The line of punters snaked from the door of the Mean Fiddler around the corner to the dingy, piss-smelling lane off Charing Cross Road. The black clad army excitedly awaited admittance to the venue, for tonight they were here to see no ordinary death metal band. Tonight they were here to see the notorious Deicide, fronted by the most evil man in metal, the enigmatic Glen Benton, known for burning an inverted cross in his forehead every second Sunday in order to "cast kindness from his soul".

Once inside the venue, Ted Maul opened proceedeings. You may recall I saw them opening a show the other week at the Camden Barfly. Tonight the bigger venue didn't suit them quite as well. They played their brand of electro-extreme metal enthusiastically and without error, however perhaps this wasn't the right bill for them to display their wares. The crowd were after straight-down-the-line death metal, and many didn't seem to understand what Ted Maul were getting at.

Arkhon Anfaustus were more suited to proceedings but not entirely interesting. Yes, they were intense, Yes, they were brutal. Yes, they were fast. However, I feel that with so many death metal bands out there, bands need to differentiate themselves somehow, and Arkhon Anfaustus didn't have that originality required to stand apart from the pack.

By the time Deicide arrived on stage, the Mean Fiddler was packed to shit-house. And I'm glad to say they didn't disappoint. A slightly altered Deicide lineup played tonight. The Hoffman brothers having gone back home for personal reasons, they were replaced by Dave Suzuki from Vital Remains and the mighty Jack Owen of Cannibal Corpse notoriety. And the replacements performed admirably. Sheer intensity best describes Deicide's performance, the precision and speed helped along by a healthy dose of dynamics and groove riffing. The Glen Benton enigma was slightly unravelled too, the man turning out to be more humourous than evil! The early material went absolutely off, with classics such as "Sacraficial Suicide" and "Dead By Dawn" really getting the mosh going. And apart from losing my bloody phone in that very mosh, it was a great night to behold!

And of course the disappointment of losing my phone was eased somewhat by the opportunity of meeting the great Jack Owen in person as evidenced in the photo...

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Deicide's Glen Benton

Gaw and Jack Owen