Tribulation are a Swedish death metal band that have been releasing whiplash-worthy tracks since they first released their debut album ‘The Horror’ in 2009. Since the band came to be, they have blessed their fans with seven bewildering albums filled to the brim with insane riffs and throat-scratching growls. Upon the release of their new album ‘Sub Rosa in Æternum’, the band have been introducing the masterpiece with shows all over the UK, including at The Underworld in Camden, London, with support from the phenomenal NAUT and Livgone.
The venue was packed tight with biker jackets everywhere and hair long enough to pose the issue of being stepped on as the Tribulation fans eagerly awaited the band's performance. First up to build the energy of the room was NAUT, a four piece drum machine rock band from Bristol who started creating music back in 2016. It’s always a nerve-wracking ordeal to be the first support band to rock the stage, but NAUT took it in their stride and had the room roaring with applause by the not just the end, but the middle of their set. Lead vocalist Gavin Laubscher showcased his vocal talent center stage while the rest of the band certainly gave Tribulation themselves a run for their money.
Next up to boss the stage was Livgone, a doom metal band from France formed in 2005, who take emotion and feeling and display it in an entirely new and eardrum-shattering light. Lead vocalist and bassist Johannes Anderson worked the guitar as if it was an extra limb and blessed fans with the exact energy that they entered the venue to feel with help from Adam Zaars and Joseph Tholl shredding their guitars and Oscar Leander slamming sticks on his drum kit.
After Livgone, the agonising thirty-minute wait for Tribulation began, but the wait was made all the more worth it when the stage was changed into this eye-catching colour changing church set and Tribulation finally graced us with their presence, with all the force and fire that fans have come to know and love from this four-piece. The band started off strong with the first track from their new album ‘The Unrelenting Choir’, with stunning instrumentals which set the tone of the rest of the performance perfectly and eased fans into the madness with the way in which the track builds from gentle bass into the powerful death metal sound that Tribulation are best known amongst their fans for.
Tribulation then really began the venture through their brand new album with the intense track ‘Tainted Skies’ and as the guttural growls began, so did the formation of circle pits in all four corners of the venue. Tribulation gave the fans exactly what they travelled far and wide for during this track with powerful riffs, striking vocals, and pure talent that was impossible to ignore.
The band then treated us with two insanely popular tracks from their 2018 album ‘Down Below’ and the crowd went wild with pure excitement as the introduction to the track ‘Nightbound’ was played pristinely and the second blast-from-the-past track ‘The Lament’ evoked the same reaction, if not bigger judging by the roaring crowd. The finger-breaking riffs from guitarist Adam Zaars made these two tracks invigorating to hear live with the passion and dedication emitted from those strings.
The new album ‘Sub Rosa in Æternum’ was dipped back into following these two tracks and fans warmed up to the new music from the band at record pace, the raucous noise and feet slamming the floor shaking the very foundations of the building, and this energy was kept throughout the entire show.
A couple of tracks later and much to fans' sadness, the performance was on its last few songs, but Tribulation would never let fans go home without giving them one last performance to remember them by. The final two tracks ‘Murder in Red’ and ‘Lacrimosa’ redefined the term ‘going out with a bang’. These two powerful tracks guaranteed a parting gift of whiplash for every single fan in the room, if it didn’t already happen during this extraordinary show. Tribulation have a talent for their performances speaking to every fan present, and this one was no exception.
Words: Becca Wheeler
Photos: Amy Smyth
Hey, maybe you should read again what you wrote about Livgone. Band was not started in 2005, and there is no Johannes Anderson in there -and no Johannes in this world does sing+play the guitar AND the bass either