Live Review : Nekrogoblikon + Allegaeon + Party Cannon + Grief Ritual @ Club Academy, Manchester on September 25th 2025

A euphoric crowd can make a show. The audience becomes the twelfth man, enhancing the performance and turbocharging the atmosphere. Tonight is one of those instances. It might be a Thursday night in that very Mancunian of seasons, second summer, but those in attendance are ready to party like it's 1999. It is a smorgasbord of goblin masks, pointed ears and party hats. Rather than become a cauldron of repulsive toxic masculinity, the pit this evening is a fabulous, inclusive maelstrom of energetic fun. There are Push-ups, rowing, and whale rides in this wild communal orgy of ridiculousness. The geniality and good-natured preposterousness is intoxicating and resonates far out across the venue, attaching everyone and every act to its gravitational pull.

Grief Ritual are usually a party band, but the hedonistic bent of those gathered to witness their opening stint pushes them into a more genial and joyous space. They are gnarled and jagged in sound, full of nihilistic rage and general frustration with the state of the world that their generation is being left with. However, for all that pent-up rage they can’t help but break out a smile for the wanton silliness that is unfolding in front of their eyes. Equally heavy and harrowing, they are the sound of our nightmarish future made flesh, just tonight with added party hats.

Now Party Cannon are by their very nature, a party band. A debauched party where everybody has drunk too much and are puking in the pot plants, but the party nonetheless. They herald the good times and unleash the chaos. If the pit has shown some symptoms of insanity during Grief Ritual it now descends into glorious chaos with an ever-flowing circular movement of bodies and unashamed bestiality being performed on an unsuspecting blowup Orca. On stage, it's not much different as Party Cannon's papier-mâché head wearing hype gimp flourishes a whole host of home-made signs. It is glorious in its ritualistic silliness.

But the point about Party Cannon is that for all their good-natured repulsiveness and puerile humour, they are actually an astonishingly competent band. To play that fast and with that level of furiosity, you need to be A1 musicians and Craig Robinson and Mike Mclaughlin (now back from paternity leave) are both extraordinary axe merchants. Slam may well be death metal’s repugnant younger sibling but when done well it is a thing of utter beauty. The song subject matter may have more tongue in its cheek than a couple of randy teenagers, but the music is astonishingly well formed. Party Cannon play the lower the IQ card well, but the honest truth is they are one of the most accomplished extreme acts this country has to offer.

Let's get this our early doors; Allegaeon are not just extraordinary this evening, they are made even better by the rapturous reception that they are afforded. As the sumptuous starting number ‘Chaos Theory’ judders to a technically perfect halt, Ezra Haynes surveys the tumultuous chaos in front of him and states that there are an awful lot of goblins in the audience but they need to get through the science before they get goblin metal. Any fear that the precision technicality of Allegaeon would fit badly between the mindless fun Party Cannon and Nekrogoblikon is immediately banished. Yes, this is a complex and sumptuously deep variant of metal with layers upon layers, but its intricate nature doesn't mean that it also can't be fun.

Ezra has an absolute ball, stating that it is the best atmosphere of the tour so far and this is indeed the greatest ever show that they have played in our fair city (this is their fourth visit in seven years). He is an extraordinary front person, a wiry lanky composite of muscles and tattoos and nothing much else.  He exudes confidence and charisma, and even with the small amount of stage space they are afforded, he still manages to carrier around the place, making eye contact with every member of the audience. There is an opulent richness to Allegaeon’s Musical vocabulary. For instance, new track ‘The Swarm’ is an interconnected hive of different styles and varying time signatures. It is astonishing in its magnitude and also its elaborate nature. This is still death metal, but death metal reimagined as a sophisticated and multifaceted beast. An astonishing set from an astonishing band that manages to push a frankly astonishing crowd to new levels of adulation.

There have been many changes in the church of the Nekrogoblikon. Nick Calonne’s absence is now permanent (he was on sabbatical last time they played Manchester), and the harsh vocals are now the domain of Dickie Allen. For the clean side of a vocal range, they have augmented the role of John Goblikon and promoted him from hype man to full-on co-vocalist (though, through the mask, it is hard to determine whether his parts are on tape or being actually sung). This new look version of John Goblikon takes on even more of a leadership role than before (hell, his goblin features now adorn a massive inflatable that consumes most of the stage space). He has a splendid time this evening goading and roasting the inhabitants of the pit. Throw away comments about Mancunian institutions Man United and Oasis are met with a barrage of boos, leading John to have fun with a running joke about Manchester people not liking anything. He also introduces every song as being Wonderwall even when they are clearly not.

Nekrogoblikon have never taken themselves seriously, but with the departure of Calonne, they have ratcheted up the silly and the dumb. We get a ludicrously infantile but simultaneously highly entertaining hour of musical oddity. The crowd absolutely love it and play along with all the pantomime-like call and responses. The pit continues to be a hothouse of eccentric stupidity; instead of the usual pushing and shoving, we get circular congas and daft dancing. It is half metal show and half an archaic comedy performance, and it is glorious in its vulgarity. A rather large bra thrown onto the stage becomes a prop for a thousand inane gags. John wears it as a hat and then rubs it into Joe Nelson’s face, putting the former off a structured song introduction. It also releases a continuous chorus of tits from the crowd, something that John, with relish, decides we do like.

Musically there is a shared DNA with the late lamented Children of Bodom. The pulsating and corrosive death metal is offset by playful keyboard insertions that lift it up from any sense of nihilism. This is death metal, the stupid years and it is blissfully entrancing and intoxicating. Whilst John Goblikon keeps likening us to Boston and ticking us off not going to school today, it is obvious that the barmy nature of the crowd has rubbed off on the band. They tease a Korn cover but then give us ‘Bring Us More’, which sequences into a blistering and boisterous rendition of ‘Show Me Your Goblin’. The encore is even more odd and surreal. ‘The Magic Spider’ feels like a nursery rhyme gone feral and leads to even more bizarre dance moves from the highly excitable crowd. Next year Nekrogoblikon celebrate their 20th anniversary, and the response tonight proves that not only is the joke still funny, but it has grown legs (and pointy ears) and become a whole institution of its own. Nekrogoblikon are not to be taken seriously and that is the point, this is metal as dumb fun and it is glorious.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Nekrogoblikon + Allegaeon + Party Cannon + Grief Ritual