Cattle Decapitation Unleash Grindcore Hell on Sold-Out Leeds Stylus [Photos]

For a four-band bill which, to most people, is the sound of hell on earth, the fact that the Leeds date is one of numerous upgraded due to ticket demand is something of an impressive feat. Headlined by San Diego grindcore mob Cattle Decapitation, Friday night at the Stylus got brutal as one of the most extreme bills to hit the UK in some time rolled into Yorkshire.

First up are Connecticut maulers Vomit Forth, who have just twenty-odd minutes to work their hellish magic onto the early evening crowd. Splattering craniums with their groove-soaked death metal, frontman Kane Gelaznik’s regular callouts to the crowd to “fuckin’ move”, become a bit repetitive but, throughout the night, they’re not the only ones guilty of this charge. That being said, by the time the death metal outfit departs, the rapidly filling floor is loosened up, ready for the night ahead.

Next up is one of the big draws on the bill, 200 Stab Wounds. One of the new crop of death metal bands, this may be 2024 but their sound comes straight from the sewer. Grumbling, groaning old school-inspired filth is the order of the day here and the band certainly live up to the reputation that they’ve been building up Stateside. Again only a short thirty-minute set but judging by the number of battered bodies leaving the floor after their set, those thirty minutes didn’t leave anyone disappointed.

“This is American deathcore,” howls Signs of the Swarm frontman David Simonich halfway through the Pittsburgh brutalists set. One of the more modern-sounding generations of bands, unlike the previous two bands, Signs of the Swarm’s brutality is firmly rooted in the new school of pig squeals, blast beats and crushingly heavy breakdowns. With rapidly increasing numbers of bodies spitting over the pit barrier, encouraged by Simonich’s calls to “fucking circle pit,” the fuse is lit for the incendiary headliners.

It may seem utterly ridiculous to the untrained ear that a band who sounds like San Diego grindcore crew Cattle Decapitation can not only sell out venues in the UK but can force upgrades and you’re probably right. However, to those ears finely tuned to the nuances of the grindcore scene, Cattle Decapitation is a truly special band. Touring in support of their genre-crushing Terrasite album, the band is led by the psychotic stare of frontman Travis Ryan.

Hammering through “We Eat Our Young” and “Scourge of the Offspring,” Ryan, now drenched in water, peers from underneath his drenched mop of hair over the absolute carnage unfolding before him. As mentioned earlier, to the untrained in this is absolute musical torture, but to the grindcore aficionado, a crisp sound affords the band the space for their true genius to shine tonight. All too soon, though, the night ends, and Cattle Decapitation leaves bodies strewn all over the floor. For the band, it’s off to demolish another town; for the few hundred fans exiting into the Friday night, two days of recovery lie ahead.

Cattle Decapitation (w/ Signs of the Swarm, 200 Stab Wounds, Vomit Forth) @ University Stylus (Leeds, UK) on March 15th, 2024

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