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support Cognitive
author AP date 05/05/24 venue Stengade, Copenhagen, DEN

I arrive at Stengade tonight, fully expecting to go home dumber. The self-proclaimed masters of party slam have rolled into town for the first time, and rumour has it that the quintet’s live shows are even more ridiculous than their musical output, which is played tongue firmly in cheek, and takes the piss out of the often so severe genre that is brutal death metal. And even though I’m aware that I’ll be shedding braincells all evening, I’ve honestly been looking forward to experiencing these lads for some time now, while they’ve been evading Denmark on their previous tours. But before my inauguration into their mad universe long at last, there is a support band in the form of Cognitive to behold.

Cognitive

There are no frills or fanfare as this New Jersey quartet kick things off with blastbeats and dense grooves galore, setting an intense, borderline dizzying tone for the rest of the concert. The band may be without their bassist Tyler Capone-Vitale tonight, but the seven-string axes swung by guitarists Rob Wharton and Harry Lannon nonetheless ensure that there is plenty of low-end rumble in the mix. It is, however, first and foremost drummer Armindo ‘AJ’ Viana who draws the spotlight onto himself with percussion delivered at a speed that occasionally verges on the absurd. In the midst of the cacophony, vocalist Shane Jost covers the entire spectrum of extreme metal growling styles ranging from pig squeals to guttural growls, and, at one point, something indescribable that teeters on the edge of feedback. The crowd have held back their wildest impulses during the first two songs, but when Jost starts pumping his fist during the intro of the dark and eerie third cut, it is immediately reciprocated, accompanied by rhythmic chants of “Hey! Hey! Hey! and a circle pit shortly thereafter. We are soon treated to a brand new single in the shape of “Insidious”, a track that stands out not just by virtue of Lannon’s inventive lead guitar work, but also the impromptu ‘squat team’ that forms in lieu of moshing, with rows of patrons bobbing up and down much to Jost’s amusement.

Cognitive have done their homework on Suffocation, lacing their technical death metal tunes with myriad guitar soli and brutal breakdowns that keep the moshpit going. In the sixth song, one such breakdown hits with such ferocity that it seems to possess Wharton, driving him to swing his instrument as though he were chopping wood with it. It emerges another highlight, before the dissonant sonic tapestry of “Haunted Justice”, taken from the band’s 2016 album “Deformity”, brings this adrenaline-fuelled whirlwind of a concert to its conclusion. No wheels have been reinvented (and perhaps Cognitive wear their influences just a little too proudly on the sleeve), but if you came here looking for a solid blast of technical death metal played with scathing intensity, these Jersey boys have surely delivered exactly the fix you needed before the mundane routines of another week restart the day after.

Party Cannon

Pandemonium. That is the most appropriate word for describing the extravaganza that erupts after a monotone techno beat has soundtracked Party Cannon’s emergence from backstage, with inflatable beach balls and a dolphin bouncing around the room during the band’s opening track. The festive atmosphere is in stark contrast with the extreme music, though if one listens closely, there is always a certain sardonic edge to the songs. Live vocalist Daryl Boyce’s pig squeals sound like an onomatopoeia rather than an actual recitation of his lyrics, while the sheer speed and intensity of the instrumentation feels like a parody of brutal death metal. It quickly becomes obvious that no one in the audience is here for the music (and I refuse to believe anyone can actually name most of the songs that are played!), but rather, for absurd theatrics like spinning a crowd surfer around in the air, body slamming an inflatable dolphin and worse, squatting, push-ups, and any other form of physical expression that is usually not appropriate at a death metal show. It is immensely entertaining to watch from the sidelines, so much that one often forgets to appreciate the technical prowess and level of energy displayed by the quintet on stage.

Indeed, tongue-in-cheek though the material may be, there is no shortage of slick dual guitar scales, courtesy of Craig Robinson and Mike McLaughlin, nor wild antics by the group’s main instigator, bassist Chris Ryan in tracks like “Tyrone, You Put That Sugar Down” off their 2014 EP “Partied in Half”. “This next song is about Chrissy’s favourite thing: eating ass!”, Boyce declares at one point, before the amusing “There’s a Reason You’re Single” from the same record is unleashed. Both he and Ryan assume low crouching stances and bang their heads so deep it’s a miracle they’re not hitting the stage floor and picking up a brain injury in solidarity with the rest of us, who are subjected to this and other lowbrow tracks. “It is said that 10,000 steps a day are the key to good health”, Boyce continues, before instructing everyone to get those in by way of a circle pit during the following two songs, “Weird, but Not Illegal” and “Not Immediately Life Threatening”, both of which reside on their latest full-length outing “Injuries Are Inevitable”. Amid the incessant stage dives, physical exercise, and an absolute basket case of a frontman, it is hard to find head or tail in the chaos unfolding at Stengade, and as such, when “Human Slime” eventually brings the festivities to a conclusion, I am left not really knowing how to put words on what I’ve just seen. It has been entertaining, but so goddamn stupid at the same time — and while I understand that this is Party Cannon’s ethos, I think it is a spectacle best experienced once, and only once.