Gama Bomb, Mutant, Way of Purity & Abadden - 8th May 2011 - The Underworld, Camden, London

In typical fashion we had these tickets for what seemed ages and we were both fired up for it come the night. I secretly like having to wait, it somehow makes it more exciting, like Christmas. This was my second time seeing Gama Bomb, the first time they were supporting Sepultura at the Scala and boy was I impressed by their performance. One thing Boojay did say to me afterward was “wait until you see them at a smaller venue”. He was right of course.

Eliska, Toes & Philly Byrne

I love the Camden Underworld for keeping it real. I mean, they serve you actual glass bottles of Grolsch with the flip top, real hefty m’fuckers you can take in the mosh and brain people with. Stage diving is positively encouraged with absolutely no restrictions on how you do it. You know what I mean right, like at the pool with the no bombing sign, there’s none of that here. How the hell they deal with health and safety is beyond me. In fact I think this added danger creates its own safety measures. Everyone knows you run on stage throw your hands in the air and wait for the crowd to do the same. There’s usually always a big bastard who designates himself protector and looks out for the crowd surfing dudes (usually Boojay). This is all great when it’s packed but when it’s the first band on and the crowd is only 3 rows deep you’re going to head plant, and I’ll be watching and laughing my ass off.

Abadden

I don’t really understand how Abadden were at the bottom of this billing, I’ve seen them before and talented doesn’t really describe this lot. Anyway they were first up for whatever reason and they played as if they were top billing. I love their energy on stage and that seems to have paid off big time for them with a fast growing fan base that really appreciates this kind of commitment. They play Thrash Metal like it’s supposed to be played hard, fast, and great vocals. They’re a great bunch of lads with good stage presence and we think Metal Hammer who were there to see Gama Bomb will be very impressed. In the world of Thrash they will be big and we’re  going to be along for the ride. Sweet.

Way of Purity

Next up were Way of Purity. Errrr...Thrash gig with Death Metal band and a lady vocalist, well two actually and a keyboard. I’ll say that again “keyboard”. The blokes in the band spent ages setting up their shit then put on balaclavas for their set. Dude, we’ve seen your face already, what the hell were you thinking, is this some weird homage to Slipnot (more like Shitnot). That’s all I have to say about that, they’re making me angry or is it listening to Betzefer while writing this.

Up on stage next were Mutant. This is the second time I’ve seen Mutant but I only caught half their set when they supported Evile so I was particularly excited about these guys because what I did see was so good. I’m not sure what to make of them not being signed and apparently word on the scene is they don’t plan to be. As long as they keep playing these gigs I don’t really care, they’re amazing to watch with a well thought out over the top performance to match the band name. The vocals are very echoed which sounds so cool when they announce that the next song will be “TURBO...HYPER...ULTRA...MEGA...POWER”. They seem to have designed the songs around what they expect of the crowd. They want you to mosh faster each song and the crowd duly obliged. Amazing.

Gama Bomb

Gama Bomb make me smile every time I see them. Philly Byrne is so charismatic as a front man you can’t help but be drawn in by his easy style of banter with the crowd and big cheesy smiles. It’s almost a guilty pleasure seeing them at such an intimate venue when you know they are destined for bigger things. They absolutely rocked the joint, I hadn’t seen this much stage diving before, it was crazy. We were also privy to some never before heard songs which was awesome and maybe something to do with Metal Hammer being there to review them. It was the longest set they had played yet and I could have done with it being much longer. They are in a league of their own when it comes to gigs this size. Can’t wait to see them again.





Trunks