Nails

Birthdays, London | 26 June

“Long live bleak aggression, crushing rage, and audial warfare. Long live Nails. HATRED AD INFINITUM…” pens vocalist, Todd Jones. It’s the kind of measurable savagery one would anticipate from a band in label limbo. Having severed their ties with California’s stoner-centric Southern Lord, Nails have inked a deal with Nuclear Blast; rackety sanctuary to the likes of Decapitated, Behemoth and Madball. With the pseudo-supergroup’s third LP planned for 2015, they have this year and this tour to tattoo their relevance before releasing what is preordained to be a classic grindcore/death/punk record.

All the sweat, spit, and disaffection reddens the dripping faces of Birthdays. Fists spill over arched backs drenched from the sweat stained ceiling. The heat is enough to raisin the skin. And onstage are Jones, Young, Gianelli and A.R. Saba semi-clad in black leather. Scattered flashes from unstable cameramen burnished the crowd’s scrunched faces. The band take position over lashed monitors as their instruments whistle from the house PA. Despite the inferences of refined metal, the experience was persistently punk in its impeccably wretched execution.

Foregoing the body butchery was Inherit. Regardless of performing a set rehashed from previous shows, this poised hardcore/metal crossover playing is doggedly received. Frontman Adam Malik successfully doesn’t come across as a blustered egoist when illustrating the significance of Nails performing in such a concentrated space. Closing to a rendition of Zero Tolerance’s A Minute to Pray sees a stir hardcore sect yet is somewhat lost in the metal milieu. Tonight demands a consistent marriage between the genres, which Inherit deliver in shrimp sized doses.

Seconds is all it takes before Nails have macerated the floor. Beefed torsos rest on damp shoulders as the band seer pace and chug through their back-catalogue. Jones barks to Wide Open Wound and heads oscillate. Inherit’s Malik joins the crew to guest on a cover of Breakdown’s Sick People. Everyone is in a state of bloodied bliss. Debut tracks from Unsilent Death are met with arm-flaying schmaltz while the crusted blend of Abandon All Life’s D-beat and power-violence unearth a newfangled awe for genre-merging.

As a former member of Terror, Jones’s prestige is already deeply cemented within the hardcore community. Yet what he and the entire body of Nails assure tonight is they are wholly humbled by the unremitting anger and adoration spewing out of the crowd. They are genuinely elated by the shambles that lays in front of them. Promises of a return are made upon the distribution of next year’s LP. A limp applause emerges as the front row hunts for oxygen. On the back of this performance alone, Nuclear Blast have a lot to look forward to. It was hell for everyone and everyone was satisfied.

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abandonalllife.com/
Words: Tom Watson