Gigs: Nekrogoblikon at The Asylum, Birmingham

Nekrogoblikon

On 19 September, I had the privilege of seeing the self-proclaimed “world’s greatest goblin-metal band” Nekrogoblikon at Birmingham’s very own The Asylum venue for their Goblin Mode Tour. It was without question the most chaotic, the most random, and the most unique concert I’ve ever attended.

Supported by London hardcore specialists Cage Fight and North Carolina’s folk-metal outfit Æther Realm, it was a diverse (and certainly rare) night of genre-fusions for the metalheads of the second city to behold.

The very first thing I noticed upon arrival was two separate queues lined up outside the venue, I later found out to my amazement that the second queue was the line for merch! I have never seen that at a concert before, but once I got in it was clear as to why. The designs and variety of the merch were incredible, true care and thought had gone into the designs and they were high quality too, not just some overpriced cash-grab ploy which many bands cheat their fans with – this was REAL merch.

Cage Fight

Cage fight kicked of the night with heavy riffing and Rachel Aspe’s demonic vocals, a very intense starter to warm up the crowd, they respectfully tributed their song ‘eating me alive’ to the recent passing of Trevor Strnad of the Black Dhalia Murder who featured on the studio release. Æther Realm followed up opening with what felt like the theme to a spaghetti western film. Combining galloping rhythm with a storytelling narrative before breaking out into the headbanging material. Their crowd engagement was fantastic, getting us all to chant vocal backing “OOOs” for the song ‘Guardian’.

When Nekrogoblikon began their set. There was shift in atmosphere as the lights dimmed and the crowed pushed towards the stage. I had some but little knowledge of what to expect as I had only listened to a couple songs on my journey there, but nothing could have prepared me for the appearance of the frontman/mascot, John Goblikon, who emerged dressed up as a goblin. The audience roared and as distortion from the guitars turned up, Infant annihilator ex-vocalist Dickie Allen came on stage and the opening track ‘Right Now’ began to play. Only then was it beginning to dawn on me what kind of night I was in for.

The show was almost half-music, half-comedy set as between songs the on-stage banter as well as the crowd heckling was immense. John Goblikon asked the audience who was circumcised and who was a doctor within minutes of each other – and I’m happy not remembering how one topic led to the other.

While most metal gigs are known for the typical mosh pit in the centre of the room, in this case, it was more of a multi-function/do-whatever-you-want pit which changed activity at least 2 or 3 times per song based on the music. Sometimes it was typical moshing, other times it was rave-dancing, next thing I knew there was a wall of death and at one point even the Macarena! The unpredictability of the quick genre-switching gave this surreal feeling of being free from the standard etiquettes of your typical metal gig, there was absolutely no judgement or boundary on how you wanted to express your enjoyment… the weirder, the better. I got to experience metal, ska, EDM and even what can only be described as circus music too all in 45 minutes – there’s not many other bands out there who can offer you that same experience!

For the inevitable encore that was beckoned for almost immediately after the set, John emerged in a gold sequin blazer with sunglasses in the shape of a profound hand gesture, just in case things weren’t over the top enough already. They performed ‘Goblins’ and ‘powercore’ to finish and left the audience sweaty and satisfied after we had all got our “goblin mode” fix.

The musicianship of the night from all of the bands was at an exceptional standard, but it was joyous to see such skill and talent being used solely for the purpose of fun and entertainment rather than commercial exploit. Another notable point is that whoever was controlling the lighting that night did a fabulous job matching the energy and tone for all of the sets. It truly was a night I will never forget.