Report: Asphyx + The Ominous Circle + Besta @ RCA

Once again, RCA hosted a beastly Vagos Metal Fest warm-up last May 27 in Portugal. This time around, Amazing Events invited the Dutch death metal band Asphyx, which was supported by the Portuguese The Ominous Circle and Besta.

Portuguese grindsters Besta took the stage in front of an almost empty room, something that didn’t compromise the band’s unflinching dedication – in fact, they delivered twenty-nine of their most brutal songs. Opening up with “Vermes” and carrying on with quick bursts of punk-fueled grind, Besta fired off hate anthems such as “Planeta Terra Cancerígeno”, “Requiem Macabro”, “Cravado em Lume Negro” or “Portugal em Chamas”, wrapping things up with “A Cidade Dos Malditos”.

At a given point, Besta’s vocalist tried to convey a philosophical message to the crowd, but due to poor sound quality no one could hear him. Nonetheless, the crowd fared well, entertained and satisfied that it was with the band’s performance.

Then coming from Porto, The Ominous Circle brought their blackened death metal to a full venue. As a first impression, the fact that the band emerged covered in black cloaks, matching the sinister atmosphere seemed to work in their advantage. The audience’s reaction was great and everyone seemed to enjoy it a lot.

The band presented a very strong performance, marked by the crushing guitar riffs accompanied by the very intense drumming and the haunting growling of these hooded figures. Enjoy the pure darkness! “Poison Fumes”,  “Ateh Gibor Le-olam Adonai”, “As the Worm Descends”were some of the tracks played, all taken from their “Appalling Ascension” album released in January this year by Osmose Productions.

To end the night, the long awaited Asphyx opening the performance with “The Quest of Absurdity”, exploding with the speed and violent riffs of “Vermin”.

Without wasting more time, the focus was set on the latest release “Incoming Death” with “Candiru”, “Division Brandenburg” and “Wardroid”, the first three tracks of the newest album. The audience reacted with great enthusiasm to the performance of the Dutch death metallers.

They followed by the classics that the whole audience seemed to know “Death the Brutal Way”, “Ms Bismarck” and finally the much desired “Deathammer”.

The performance continued with older songs, with the typical Asphyx style… dense and slow rhythms without losing power. Some moshing could be seen during the most effusive moments.

As they were approaching the end, the band returned to the last album with the overwhelming “Forerunners of the Apocalypse”. After thanking the crowd, they announced that they would play two more shots “The rack” and “Death the only Immortal”. But the real farewell happened when they played the supreme classic “Last one on Earth”. This was a great return of a band that celebrates 20 years, this year, spawning a solid and dynamic career.

Special Thanks to Amazing Events
Text & Photos: Melissa Poseyddon

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