» Repulsion 2013 05 11  
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Reviewed by Tengan
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Special guests: General Surgery, Antichrist
City: Stockholm, Sweden
Venue: Nalen
Date: 11 May 2013
Repulsion set length: 45 minutes
General Surgery set length: 35 minutes
Antichrist set length: 40 minutes

Antichrist

Antichrist has received high acclaims from fans and critics alike for their sole full-length 'Forbidden World' and rightly so, it really is a solid piece of old school thrash. Antichrist in the live environment though is a different matter. This is the second time I witness them on stage and I was moderately impressed the first time around. Mind that it was midday on a cruise ship so I naturally assumed they all had the hangover from hell hence lacking inspiration. I was therefore looking forward to another opportunity of seeing them in a more favourable light.

Still, there is some piece missing in the Antichrist-on-stage-puzzle even tonight. They are well rehearsed and during the first few songs they really try to put on a good show with excessive headbanging and promising energy. The early crowd however is a hard-pleased one and during the middle of the set the band starts to get idle as well. Too long a pause between songs during the entire set and the vocals going up and down in the mix like a yo-yo does not really help their cause either. The band is fairly immobile and at first I suspected it to be due to the tiny stage, but after seeing the following two acts I had to revise that theory. In all fairness Antichrist pull themselves together and makes for quite a decent finish, finally awakening the crowd, but by then it is unfortunately too late.

Performance: 5 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 6 chalices of 10
Best
: Sign Of The Beast
Worst
: The uneven vocal level

(sorry, no setlist)

General Surgery

If the music of Antichrist stems from a time prior to the evenings headliner, General Surgery's ditto is a direct descendant. The old Carcass meets early Stockholm death metal sound might not be the most original one out there, but it sure is well executed!

When the band enters the stage in their bloody scrubs they do it with a crushing authority without having struck a single chord, and then... pure devastation! General Surgery truly puts on a textbook example of how this type of music is to be played in a live environment. Their stage presence, energy and interaction are all top notch and they pull out every trick in the book with utter conviction. The frontman Erik Sahlström holds the audience in his pocket and his performance is admirably intense before an ever more frantic crowd.

Performance: 9 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 7 chalices of 10
Best
: The Jeff Hanneman dedicated Like An Ever Flying Limb
Worst
: The initial burred sound in the background

(sorry, no setlist)

Repulsion

One can really feel it in the air this Saturday evening inside the historical venue Nalen. We are about to witness something special. The almighty Repulsion has come to town and it is a very special occasion indeed. The extreme music pioneer's sole album 'Horrified' has been acclaimed as one of the most influential albums in extreme metal history and of great importance to early death metal, and given the familiar faces of the past and present Stockholm scene surrounding me that statement can't be anything but true. From time to time I feel like I have been crashing a local headbanger party circa 1990.

The time is closing in on midnight when Repulsion enters the stage and the crowd is with them from the start and rightfully so. The band really seems to enjoy the occasion and offers a hell of a show. They play with passion and speed. Sometimes they even seem to go faster than in the original songs! Scott Carlson shows an almost split personality at first. Between songs he is almost like a shy schoolboy nervously fiddling his hair, but as soon as the first chord of every song strikes he turns into a veritable monster and the crowd with him. As the set progresses the monster eventually takes the upper hand though and devours the charming little boy.

The talk in the gents before the show was how Repulsion would pull of a headliner set with a mere 30-minute full-length under their belt. The solution turns out to be simple yet effective, dusting off a few demo songs and taking their time between songs. Unlike the opening act though, they know how to use that time pulling off a few jokes and inviting guest musicians for two of the songs. Dr. Carlsson from General Surgery lends his axe for 'Maggots in Your Coffin', possibly the most intense moment of the evening, and a smashed Pelle Åhman of In Solitude performs the vocals on the Bathory-cover 'The Reaper'.

The evening is reaching frenzied proportions when closing tune 'Horrified' is declared, but what we get is actually somewhat of a climax when Matt Olivo accidently unplugs his guitar mid-song. In retrospect that is a minor detail however and the only feeling left in my mind stepping out into the night is that of having witnessed a very special evening indeed!

Performance: 8 chalices of 10
Stage sound
: 8 chalices of 10
Best
: Maggots In Your Coffin
Worst
: Well, you could have given us another 15 minutes for sure

(sorry, no setlist)

Related links:
www.generalsurgery.nu
www.militiaofdeath.com
www.myspace.com/dougearp
www.myspace.com/generalsurgery
www.facebook.com/repulsion
www.facebook.com/generalsurgeryofficial
sv-se.facebook.com/pages/antichrist-swe