Surely one of the most extreme, heaviest bands out there at the moment has to be Dillinger. The sheer intensity of their music is mind-boggling. And the new CD, "Miss Machine" has proved to the world that their debut was no fluke. Justifiably then the Fleece tonight was packed to the rafters.

First up on the bill were Ephel Duath, who's latest CD "The Painter's Palette" has been causing quite a stir in metal circles. Usually billed with the more "atmospheric death" metal bands, tonight they seemed equally comfortable with the mostly hardcore crowd. I was however not totally convinced. I always appreciate and have a healthy respect for bands who try to be original and mix fucked up shit into their music, but I feel the beauty is in knowing when to hold back. Being wierd for the sake of it in my view dulls the very effect bands are trying to acheive. And whilst Ephel Duath tried hard, I found it difficult to follow what they were trying to do. In fairness I wasn't familiar with the material, maybe this would have made their set more enjoyable.

Next up were Poison the Well. They played an impressive set of emotion-fuelled hardcore, the crowd staying with them throughout. Their playing was tight and they had good stage presence. What they do is not entirely my cup of tea, but they do it well, and the scores of fans in the pit who sang along to every word certainly seemed to be loving it.

When Dillinger arrived on stage with the force of an antimatter explosion, in a second both support bands became entirely irrelevant. It is difficult to explain Dillinger live to someone who has not seen them, but try to imagine having your head beaten in with a brick repeatedly and actually loving it, this gives some idea. Opening with "Panasonic Youth", the Fleece was immediately transformed into a war zone. Guitarist Ben Weinman couldn't stand still, running around the stage like a lunatic, jumping onto the foldbacks while still managing to play every note perfectly. Vocalist Greg Puciato was equally as rabid, his ever powerful lungs belching out the lyrics with meat-grinding ferocity. Material from both albums was covered tonight, among the highlights "Sunshine the Warewolf", "Destros Secret" and "43% Burnt". Finishing with "Sugar Coated Sour", Dillinger left everybody completely brutalised, flattened and speechless. Fuck yeah!

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Dillinger