Napalm Death

Doors 8pm, the ticket reckons. So people turn up at 8pm and miss all but the last ten seconds of Scalplock. From the little I heard, they seemed to be a solid, but unremarkable, variation on mid-period Napalm Death.

Next up, Defenestration. Vocalist Gen Tasker is so unlikely looking that she is able to stride casually through the crowd without anyone noticing they are in the presence of a star. And when she steps onto the stage and roars like an angry bloke, while never so much as frowning, she looks even more unlikely. Defenestration sound like Raging Speedhorn in the process of being eaten by Blondie. They have the dual vocal style of Raging Speedhorn with the added bonus of a melodic female voice. And they have the songs to take them to the top. Roughly half the audience is familiar with "Mushroom God" from the Radio One Rock Show, and "Thrill of the Chase" from a free Kerrang! CD, and less familiar numbers, such as the **Human Waste Project-esque **"Kill The Prophet" manage to catch the attention of the myriad bemused Papa Roach fans in the ever-expanding crowd.

But it's Napalm Death who really get them going. And when Barney and co. step onto the stage and burst into song, it's almost impossible not to lose control. Were the venue something other than a (barely) refurbished church, people would have been hitting the ceiling. Lacerating guitars, thumping bass, pounding drums, and vocals screamned so loudly that you just can't make out how poetic they really are. Quite simply devastating. But there's enough melody there to keep anyone happy, it's just buried slightly deeper than you expect.

New stuff mingles with old, as "Scum", "Necessary Evil" and "Politicians" fly by in a barrage of sweaty bodies and sweatier hair, then just when you think it can't get any more brutal, along comes "Breed to Breathe" (ironically, a number from Napalm's "disappointing" late-90s melodic period). More bodies fly. More sweat pours over the floor.

After an encore of (obviously) Nazi Punks Fuck Off, almost every person in the house leaves with a large amount of someone else's sweat over them, and a couple of bruises on their head from crowd-surfers. And each one of them has a huge grin on their face. Who said violence doesn't solve anything?