On January 30th, Jake Longhurst and Sam Christelow visited Rock City’s most intimate room to witness a date on the first ever international tour for Undeath, one of the best death metal bands to come out of the USA in years.
Rock City has a long and illustrious history of bands from the heavier, alternative ends of music
making the pilgrimage to Nottingham, and it would not be an understatement to say that this gig
was one of the heaviest they have ever played host to, period. Both Undeath and Celestial
Sanctuary have a pedigree for heaviness, making the expectation for the evening’s events one
of incredible excitement. Providing local support were Burial Rot, bringing their punk-infused
Death Metal to the Rock City BETA stage. With a ferocious, unrelenting sound, we would
recommend them to any fans of heavy music. They always put on a fantastic show, and you can
catch them supporting Moloch at the Chameleon Arts Café on 11/02/23.
J: Main support for the night was provided by Britain’s own Celestial Sanctuary, who are
providing a vital new voice in the New Wave Of British Death Metal. Bringing their 2021 album
Soul Diminished to the Beta stage, the band wasted no time in showing the onlookers what they
were about (and what they were about was chiefly playing excellent death metal). With an
incessant double bass line pulverising any listeners within the vicinity, and the guitar lead
thrashing their way through a set full of bangers, Celestial Sanctuary did not disappoint. Songs
like Mass Extinction and the title track off of Soul Diminished showed us the massive promise
the band command, and their support slot with Obituary later this year is more than enough
indication that they’ve caught the ears of many of metal’s upper echelons.
S: Celestial Sanctuary were not on my radar before this gig, but the fact that I left Rock City with
one of their shirts and a burning desire to listen to all their songs again shows what impact they
had even in a short space of time. Songs like Trapped Within The Rank Membrane bring
searing guitar work reminiscent of Carcass in the 90s while Rid The Gormless is guaranteed to
get your head banging. It truly feels like they are dragging the British Death Metal scene into the
21st century, and are definitely a band to keep an eye on.
"...bringing out an older song with the calibre of Grave Osmosis has without doubt put Jake in line for a bed at QMC in the near future."
J: Rochester, New York isn’t known for its death metal scene (certainly not in the UK anyway),
but after the show Undeath put on at Rock City that is possibly liable to change. Providing some
of the meatiest riffs either of us have seen live to date, and an incredible setlist that stretched
across their entire discography, there should be no doubt that this band has the potential to
command an enormous following and could well be on their way to become one of the great death metal bands. Opening with Rise From The Grave is frankly a decision that will cause many bruised
and battered necks for many years to come, whilst bringing out an older song with the calibre of
Grave Osmosis has without doubt put Jake in line for a bed at QMC in the near future. The band
also played an unreleased song that was possibly one of the best of the entire night, giving what
was already a phenomenal night an even better cap, as now all of us fans have more amazing
Undeath to look forward to!
"Sure the songs might be about necromancy, murder and heavier than my student loan debt, but everyone knows it’s all a bit of fun at the end of the day."
S: There isn’t much I can say about Undeath that hasn’t already been said. They performed
superbly and the crowd was loving it. I even snuck in my first ever stage dive. Perhaps best of all was how much fun they were having on stage - a rare nod to the positivity that underlies all
extreme metal genres. Sure the songs might be about necromancy, murder and heavier than my
student loan debt, but everyone knows it’s all a bit of fun at the end of the day. “What do we
think of Greggs?” shouted vocalist Alexander Jones about halfway through the set, to a roar of
positivity from the room. I appreciated their honesty too, responding to the crowd’s demand for
an encore with “We haven’t practised any more songs, so we’ll have to play one again, is that
cool?”. They played Rise From The Grave again. It was cool.
Let’s be honest, not much needs saying here. Undeath and Celestial Sanctuary absolutely blew
the doors off of Rock City, and if either band are ever anywhere near Nottingham you can bet
your sweet behind that both of us will be there.
Jake Longhurst and Sam Christelow
Edited by: Izzy Morris
Cover and in-article image courtesy of Undeath on Facebook. Video courtesy of Undeath on YouTube.
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