Live Review: Cabal, Viscera, Vexed and Lifesick | The Underworld, London | 17/01/24
Heading out on their first ever headline tour, Cabal have a mighty four band line-up in tow as they squeeze in a date down at Camden's famed Underworld.
Lifesick
Hailing from Denmark just like tour headliners Cabal, Lifesick play a riffy brand of hardcore that was perfect for opening up a heavy bill like this. Whilst admittedly being quite a small band, the energy they played with got people on side quickly and they showcased a number of excellent songs that will surely garner them plenty of new fans across the rest of this tour.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons
Vexed
Britain’s Vexed have only been around since 2019, but having released one of Noizze’s favourite albums last year in Negative Energy and being phenomenal in a live environment they were always going to produce the goods. Songs like ‘Anti-Fetish’ and ‘X my <3 (Hope to die)’ were as powerful at the Underworld as they were on record. Sounding like a more dangerous, amped up version of their studio selves, Vexed made a point to everyone watching to suggest that next time, they might well be the headline act.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons
Viscera
Whilst still being relative newcomers to the scene, Viscera are not mincing any words or wasting any time as they climb the heavy pyramid. The band have a wealth of experience, with some of the band having been in Sylosis, Heart Of A Coward, Martyr and other bands, and this clearly shows, both in the studio and on stage. They blasted through a pummelling set of extreme metal tunes, even playing the first song they ever released ‘Lamb To The Slaughter’ to great avail from the crowd. The atmosphere for their whole set was excellent, and it surely won’t be long before they move onto bigger shows, bigger tours, and bigger crowds.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons
Cabal
As the headliners waited backstage, their crew arranged fake plants, flowers, and vines all across the stage. The juxtaposition between all the music just played and the ethereal atmosphere we suddenly found ourselves in was immediately apparent, yet oddly as the band walked out to engage in one of their signature demolitions of an audience, those flowers felt like the perfect backdrop for what was about to occur. Cabal clearly know a thing or two about how to put a crowd in the palms of their hands, and throughout their whole set demonstrated a flawless ability to do that over and over again. Riling up moshpits, inciting audience participation, even getting some crowdsurfers and stagedivers, the Danes had the room in glorious uproar. One song that garnered particular appreciation was ‘Magno Interitus’, the title track of their latest album, and incidentally the title of the whole tour, as well as what is by far their most popular track on Spotify ‘Death March’, both of which enjoying circle pits around the pillar in the centre of the room. Keeping their set fairly short and sweet, Cabal did what they do best and thoroughly dominated the evening’s event.
Photo Credit: James Gibbons