Amon Amarth + Obituary @ Forum, Kentish Town

It was strangely welcoming to enter the Forum to the deathly melodic sounds of Keep of Kalessin (7/10). The rattling drums of Vyl along with the rumbling bass of Wizziac set the evening up well. Vocalist Thebon did his best to help spread their dark magestic magic to the people who had bothered to come in earlier enough, and to an extent succeeded.

There is something to be said for European thrash. Its military like precision hits home in a different way to its US counterpart. A perfect example of this can be found from Dutch thrashers Legion Of The Damned (7). Like fellow European thrash acts such as Kreator, Legion Of The Damned have a colder, more strict take on the genre. Tonight they blast through a set like beasts unleashed, and despite the muddy Forum sound still manage to make their mark.

Obituary (8.5) on the other hand whip the crowd into an uncontrollable frenzy, with multiple pits opening up across the full width of the Forum. For the first time in the night the guitars are more audiable meaning every one of the Ralph Santollas and Trevor Peres' guitar riffs hit home with a ferocity unseen in many a live arena this year. Frank Watkins' bass is gut wrenchingly powerful While singer John Tardy drags himself from one side of the stage to the other, his unique drowly vocal style pulling the crowd with him. With classics like 'Slowly we rot' nearly massacring the entire venue Obituary prove that this death metal machine from Florida are definitely not rotting away! If anything they are sounding better than ever after twenty three years.

After such a display it was always going to be interesting to see how the headliners reacted. The past few years have been good for Amon Amarth in the UK. Their last three albums have all kept the momentum going, along with a handful of impressive live dates at the Scala, the Forum (supporting Dimmu Borgir) and last years Download Festival, where they had emos running for the hills. Tonight Amon Amarth (8) were at times physically and mentally massive. The band are giants and take up the stage as if it was won in a gory fight to the death during a routine pillage. Tales of victory and war are delivered in a thunderous wave of viking metal crushing down on the assembled London rabble. Johan Hegg's vocal display is truly impressive throughout, reaching every corner of the venue with ease while the rest of the band ensure the backbone of this invasion is true and strong. Despite the set becoming slightly samey halfway through the likes of openers 'Twilight of the Thunder God' and 'Free Will Sacrifice' from last years excellent 'Twilight of the Thunder God' album hit hard and 'With Oden on Our Side' and 'Death In Fire' meant the evening was never allowed to slip away from them. The crushing 'Pursuit of Vikings' ended the night and made the wait for their appearance at Bloodstock seem even longer.