(((O))) Live: Cattle Decapitation – Electric Brixton

“It’s the fucking Terrasitic Reconquest tour 2025,” exclaims Travis Ryan during Cattle Decapitation’s majestic headline set, “whatever the fuck that means.” It’s a funny moment as I had also wondered quite where that obscure title had come from, but it also helped underline something that came up in a conversation I had after the show: Tthat Cattle Decapitation – and other bands of their ilk – sometimes do the power of their music a disservice by adhering to some of the more ludicrous aesthetics of death metal – the illegible logos, gory lyrics, blood-splattered artwork and all that. Because watching Cattle live, they clearly aren’t just another metal band: it’s an oddly emotional experience, and a grand pay-off following a varied line-up of death-related metal, covering slam, tech/prog, -core, and old school. 

It’s no surprise that Vulvodynia – a band named after a horrible vaginal condition chosen randomly from a medical textbook – don’t radically subvert the playbook. Kicking off early, having travelled all the way from South Africa to be here, these guys aren’t wasting any time getting the room moving. This is massive bludgeoning riff after massive bludgeoning riff. There’s nothing like a man in uniform, even if it’s a guitarist wearing an all-over print watermelon suit, shredding like it’s the only thing keeping his baggy shorts up. From the plethora of collabs Vulvodynia have been involved with I’d anticipated a slightly more varied set, but tonight is decidedly slam centric. Vocalist Lwandile Prusent Tmay may only have stepped up to the mic five years ago, starting as guitarist, but he’s the first in a line of impressive vocalists tonight, alternating harsh shrieks and super punchy gutterals. They have a lot of stage presence, and a massive sound, but Vulvodynia don’t do a lot for me tonight to distinguish themselves from other bands in the sub-genre. 

Vulvodynia. Photo: Diana Revell

If we started with horror in the body, Revocation bring us horror of the cosmic variety with their intricate, technically-audacious compositions. Last time I saw them, a few years back, they were just a three-piece so it’s interesting to see them with two guitars to thicken out the sound. I have to say I did especially enjoy watching David handle all guitar duties himself last time as well as vocals, not minding the sound thinning out a little when he took solos. But this time, with a second guitar, the interlocking jazzy harmonies which underpin their sound become especially prominent. The whole set is a masterclass in virtuosity, without being too flashy or too perfect. At one stage David does his best impression of Travis from Cattle, “it gets a little better every night”, reminding us of the treat we’re in store for later on.  

There’s something especially science fictional about Revocation’s sound, suggested by the progressive tendencies of their song structures and the relatively clean tone of their brand of death metal. As a Weird Fiction fan, I’m here for material from their H.P. Lovecraft-themed album The Outer Ones (2018), and the final pairing of ‘That Which Consumes All Things’ and the title track – with their frantic complexity, sense of catchiness, and streak of bizarreness – combines everything I love about Revocation. The band seem to relax a little during the finale, turning towards each other to trade grins and indulge in a little performative tomfoolery, without missing a single note.  

Revocation. Photo: Diana Revell

I must confess that, on paper, I have very little interest in symphonic metalcore and so – also having not played the game Halo on which their lyrics are based – I was not expecting to enjoy Shadow of Intent as much as I did. But holy shit, do you notice when a band is fully engaged! From the first note to the last, these guys give every moment total energy and passion. I’m always slightly dubious when a band brings steps to the front of the stage – it feels a bit like a gym class, you know? – but I’ll admit to does look pretty cool, and does certainly increases visibility.  

On record, I’m not sure what to make of grandiose piano parts accompanying brutal hardcore riffs; the juxtaposition seems a bit forced. But I have no complaints tonight: I see that it all comes together to increase the already formidable levels of brutality and melodrama on display. We get big headbanging riffs; super-tight tremolo riffs; slamming, knucklehead riffs; melodeath riffs; techy, proggy, flashy riffs; riffs to dance to; riffs to brush your teeth with. And the pit goes hard, especially when the sub-bass drops, reverberating around the balconies. Indeed, someone appears to be filming, moshing and crowd-surfing simultaneously; no mean feat. 

Shadow of Intent. Photo: Diana Revell

These sets feel a very generous length tonight, especially Shadows whose hour-long performance makes it feel like a dual headliner by the time Cattle Decapitation charge away on ‘The Carbon Stampede’. Theirs is a perfectly crafted set, covering the band’s last three albums. It’s my first time seeing Cattle live and I’m curious as to what makes their shows so hyped. Well, Travis Ryan’s voice is a lot to do with it: a bit death metal growl, bit trad heavy metal melody, bit nasal screech, it sounds so much more unique than the sum of those parts.  

Cattle Decapitation. Photo: Diana Revell

This show will be remembered, rather unfortunately, for the person who got knocked out in the pit during ‘Forced Gender Reassignment’, apparently leaving the band no choice but to stop the song and skip to the next one. These accidents do happen, but this did feel like a serious incident, and I was wondering for a moment if it would derail the whole show. But the band bounced back with a recorded skit from Sir David Attenborough to introduce ‘Dead End Residents’ – coincidentally just as my friends and I were admiring the sound engineer’s rather wonderful termite outfit. And one naturally hopes that that fan made a full recovery.  

Travis Ryan – Cattle Decapitation. Photo: Diana Revell

 As I say, it’s a surprisingly emotional set. Yes, extreme metal shows are often emotional, belying the crudeness of their subject matter., but this feels especially so. And I think the reason why comes back to Travis’s voice: there’s something more personal and engaging about it than even some of the most powerful blunt grunters. The finale ‘Death Atlas’ reaches a pinnacle of awesome heaviness and shocking tightness, which sustains its intensity and majesty for what seems like a glorious age, while Travis is right up the crowd dishing out hugs and screeching melodically into their ecstatic faces. It may only be January, but Cattle Decapitation set a very high standard indeed for extreme metal shows in 2025.  

Cattle Decapitation. Photo: Diana Revell