Haserot photo by: Nicole Alyssa

Finally December 1st! Nasty weather conditions would welcome the Ancient Unholy Uprising tour in Houston. The weather conditions were against blasphemy and brutality, but H-town metal commandos were so determined to attend this show. They paid no attention and defied the dark skies and showed up on time. HASEROT is one of the most obscure yet captivating Death metal combos in Space city, and I celebrated the fact that they were opening this show. Their approach to Death metal is quite unique because they haven’t followed any traditional formulas. They are in the process of putting together ancient pagan sounds like old CELTIC FROST and VENOM, the decadence of ASPHYX, and all that mixed with obscure segments ranging from BLACK SABBATH to MORBID AANGEL. “Throne of Malice” is the debut EP and it’s a dark reflection of that weird European and American Death metal crossroads. This is a band you need to follow closely because the best is yet to come.

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Stabbing photo by: Chaviano Ankara

STABBING is a young brutal Death metal act from Houston now. In less than three years, they have managed to release two demos, an EP, a debut album, and be a part of major national tours and foreign festivals. They recently had a sensitive change in the lineup and Matt Day was added on bass and Nat Corner on drums, both from Houston brutal act ARCHITECTURAL GENOCIDE. The debut release came out under Comatose Records and since then it has been a total rise in their short career. They spread out sick tunes from all their previous recordings, including the 2023 two-song demo. The crowd’s FuckYeahs were part of every song ending and those were Houstonians feeling proud of our local scene.

SKELETAL REMAINS is a very well-known and appreciated band in Houston. It has all the ingredients to be a successful Death metal band. This four-piece has been working hard because they have put out four albums and a fifth one on the way in only 12 years. This is Death metal with many reminders of the glorious days back in the early 90’s but very well executed on stage, with tremendous highpoints every time the guitar duet of Chris Monroy and Mike De La O enters in action. The Californian four-piece provided a fiery but quick set-list and H-town Death metallers gave them quite a response in return. The new track “Void of Despair”, along with “Relentless Appetite” (which I don’t think they played it that night) showed what the new recording will sound like, and trust me, these tracks are extremely fast, intricate and it seems that they are pushing their own boundaries. The new album will be absolutely promising! The floor was hot and ready for the next sonic massacre.

It’s a privilege to see INCANTATION live, no matter if you are a diehard since 1989 or just joined this act of blasphemy recently. As soon as they started you could recognize the same sound from their albums on stage. So, the same you hear on the album is what you are going to get on a show, and that’s truly astonishing. One thing that really caught my attention was that the more old school the band is, the more head-banging you get. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against the mosh pit, the wall of Death or a big slam circle, but watching metalheads banging their heads, was like going back in time. I could see that INCANTATION has that dark magic and power on stage despite the years, the troop led by John McEntee is like the finest bourbon. They gave priority to the new album Unholy Deification, but managed to spread old classics as well, and included “The Ibex Moon” almost at the end to my surprise. What a blasphemy! What a luxury to have INCANTATION still around!

Every time SUFFOCATION is in town, that show is a must in the calendar. You don’t get to see the Godfathers of Brutal Death metal very often. They have influenced a whole generation who took it even further under the guidance of masterpieces like Effigy of the Forgotten and Pierced from Within. The extreme metal legends from Long Island, NY, caught the entire venue's attention since the first catatonic assault. It was a very smart setlist and a killer way to introduce the new songs. The five-piece unleashed a new track from Hymns from the Apocrypha after every classic with the exception of the finale. Bridget from STABBING joined in the before the breakdown in “Liege of Inveracity” and John from INCANTATION and Chris from SKELETAL REMAINS did a quick feature on “Infecting the Crypts” if I recall correctly. Having SUFFOCATION in H-town was a real blast. There’s so much history in metal every time the Long Island metallers go on stage and there’s so much gratitude in us, the audience, we acknowledge, and we are grateful for these 35 years on the road. Thanks for continuing performing and recording albums. Until the next one, for sure there will be a full house like that on December 1st.

by Alex Sanchez