MY FAVORITE ROADBURN 2013 MEMORIES: LORD MANTIS

MY FAVORITE ROADBURN 2013 MEMORIES

Thursday 18th April was truly packed with goodies, and Lord Mantis was one of my most awaited for bands of the whole festival. Forgive the rather poor quality of shots but the stage was filled with smoke and dimly lit by red lights throughout the performance. Who cares: those sick bastards delivered more than I could ever expect!

LORD MANTIS

For those who know their British comedy, think Matt Lucas, think Vicky Pollard: well Charlie Fell, vox & bass of Lord Mantis (ex-Nachtmystium drummer) is “her” long lost American brother. I couldn’t stop smiling throughout their entire set at the intriguing thought, but above all because the band was fucking amazing! Rarely have I witnessed something so sick, heavy and devilishly powerful… Their album “Pervertor” was one of my highlights of last year, which made me discover their previous “Spawning the Nephilim”. Their swirling, highly toxic blackened sludge was far more than a window on humanity’s most abject sickness: it seemed to exhale from its deepest, darkest, most disturbingly infested guts. These Chicago-dwellers know perversion first hand, boasting a pedigree that would make most “tough guys” pale, having played in ugly monsters like the already mentioned - and now defunct - Nachmystium, Avichi, and Von. With the iconic “Pervertor” cover by Justin Bartlett as unsettling background, Lord Mantis walked on the murky stage saturated with drug-induced hate and proceeded at creating hell on earth, reveling in morbid depravity with determined sadomasochistic abandon. The suffocating density of their two albums became pure raw energy: the nasty, deviant guitar created a sinister mood and the ultra heavy, distorted bass made the floor tremble from under your feet, urging them to move as if magma were pouring out of the planks… To cap it all, Fell’s squealed screams and sexed-up, lunatic faces were incredible: whatever drug he took, well it was worth it as this band overall impact was utterly devastatingly and infectious. In fact, pure FUN – Hailz Lord Mantis!