Boltfest @ The Forum, Kentish Town, London

(review n pix by mwj)

Easter Saturday offers a time of quiet reflection on the sacrifice made by a Coventry death metal war machine as they randomly celebrate their 26th anniversary with a birthday bash in London town. Not only have they invited truly special supporting cast but the whole thing is a £6 a throw charity fundraiser at their own cost, summing up their uncompromising down to earth approach and further endearing them to us all who’ve enjoyed their aural battering over the years. The first time for me was an all-dayer in Liverpool Planet X, them co-headlining with Carcass when both where on their first album, a show I only heard about via John Peel, and after which it was fair to say I was never the same again. As they say themselves, it’s very easy to reach these anniversaries just by not splitting up, in 7 years their career will have outlasted Jebus and its arguable that they’ve brought a lot more spiritual ecstasy to a lot of people rather than wholesale slaughter in the latter’s name. Should have stuck to carpentry.
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