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Violent Delight + Raging Speedhorn + Ill Nino
Violent Delight + Raging Speedhorn + Ill Nino
30th October 2002
Wolverhampton Wulfrun Hall
By Philip Whitehouse
I shouldn't have been at this gig, you know. I was broke, and was originally intending just to hang about in Wolverhampton for a while before going home and getting an early night. But, after the persuasion (and charity) of a couple of friends, soon enough I found myself clutching a ticket and entering the hall.
Violent Delight were up first, an interesting mix of hardcore energy, nu-metal melodicism and pop-punk hooks. Their stage presence and energy were beyond reproach, and the urgent vitality and near-disease-like catchiness of their songs had my head nodding appreciatively throughout. However, it seems the majority of the crowd disagreed, and responded by lobbing beer at the band and booing them. At one point, Ill Nino's drummer took the mic to encourage more of a positive response from the crowd, but it took the the last couple of songs before VD (unfortunate abbreviation, I know) managed to finally win over the crowd, leaving to devil-signs, applause and the odd 'well, they weren't that bad...' I personally thought they rocked, and wouldn't let anyone tell me otherwise.
Then, the band I had come to see - Raging Speedhorn. With a fantastic sophomore album under their belts which showcases a new maturity in song-writing ability without compromising their pummelling heaviness, RSH came armed to the teeth tonight with utterly bludgeoning nu-sludge bruisers of songs like tonight's opener, the incendiary 'The Hate Song'. The pit instantly explodes into frenzy, as do the band, both vocalists screaming like their testicles are on fire while the rest of the band pummel their instruments with worryingly psychotic fervency. Fantastic stuff.
Ill Nino arrived next, with their Latino-tinted nu-metal noises, spin-kicking guitarist and bongo-like percussion. The Spanish guitar came out at regular points throughout the set to add some acoustic finger-picking melodies to the bottom-heavy, mosh-groove stomps of songs like 'What Goes Round', but sadly the poor sound rendered it pretty much inaudible. As song after song went by, it began to occur to me that I was having trouble distinguishing between them, and then after a while it occured to me that I wasn't particularly interested anymore, either. Ill Nino are therefore good at what they do, but they could do with doing a little more, or at least doing it a little differently from time to time.
All in all though, not a bad night at all. Raging Speedhorn were without a shadown of a doubt the stars of the night, as I'm sure Napalm Death bassist Shane Embury (who was headbanging along in the crowd with everyone else) would agree.
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