Eradication Festival is a 3-day extreme metal event which takes place in Cardiff every year. This year I was lucky enough to attend Saturday’s show to celebrate its 10-year anniversary, and I have to say; it must have been one of the best shows I’ve ever been to.

I’ve been into the extreme subgenres of metal since my early teenage years but never attended many gigs – perhaps out of intimidation. Nonetheless, I felt completely welcomed by everyone at the gig, despite the majority being middle-aged men.

Saturday’s show began at 3pm with a local brutal death metal band Virology. I had already heard about Virology being a sci-fi-influenced tech-death band which definitely piqued my interest, considering Nocturnus’ The Key is one of my favourites. To be honest, as soon as they began their set I knew it was going to be insane. They played a few songs from their EP Programming Sentiency. Their vocalist, James, had a really impressive vocal range┬á – I think my only complaint would be that their set seemed to be cut quite short, and I regret not buying one of their beanies from their merch stall! Even so, I definitely will be attending more of Virology’s gigs after their performance, not just to support Cardiff’s local scene but because of how they kicked off Saturday’s show with a blast!┬á

At around 4 pm, Secreum’s set started. I think out of all the bands that performed on Saturday, Secreum really stood out for their clean vocals alongside the growls which not many other bands utilised (which makes sense considering the majority were brutal-death). It was the perfect combination of progressive groove and death metal, I really enjoyed their set and I was surprised to find out they aren’t more known – a very underrated band to say the least. As well as this, Secreum’s engagement with the crowd was probably the best out of the bands. Their frontman, Sonny, wasn’t afraid to crack a few jokes and get the crowd going through air punches. As they’re a band from London, they all seemed very excited to be performing in Wales too which was nice to see. 

At 5pm it was time for Exhumation. These guys really got the crowd buzzing – and the mosh-pits began. The only way their set can be described is: brutal, intense and guttural. Exhumation has really set the standard for the Scouse metal scene, I’ve yet to attend more gigs from Scouse bands but if they sound like this then I think I’ll have to. Their heavy riffs really brought the energy to the crowd and after finding out they take inspiration from Cattle Decapitation and Skinless, I could really see the influence. Overall, their set was exceptional and I would recommend anyone into death metal to check out their EP’s on Spotify.┬á

My favourite band of the night had to be Basement Torture Killings who started at 6pm. Unlike the other bands, BTK spoilt the crowd with the insane death-grind they had to offer. Female-fronted bands often aren’t recognised enough within the extreme metal scene, simply because of how uncommon it is to see a female vocalist letting out such heavy vocals. Anywho, the show BTK put on was nothing short of inhumane – in the best way possible. Their theme of ÔÇÿserial killings’ was incredibly prominent throughout their set which made it all the more fun. From their iconic blood-covered, gruesome costumes to the ripped teddy bear and intestines they threw into the crowd, BTK really enhanced my whole experience at Eradication Festival through their morbid, gory spirit.┬á

When I thought the moshpits couldn’t get much more ruthless after Exhumation, I was completely wrong. At around 7pm, a lot more people had arrived at the gig and Amputated, a brutal death grind band from Bristol, began. I would say with every song their set got even better because by the end people were genuinely going feral. I don’t know which was my favourite part about Amputated – the blast beats, the filthy riffs or the guttural growls. They truly put on a memorable performance and I wish they had a longer set!

Unfortunately, I had to leave midway through Kraanium’s set, missing out on Raised By Owl’s show. Nevertheless, Kraanium was the band many people, including myself, were most looking forward to during Saturday’s show as they’re iconic within the slamming brutal death metal scene. Each song I heard was pure carnage, it was nothing short of a ground-breaking show. Their well-written, catchy riffs added to their overall raw, heavy, and filthy sound. My friend who came with me had told me that by the end, the whole crowd had turned into a mosh pit!

Overall, I had the best time at Eradication Festival and I’ve already booked my tickets for next year – the full three days this time. Credit where it’s due, the organisers of this event did an outstanding job with the show and everything ran smoothly and on time too. The bands that were on the lineup were the perfect mix of the UK’s local scene as well as more widely known bands in the scene. I would highly recommend attending this festival if you want to support your local scene and experience what slamming, brutal death metal truly is.┬á

Words and Photography by Iylah Routley