Abstracter, Disimperium and Funeral Chant live at Eli's Mile High Club (9/8/2023)

 

    Last night I decided to make the trek out to Eli’s Mile High Club in Oakland, CA where three unfathomably extreme bands would be performing and offering up decimating ear shattering riffs to all those metal maniacs in attendance. Funeral Chant, Disimperium and Abstracter are three very insidious sounding acts that exemplifying the decimating dark spirit of extreme music. 

    Before the show I will admit that driving through the part of Oakland where Eli’s Mile High Club is located can be a very surreal and sobering experience when pertaining to the state of society. As much as the bands performing are “extreme” and the fans in attendance can put on the tough image, nothing compares to the harsh and abysmal reality of the area around the venue where you see people strung out on drugs and living in torn up tents. Actually, getting to hear live music while being around people who share the same passionate of extreme metal is sort of the perfect escape from that chaotic world outside. Also, I was also really excited to meet up my friend from Canada who came out to the Bay Area, because he too has the same enthusiastic mindset for metal music as I do, which made attend this show really enjoyable. 

    Upon arriving at the venue, the first band Funeral Chant just launched into their set right as I walked through the door and into the dimly light venue. Funeral Chant is a local black metal band that has a purely sinister sound that reminds me a bit of groups like Marduk, Blasphemy and Beherit. Being that they are a local band I could tell the audience was extremely supportive of the group throughout the entire set. I thought the band’s singer/guitarist had great stage presence as he unleashed his agonizing cries over the hellish chord progressions. The band for the most part sounded solid and I think that they were a good choice to open the show, because the crowd seemed to very responsive from the start of their set until the very end. 

    After Funeral Chant cleared the stage, the second band Disimperium began setting up for their set. This destructive four-piece band from Portland, OR caught my attention a couple years back with the release of their debut EP, "Malefic Obliteration.” They combine sickening black metal with tormenting death metal to offer up one sadistic overall sound. Recently, they released an album called, “Grand Insurgence Upon Despotic Altars,” so I was looking forwarded to hearing the new material live. Right away, I could tell that this band had a profoundly brutal live sound as both guitarist seemed to play with this unexplainable savage synergy. The band’s technical riffs capture that gruesome old school death metal sound, while the slower sections convey a more malevolent and raw blackened death metal quality. Also, the drumming was insanely intense and I could tell that the drummer was expending a ton of energy from behind the kit. 

Disimperium

    Once Disimperium finished their extreme sounding onslaught, it was then time for the night’s headliner to take the stage. Abstracter is a Bay Area band that I have followed for many years, but unfortunately never had yet seen perform live. I was highly anticipating their performance, so as the band took to the stage with their instruments looking unleash their ferocious brand of apocalyptic blackened death/doom, I quickly made my way to the front. From the very first riff I was completely taken back by how tight and in sync they seemed to be while performing with all this smoke swirling around them. They sounded exactly the same as they do on their albums, if not even louder and more vicious live! The band’s singer is a tremendously talented frontman and he delivered the lyrics with such unapologetic attitude which really complimented the soul crushing arrangements. Getting to hear material from one of my favorite albums, "Abominion," was probably my favorite part of the whole night, as the songs from that album are insanely brutal. 

Abstracter

As the smoke cleared and the noise from Abstracter’s amps faded away until everything went silent, the audience roared with appreciation for the band one last time before everyone started to make their way out of the venue. I must commend each of the three band’s for giving every once of energy to put on such a cataclysmic show. This show was a testament to how underground extreme music continues to thrive due to the hard work from the truly creative musicians and the loyal support from all those diehard metal fanatics. I highly recommend checking out all three of these bands, and I hope to see them continue to record/perform as this world needs something to get us through all the insanity of where society seems to be headed...trust me, when you have to watch out for dog crap and human crap when walking down the street...things are not looking good. 

Abstracter Bandcamp:

https://abstracter.bandcamp.com/

Disimperium Bandcamp:

https://disimperium.bandcamp.com/album/grand-insurgence-upon-despotic-altars

Funeral Chant:

https://funeralchant.bandcamp.com/album/funeral-chant

Disimperium "Malefic Obliteration"

   This release may only feature three tracks, however I recommend that you do not underestimate Disimperium’s sadistic sounding extreme metal vision. The band’s debut EP, “Malefic Obliteration,” is a blackened death onslaught, throwing listeners into a savage realm of fearsome desolation. 

   Featuring members from Misrule and Ascended Dead, this Portland, OR based band really turns up the intensity on their debut EP. Disimperium is not trying to do anything completely different from what one might expect from a merciless blackened death metal band that also mixes in some old school grindcore elements, although the band seems to know how to produce a vivid and hellish sounding release that contains some agonizing compositions.

   Yes, this style of music has been hammered out numerous times before, but what separates this band from the others is the solid production and brutal execution on each track. The open riff on the first track, “Malefic Obliteration,” is a sinister sounding assault that comes charging at you like a chainsaw wielding lunatic. The vocals were what really stood out the most and the singer unleashes some horrendous growls as the music violently transitions. So much chaos, so much insanity and so much utter insidious creativity that it literally makes your head spin. 

   The next song, “Fuming Nexus,” is very similar to the opening track, and once again throws you into this cataclysmic atmosphere full of brutal instrumental arrangements. I cannot believe the drumming on this release at times and how the force of the rhythms come rumbling out of the speakers like a Sherman Tank. Turn this release on at full volume and you are sure to become deaf after a couple listens! The album’s final track, “Infernal Machine,” was another wicked offering and the ending perfectly summed up the band’s destructive vision. Eventually the band stops playing and all you hear is feedback and inhuman noises as if everything has been completely decimated by some apocalyptic event. 

   Disimperium is a band that you should not be surprised is working with Sentient Ruin on the release of this EP. Once again, here is a group that gets how to produce a vicious sounding album and demonstrates a certain caliber of musicianship I feel is lacking at times amongst some up and coming bands. “Malefic Obliteration,” by Disimperium is highly recommend for blackened death metal grindcore fanatics who wish to hear something that is brutal from start to finish, and of course is being released through one of the premier labels within the extreme metal community. 

Check out the entire EP below: 

Sentient Ruin Bandcamp:

https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/malefic-obliteration