I was pretty surprised when I arrived at 7.30 PM in Bochum and nobody was queuing in front of the club. So I was the first visitor this evening and pretty confused about that. The good thing was that I got to know the promoter and we had a nice chat. The bad thing was that the fans did not show up that evening (in my humble opinion the bands had deserved more than 24 people who came on that Thursday evening). Very disappointing and I must confess that I've never experienced such a thing in all these years of going to concerts.

However, the Swedes from Repuked opened the concert and didn't show any disappointment about the few people in the hall. The played really sick old school death metal which is heavily inspired by Autopsy and co. The guys rocked the stage and vocalist / bassist Robin "Rob the Slob" Westlund did a very sick performance with rolling eyes and uncontrolled moves. The guys had lots of fun playing and they searched for a contact with the audience which made the show likeable. I really had to laugh when he asked "Hey Bochum, are you drunk? No? Oh, maybe later…". The songs were played really tight, and the sound was good and everybody who loves stinking death metal completely got his money worth.

Set list: 'Livers Bleed' / 'Fuck Your Fucking Corpse' / 'Vodka Till The Grave' / 'I Wanna Puke On You' / 'Kick Fuck' / 'Fuck You, Fucking Whore' / 'Pervertopia' / 'Shitfister' / 'Up From The Sewers'

After this slightly vulgar gig, the Brazilian guys from Nervochaos entered the stage. Their show (and music) was quite different from the Swedes. No beer, no obscenities in their songs. Their new vocalist (he's in the band since 2020) Brian Stone reminded me of some HC bands and made a very impressive figure on the stage. He acted very intense and he and his bandmates also didn't show any bad reaction about the audience. They performed very professional and the technical death-thrash mixture got a good resonance from the "crowd". They didn't focus too much on their latest output All Colors Of Darkness but played a fine cross-section of their career with songs from almost every album (and they have released 10 albums so far).

Set list: 'Whisperer In Darkness' / 'Dark Chaotic Destruction' / 'I Hate Your God' / 'For Passion Not Fashion' / 'Mind Under Siege' / 'Feast Of Cain' / 'Dragged To Hell' / 'The Devil's Work' / 'The Urge To Feel Pain' / 'Pazuzu Is Here' / 'Beyond The Astral' / 'Moloch Rise' / 'Pure Hemp'

Around 10 PM the time had come for Demonical. I was pretty curious about the band because I had never seen them before and was absolutely blown away from their newest release Mass Destroyer which is one of the best old school Swedish HM-2 albums within the last years. The guys were received very enthusiastically and did a really cool death metal firework. Like Nervochaos they presented a lot of old songs and also some from their latest release. Vocalist Christofer Säterdal did a fantastic job and he is the most eye-catching person on the stage since he is about 2 meters tall. But also the other band members did great stage acting with a lot of guitar posing and running around. The sound however was a little bit too loud so it was sometimes a bit tricky to find out what the songs was. They closed the set with a fantastic Entombed cover of "Wolverine Blues" and so the evening was too fast over, and everybody went home. At least the roads were not too crowded after that event….sorry guys for that lousy attendance!

Set list: 'Towards Greater Gods' / 'My Kingdom Done' / 'All Will Perish' / 'The Order' / 'Fallen Mountain' / 'Unfold Thy Darkness' / 'World Serpent' / 'Cursed Liberation' / We Conquer The Throne' / 'March For Victory' / 'Sun Blackened' / 'Aeons Of Death' / 'Wrathspawn' / 'By Hatred Bound' / 'Death Metal Darkness' / 'Vålkommen Undergång' / 'Wolverine Blues'

PHOBOPHILIC has excavated some of the most unnerving death metal you will hear in 2019, this is old school gallantry from the bottom of the genre's most reputable realms. Have we not been battered enough for the year? Apparently not, according to Blood Harvest Records whom will be handling this sacrifice before the altar of embryonic death metal. Undimensioned Identities is Phobophilic's second recording due out the 13th of September, yes Friday the 13th, so better have your hex-proof underwear on and try to grab a hold of this puzzling piece of matter before the scavengers of the underground gobble it all up.

Landing amidst the murkiness with a glowing aura of curses contracted from a place in time no eyes have seen but their own, Phobophilic smoke-screen's the senses of the doubting and corrodes the essence of non-believers with these 4 backwards, crepuscular testimonials. Short in length, but effectively crafted to trigger wandering minds seeking a passage or route to astral and metaphysical mysteries, or so it may appear; Undimensioned Identities provides that frequency of sounds most of us have beard but only few would dare understand; raw, yet graced by the touch of eloquent hands, these abstruse anecdotes crafted and proliferated within the soil of the genre, comes at a time where death metal is peaking and the competition is ever so strong; however, what is at hand can withstand the mighty force of their veteran comrades.

'That Witch Swallowed the Sun' alerts you of the incoming blitzkrieg on the senses, but it's a warning enfeebled. Within the first few musical notes and blustering baying you're already deep-seated and stunned by the trance of the ceremony. The following verses of 'Subterranean Miscreation', 'Diminished to Unbeing' and 'Synaptic Vessel', seal the exits shut and for 18 minutes you're being violently flung-around in a whirlpool of un-creation. Vox are menacingly loud, bass notes drive the cutting force of the riffs and the drumming moves-around like a schizophrenic case.

Interpret this material how you may, personally there's lots of ideas being tossed around when listening to Undimensioned Identities, some within the realm of what we may refer to as fiction (until the penial is penetrated) and some actively apart of grim realities and uncertainties such as nuclear war. Whatever they be, Phobophilic's Undimensioned Identities could be used as accompanying music to the most dreadful and abominable events. Only an EP, but damn it screams 'full-length release'; one better be on the way to follow-up this stellar piece of work. Get your wallets out and add this to your death metal cabinet before Yule arrives.

PHOBOPHILIC is:

Aaron Dudgeon – guitar/vocals
Josh Poer – guitar
Christian Alm – bass
Vincent Tweten – drums

MORE INFO AND PRE-ORDERS:

www.phobophilic.bandcamp.com
www.bloodharvest.se
www.bloodharvestrecords.bandcamp.com
www.facebook.com/BloodHarvestRecords/
www.rottedlife.com