Furyborn, Phyrexia & Kemakil - The Purple Turtle - 28 September 2011

Well this was to be the first night of my four day metal marathon and to kick off with a Kemakil gig is nothing short of perfection. The Purple Turtle is not my favourite venue at the moment but to be fair there didn’t appear to be the same queuing issue that there has been lately. Let’s be serious for a moment Kemakil and Furyborn are kick ass bands but it’s a Wednesday night, it’s not going to be full and a stupid long queue outside isn’t going to fool anyone. So, thanks Purple Turtle for that. Pat and I sunk a couple at The Hope & Anchor before we made our way in. Kemakil were a little bit late but nobody really cared.  As has been the usual thing lately I opt instantly for the Bee Sting cider they have on tap here at The Purple Turtle, and this is what I am blaming for the limited review I am able to give for this night... Sorry.

Kemakil

First on stage... KEMAKIL. You have got to love this band. They are what thrash is all about. Even though the sound is bollocks in this venue they still gave us a top notch performance. Being the first band on (I have no idea why this was the case but still) and the fact that the doors were opened a bit late meant that they didn’t have the audience they deserved, but for those of us that were there they delivered just as they always do. To make things even better I was able to meet them properly this time and we had a few beers. Top blokes, all of them. Proper rock stars. Best band of the night for me.

Phyrexia

The next band that I can remember seeing were Phyrexia. What caught my attention most was how young these guys seem to be. Or maybe that’s just because I’m getting old. Regardless they are accomplished musicians that have decent stage presence. I enjoyed their set and applaud their energy. Good stuff, death metal mixed with melody. Sounds as if Johan Hegg is on vocals with Iron Maiden backing him up (at times).

Furyborn

Up next were Furyborn. This was a great set. Brutal as fuck. They delivered what was advertised “Crushing the South Tour”. Jut Tabor is a very charismatic front man and the crowd responded to him accordingly. If you haven’t already and have a chance to catch these guys live I would strongly urge you to do so. The Bee Sting had seriously kicked in by this point but not enough for me not to realise that these guys are the shit. Definitely one to watch.

That’s all I remember unfortunately. The two bands that have disappeared into a haze are Engraved Disillusion and Codex Alimentarius who I will endeavour to see again in the near future and make up for my poor and ailing memory. Overall a splendid evening was had, mostly thanks to the Kemakil lads, and what an amazing start to my metal marathon. Bring on Evile.