Gatecreeper, Exhumed, Necrot and Ungoliant in Omaha: November 21, 2019

A few weeks ago, it looked like I would not be able to attend this concert.  Originally I was scheduled for a shoplifting jury trial on November 22.  While I was not terribly concerned about needing to present much of a defense (there was actually virtually no evidence tying my client to the crime), I still did not much feel like getting home between 1:00 and 2:00 a.m. before doing a jury trial.  But luckily the prosecutor eventually realized he had nothing and dismissed the case.  So, I got to spend the evening at the Lookout Lounge watching a bunch of death metal bands.

UNGOLIANT

Ungoliant is a black metal band from Omaha that I have seen once before.  I enjoyed them then and this time, I think they were even better.  The band had a new bassist, who appears to be very young.  The songs were all tight and powerful.  The band has been one of the better local bands I have seen in the last several years.  Unfortunately, they have very few releases (three demos) and none of them are very easy to find.  I have my eyes open.  A new release would be nice though.

NECROT

I have seen Necrot before as well.  They were one of the opening bands when I saw Suffocation and The Black Dahlia Murder.  I thoroughly enjoy everything I have heard from Necrot and the concert was no different.  They are an explosive band live, with a lot of energy and some dark and heavy riffwork.  Necrot's sound is more of an occult death metal band and their album from 2017 was in my top five albums of the year.  I am still waiting on a follow-up.

EXHUMED

I have never really been the biggest Exhumed fan.  Possibly because they do not really stand out from a bunch of other grindy gore-obsessed death metal bands.  A lot of their primary characteristics also describe groups like Aborted, Impaled and others.  I have a couple of their albums, but I always mix them up with Impaled in particular.  But, holy shit I will remember them now.  They were massively impressive live.  Their three vocalists play off each other quite well, with each one having a distinct style.  The band was also the most visually impressive of the night, using two television screens showing trailers of old school horror movie classics and also having a man dressed in bloody scrubs take the stage several times to spray fake blood, and generally pump up the crowd.  They played the most songs of the night and were probably the highlight of the show due to their energy and some terrific songs.  I will be paying more attention now.

GATECREEPER

After Exhumed's flurry of activity, Gatecreeper was a bit of a letdown.  Not to say they were bad, completely the opposite, they just could not keep up the energy level after Exhumed practically destroyed the place.  Gatecreeper's new album is one of the better albums of the year and they played a number of the best songs from the album.  They were impressive in their own way and the songs "Desperation" and "Flamethrower" in particular are ones which are absolutely crushing live.  Gatecreeper has been making some major noise in the metal underground and they absolutely deserve it, but based on the relative stage shows, I just feel like the wrong band played last.