Combichrist, Rabia Sorda, Dismantled @ Bristol Tunnels

Combichrist

Rabia Sorda

Dismantled

@

Bristol Tunnels

On the back of their re-release of ‘Standard Issue,’ Dismantled’s often heavy and gritty industrial drop a well deserved bombshell on the headliner-awaiting crowd afront the stage. Merging a heavier representation of early Nine Inch Nails with dirtied and smoggy ambient electronics, Gary Zon and co leave the stage knowing that they aroused tonight’s crowd in readiness for what the rest of the evening was about to hold.

To some, the name Erk Aicrag brings no hint of recollection, but on the flip side is a household harsh-EBM name behind such projects such as Hocico and Dulce Liquido; with tonight’s Rabia Sorda set, Aicrag shows the Bristol Tunnels why he is known in the electronic scene the world over. Opening with ‘Out of Control,’ and making light work of vigorous examples from his back catalogue such as ‘Save Me From My Curse’ and ‘Radio Paranoia,’ Aicrag more than ensures that the crowd are prepped and are more than ready for tonight’s headliners- in astounding fashion.

Opening with ‘...Demons’ number ‘All Pain is Gone,’ steely-eyed LaPlegua’s Combichrist do well to shake off any negative repercussions that resulted from their recent Rammstein-support, but although the set is polished off to near perfection, it is obvious that Combichrist’s appearance in the musical mainstream has taken its toll and tonight it is plain to see that they are on auto-pilot. Cruising through dirty little numbers such as ‘Get Your Body Beat,’ and ‘Blut Royale,’ with new tracks such as ‘Never Surrender,’ getting an equally enthusiastic response, the elision of ‘This Shit Will Fuck You Up’ post-encore is only really noticed by a select few. Ending with ‘What the Fuck is Wrong with You?’ with the throng suitably abused, Combichrist can be safe in the knowledge that they are as crushing as they always were, only without the raw energy that the older fans know and love them for. Shame.

Review & Photography by Rhys Heal (Bristol Show)
Photography by Asif Salam (London Show)

	Click Here to view full picture set in the gallery Combichrist (Bristol Show) (London Show) Rabia Sorda (Bristol Show) (London Show) Dismantled (Bristol Show) (London Show)
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