I arrived at The Academy on Thursday night just as Sign of the Swarms were taking the stage.
From how jam packed the venue was I’d have probably been better off joining the multiple people crowd surfing to get to the pit than trying to manoeuvre my way through the crowd, because as soon as their first song started the entire place erupted.
They commanded the stage (and the crowd) relentlessly and even gave the security guards a performance review by shouting ‘let’s make them sweat’…and that they did.
People were surfing towards the front of the stage…including someone with a walking stick…and being lifted down and exited by a human chain of bouncers.
After their set, the whole venue was ready for Cattle Decapitation.
The stage went dark and when the lights came up and the music started, you could actually feel the entire building vibrate.
The band started their first song and out of nowhere (well, the smoke) came Travis Ryan, and that was the end of that.
He unleashed a sound through the mic that you’d expect to hear from the engine room of the Event Horizon, and just when you thought their songs couldn’t get any heavier, they managed to find a lower octave to sink to.
Their set was relentless, chaotic, controlled and entertaining, and the perfect way to spend a Thursday evening of Midweek Metal Madness.
I kept thinking, this must be what it would feel like to be having a panic attack on a roller coaster hiring an earthquake…and it was absolutely fantastic.
Sign of the Swarms photos:
Cattle Decapitation photos & set-list:
Set-list:
Terrasitic Adaptation
We Eat Our Young
Scourge of the Offspring
Dead Set on Suicide
The Storm Upstairs
Bring Back the Plague
Finish Them
A Photic Doom
Mammals in Babylon
Time’s Cruel Curtain
Pacific Grim
Kingdom of Tyrants
Photos & words – David McEeanery