in her bucket during the set, only to ditch her duties when called to the pit by the sheer swagger of a nasty Jungle Rot breakdown.
She efficiently put some fists in faces with her kung-fu hardcore moves, completed a stage dive and returned to her bucket duties before the song’s end.
Closing the night, Suffocation took to a bare stage, absent of a backdrop, mic stands or a written setlist.
They needed no cues and launched into an absolute assault of the senses that didn’t let up for over an hour.
Recently recruited vocalist Ricky Myers dominated centre stage. His expressive left hand visually mimicking and anticipating the twists and turns of his band, shaking rapidly by the side of his head during a blast beat, slicing the air with an open palm to punctuate rhythmic pauses and time signature changes.
Other times quite literally choking and releasing the cymbals of his band mate Eric Morotti behind the kit.
Observing the unique way that Ricky Myers’s appeared intimately animated by the workings of the band behind him, it was no surprise to learn that he is the percussive backbone of two other bands. Drumming in both Disgorge and Sarcolytic.
I’ve read that former Suffocation frontman Frank Mullen was a legend in his own right, but it’ll be hard to convince me off the side of team Ricky.
Suffocation guitarists Terrance Hobbs and Charlie Errigo held their own on opposite sides of the stage. The former somehow holding his guitar entirely steady on a near vertical angle, while shaking his body in a heavy metal seizure crab crouch. I couldn’t comprehend how they played so fast and so tight whilst exerting themselves physically to such an extent.
The pit mirrored the intensity coming from the stage. This was one of most unhinged audiences I’ve been a part of.
Frequent circle pits smashed a wider circumference amongst the floor. Stage dives abounded and were encouraged. A couple of seemingly genuinely aggressive dudes were given the space to swing fists and kick the knees out of those holding up crowd surfers without others as much as batting an eyelid.
I dared only a few times to raise my arms for a quick picture, while leaving my torso vulnerable to swinging elbows.
I couldn’t tell you which songs Suffocation played, other than the handful introduced as being on the latest record, Hymns of Apocrypha.
What I can tell you is that I took it all in from one moment to the next, appreciating the sheer brutality and ingenuity of the compositions and performance. It felt different to bands I had seen before.
I left the show exhilarated and exhausted. I’m yet to figure out whether Suffocation really is a cut above the rest, or whether this experience is just my initiation into all things Death and Technical.
Either way, it feels like I’m at the start of a special musical journey ahead. Thank you, Suffocation and Valhalla Touring.
Chris Warne
Photography by Chris Warne
