It is never a good start for a gig when you get to the venue before the bands. But then, when their flight is delayed and they then have to get across the pennines, I guess it can’t be helped. Still, it was a little odd sitting through the soundchecks and an alternately deafening and silent venue, which made conversation interesting. When we did get to the bands, though, it was worth the wait.

I’ve been carping on about Aesthetic Perfection for some time, since I picked up the album over a year ago, in fact. So it was nice to finally get a chance to see if it could be cut live. Happily, the answer was a resounding yes, all started off by the rather creepy processed female voice of Human, with a similarly creepy mouth saying the words on the projection screen. After that, little time was wasted in getting a quick run through of most of the album, particular highlights being I Belong To You, Fix, Surface and closer Coward.

More surprising was hearing album centrepiece Overcast at the heart of the set, providing a useful break from the pounding beats. This was always the most interesting track on the album, and like the rest of the live set with all vocal effects stripped away it sounded particularly chilling. With a new album to follow in the new year, it was perhaps a little disappointing not to hear anything new, but frankly that is a minor quibble, and I’m happy to wait until next time…

So onto Agonoize. Again, two members of the band, one vocalist and one handling the electronics, lots of dry ice (The Sisters would have been jealous, frankly), an anglegrinder, fake semen, oh and lots of fake blood. It make quite a visual spectacle – there would have been more photos had I been able to see – but as for the music? Well, the sad thing was that I had heard it all before. “Harsh” EBM/Industrial is hardly a new idea, and has literally been done to death by the likes of Suicide Commando, Hocico, :wumpscut:…need I go on? There were elements of all of these in the set, and more besides, and while some of the tracks were pretty good, they simply couldn’t keep my attention.