Ted Maul, Voices, DAM & DAOR live at Intrepid Fox, London 18th Feb, 2012

Headlined by TED MAUL and crammed into the smaller 2nd floor pub recently converted into a live music venue, 18th Feb was a date when I witnessed a band that stood high above the myriad of uninspiring bands that infest metal nowadays. That band is VOICES, a project from some AKERCOCKE members, and a band that left most present cold and wanting!


Following 2 opening acts that any usual reviewer would just cap under “was too late to the show to review” (check poster for names), VOICES took to the stage!


Spite (1 word)


-vs- mankind (3 words)


That is how VOICES can be described in 3 words!


Fronted by AKERCOCKE’s bassist in his newer capacity of vocalist and guitarist, VOICES took to the stage with a disposition of confidence that reflected their songs’ quality! With minor 3rds, 6ths, and 9th aplenty from guitarist Sam (at times minimally reminiscent of VED BUENS ENDE but then again what an elite influence!) & a versatile and tight set from AKERCOCKE’s drummer David Gray in sync with their bassist Dan delivering a sharp soothing backdrop, frontman Petor took no prisoners as he spat out verses of compassionless hatred and sexual repression, after all they call themselves as “aggressive black metal erection” whatever that may mean. With bile, bile, and more bile! In my opinion, the best attribute of the band, the vocal delivery reeked of vehemence – from screaming banshee screeches ala early BURZUM/early IN THE WOODS to other black/death timbres of the darkest kind, an extremity kept under good balance with some lyrics coming across even as understandable! All this complemented by something incessantly evil in his eyes, which one can experience first hand on the Fragmented Illustrations Of Anger video they infecting humanity with. With Sam’s backing vocals soaring the array from clean to ultra low pitch growls, VOICES hit the whole underground metal palette! Nothing new under the sun nowadays, but when a band like VOICES come along, when you can hear influences but cannot pin them down to any outright plagiarism, this reviewer feels compelled to commend! Especially, since as already hinted at, few bands have the know-how to keep underground metal fresh to such an extent!


Following VOICES, the 2nd London show of TED MAUL’s metamorphosis into a sextet – with the addition of DJ Hum providing an annihilation of electronic sounds to their “extreme death metal & anti-life jungle dnb”! Already a force to be reckoned with their White Label album, newer TED sees their merging of jungle beats infused with their extreme metal meet sharper levels! TED MAUL is a wall of sound no ifs no buts! A sound that hosts real drums in parallel with their electronic counterparts, worked so seamlessly that one has to watch to understand where sounds are coming from, in turn giving way for well executed and flashy guitar solos that do not fall in the easy trap of sounding as guitar wankery but act as welcome bridges within a song, all complimented by Nick’s relentess bass & backing vocals supporting main torso Solomon, indeed a very prominent frontman that knows how to move a crowd as much as how to control his voice. At times leaning slightly to nu-metal (albeit so minimally that listeners not into it – like me – would not be bothered), at times leaning to jungle rhythms & dubstep, TED MAUL’s overall delivery is one that unrelentlessly takes us to extremes flawlessly! Having supported bands like NAPALM DEATH & played festivals like Sonisphere, I am sure this is a name to watch out for!


 

 

 

 


Reviewer: necrogool
Feb 22, 2012

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