Tortured Demon - Bristol Review

It feels like a while since I last did three gigs in three days. There have been plenty of two-in-two of late, but three-in-three feels like something that I have not done for a little while. I have already managed to cover the first of the three, as I squeezed writing my review of Wishbone Ash's local Plymouth show into Sunday morning, before leaving for Bristol, but I am now back from my travels - so will be able to get to the other two. My coverage of Beast in Black's excellent London show will follow tomorrow, but today I will be covering Sunday evening's trip to Bristol - to take in something altogether more humble. Over the past couple of years, I have been following the Manchester-based young metal band Tortured Demon. I had not heard of them before they announced a show in Plymouth as part of their 2024 tour, and I decided to check them out. I liked what I heard, which was essentially a thrashier take on early Trivium without the clean vocals, and I really enjoyed seeing the band live not long after. Since then I have bought both of the band's albums, with 2023's Rise of the Lifeless being especially good, and I saw them live again last year - also in Plymouth. Following some busy touring years, the band have largely been working on their third album this year - and it was recently announced that they had signed to BLKIIBLK Records, a new metal subsidiary of Frontiers Records. I think that album number three is now fully recorded, as the lead single Apocalypse was recently released, so a few months ago the band announced their latest tour - which seemed a bit of step-up from previous ones in terms of venues played. I have a feeling that the tour was perhaps supposed to be the tour for album number three but, for whatever reason, it was not ready. The band did say from the stage that the business side of being signed is taking a little while to fall into place, but a young band like Tortured Demon need to get out and play as often as they can - so, after a relatively quiet year publicly, another tour is certainly no bad thing, especially given the slightly larger venues opted for this time. Sadly, though, this meant no Plymouth show. The 2024 show in Plymouth was quite well attended, but the one last year felt somewhat sparse - but Bristol was chosen to represent the South West this time, with a show at the Exchange duly booked. Given that I already had the Monday off to head up to London, going to Bristol on the Sunday made sense. I would have likely not made the effort had it required more time off work, as that would not likely have been possible, but as the show tied into existing plans it seemed silly not to take advantage of the situation. It also meant a return to the Exchange only a couple of weeks after my last visit. Tortured Demon were never going to live up to the majesty of Myrath, but the Exchange seemed a fitting place for a night of extreme metal. It is quite a grubby place overall, but the sound is generally pretty good there - and have had some pretty memorable nights there over the years despite considering it one of the lesser Bristol venues. For a Sunday, and given that the band had only played in Bristol once before, the turnout was decent - but I would have expected a few more given the low ticket price and the fact that there is a bit of hype around the band. Tortured Demon always seem quite down to earth and grateful that anyone turns up - but I thought that a few more Bristol metalheads could have made the effort.

There were three support acts before Tortured Demon's set. Their sets were all quite short, so I will keep my comments on each fairly brief. I do find it a bit frustrating that extreme metal bills tend to be so much bigger than those of most other metal genres. I would rather have one or two really quality support acts than a long bill that feels padded out for the sake of it. This probably says more about my overall views on a lot of extreme metal than anything else in fairness, but less is sometimes more. The local crossover thrash band Martyrs Saint opened up the show, and played for around half an hour. The first two bands on the bill had quite muddy sound mixes in my opinion, and there were not too many people in attendance during Martyrs Saint's set. Some of their riffing was pretty good, and there was some flashy traditional metal soloing, too, but I found the songs a little meandering. Many seemed to end randomly without much overall thought as to arrangement, whereas others seemed like collections of riffs and ideas rather than coherent songs. Vocally, the band were strong at times - but they felt a bit under-rehearsed at others, although it likely did not help that the stage was crammed with gear leaving the supports barely any room to move. I think that there is certainly some potential in the band, with the lead guitarist in particular standing out, but, at the moment, I think that Martyrs Saint still have quite a bit to work on.

The other two support acts were part of the touring package, with Denmark's Pustulant Flesh next up. True death metal is rarely my thing, and I did not really enjoy Pustulant Flesh's set. It did not help that their live sound mix was not all that great, with the muddy sound continuing and the vocals being somewhat buried, but even with that in mind there was nothing to grab me. I did not find that any of the riffs stuck with me at all, and thinking back now there really is not much I can say about the band. It was dirgy, typical death metal but without any of the hooks or riffs that make the best death metal really shine. As such, there was really nothing that interested me - and I found the band really rather boring. There were a few more in the room by this point, and some mosh pits did break out, but, for me, there was nothing to enjoy and I was glad when Pustulant Flesh's set ended.

The final support act was Unburier, a technical death metal band that I had seen before - once opening for Crypta and once again with Tortured Demon. Whilst I have never sat down and listened to the band at home, I largely enjoyed them when I saw them before - and that was essentially the case this time, too. The sound mix was much better for them, which was good as it allowed the nuances of their sound to shine through a bit more. They are a band built around riffs, and there were plenty of good ones throughout their set - with complex, progressive arrangements filling out their set, whilst the solos were full of speed and melody. The interlocking guitar riffing and the dual vocal approach worked well, with the band's songs full of interesting twists and turns without being too long - whilst the rhythm section could well have been the best of the night. Some of the drum grooves and patterns were excellent - whilst the fretless bass playing really was a cut above just about everyone else on the bill. Given that I have seen Unburier live three times now, I really should give them a bit more attention. I enjoy death metal that is interesting, and I think that it is fair to say that, with their progressive flair, Unburier's music is very much that. They are a strong live band, who seem to be able to pull off their complex songs with ease - and they capped off an iffy group of support bands nicely.

The changeovers were pretty quick, typically about 15 minutes, so there was not too much hanging around before the main event. The opening bands had all had around half an hour, but Tortured Demon had a full hour - and filled their time with 12 songs. Songs from their two existing albums clearly made up the bulk of the set, but there were also four new numbers played from their upcoming album - including the aforementioned Apocalypse. The new material generally filled the middle portion of the set, though, with older songs kicking things off. Taking the stage to an atmospheric version of its chorus, Conflict of Interest kicked things off - with Virtual Death following. Whilst Unburier are likely all better musicians, Tortured Demon were easily the songsmiths of the night. Even lacking strong clean vocals, many of the band's songs remains anthemic - especially those from album two. There were some strong choruses on show, them, whilst Jacob Parkinson (vocals/guitar) was in fine voice. I generally find the band to be quite accessible - and their live sound mix was pretty good, although Rory Marsland-Smith (guitar) was a bit quiet at times. This meant that some of the guitar leads and melodies were not as powerful as they should be, but the core riffing and vocal power throughout was strong. As mentioned before, there was a fairly decent crowd in by this point, and there was a good vibe in the room throughout. There were plenty of mosh pits throughout, and it was good to see a young band really commanding the room. A few more bodies throughout the door would have been welcome, but there was still an energy in the room - with lengthier numbers like The Invasion keeping everyone's attention. I generally enjoyed the new songs, but it is often hard to judge so much new material in one go - especially now in retrospect having since attended another gig. I had heard Apocalypse beforehand, so I was somewhat familiar with the thrashy piece, but I think the other new number that stood out the most was State Your Intentions - which felt a bit more groovy and with some chunky mid-paced riffing and a bit more of a modern sound that the band have not really exhibited before. There was a subtle difference to most of the new material, too, which shows that the band are still progressing and trying new things - which is always good to see. Hearing the new material certainly piqued my interest for album number three - and I am looking forward to hearing it when it drops, likely next year. With most of the new material out of the way, the rest of the set was largely old favourite. Global Threat contains one of the band's best choruses, and it sat nicely after a suite of three new cuts - whilst the older Oppressed was a lot of fun. The band took some time after it, too, to wish a happy birthday to one of their friends - which the whole crowd got involved with. By this point, though, there was not much time left - and it was left to the two title tracks from their two albums to wrap things up. In Desperation's Grip always works well live, but Rise of the Lifeless is one of my favourite Tortured Demon songs - and it worked really well as a closing statement. The setlist was:

Conflict of Interest

Virtual Death

Disfavour

The Invasion

Apocalypse

State Your Intentions

Tear Your World Apart

Global Threat

Oppressed

In Hatred Alone

In Desperation's Grip

An Empire Condemned

Rise of the Lifeless

In terms of sound mix and performance, this was likely the strongest Tortured Demon's strongest showing yet that I have witnessed - and it was nice to see them in a bigger venue than The Junction in Plymouth. Tortured Demon are a band that are slowly rising through the ranks, and have managed to get a lot of good work done as an unsigned act with little weight behind them. With album number three on the way, via a label, hopefully this will be the kick that the band need to move up to the next level.