the Sunday 16 January 2011, The Substation, Singapore

Humiliation (MLS)

Impiety kicks off their Asian Worshippers Tour 2011 in support of their latest opus, Worshippers of the Seventh Tyranny on 16th January 2011 at The Substation. This occasion is a significant one for a few reasons, the first being that this is the first performance in Impiety mastermind, Shyaithan's homeland in six years, and kicking off an Asian tour in Singapore makes it all the more significant. After the letdown in August last year, Impiety promises not to let fans down this time around, and they certainly managed to ensure that 16th January will go down in the memories of Singapore metalheads.

After a slight delay, the gig finally started with the blasting of the military horns over the PA system, marking the entrance of the opening band, Malaysian death metal band Humiliation. Their debut full length album have been hailed by some as reminiscent of Bolt Thrower, and the band proves that they are able to live up to their expectations. Within a few songs, the initially stationary crowd began moving to their crushing music. First, slight bobbing of heads. Then some headbanging and finally, by the time the band hit their last few songs the crowd were warmed up enough and horns were thrown in the air.

Draconis Infernum

Draconis Infernum were up next and within minutes of stepping onto stage they were ready to go, opening their set with a song from their debut full length, Cursed are the Vanquished. This being the second time Draconis Infernum has performed live since drummer Serberuz Hammerfrost took over vocal and bass duties (and session drummer Syroth filling in on drums), it was certainly a fresh experience watching them live again. Included were a couple of the new tracks taken off their recently released single, Proclamation of Encroachment and to be included in their upcoming full length. The personal high point of their set was the anthemic Worship Me, off their debut album as well, with Serberuz commanding the crowd to "Worship Me!". A cover of Archgoat's Apotheosis of Lucifer was also included in the setlist. However, there were times when guitarist Niloc's solos were drowned out by the remaining instruments.

Surrender Of Divinity

By now, the crowd have been sufficiently warmed up and prepared to welcome Thailand's Surrender of Divinity on stage. Soaked in blood, the band wasted no time in spreading their brand of blasphemy. Xulaynus' continuous insane blast beats on the drum (already familiar, having previously witnessed his performance here last year with his other band, Lacerate), coupled by the Thai-influenced riffs by guitarist Whathayakorn and Avaejee's tortured shrieks all blend together into an organised chaos, with the hell hordes at the front banging their head away. The slight technical difficulties encountered by Whathayakorn proved that nothing was going to stop Surrender of Divinity's onslaught as they promptly resumed their set as soon as the problem was resolved. As Avaejee tells the crowd to "let's immolate the fuckface of Jesus Cunt and Mary Bitch...", the crowd starts going insane as he announces that "it's time for... IMMOLATING THE SON OF THE FUCKING WHORE!!!"

Impiety

Finally, the main event of the night, the mighty Impiety stepped up onto the stage, immediately filling up the venue with diehard fans. Many familiar favourites were blasted out by the unrelenting blasphemers, from Dominator, to Christfuckingchrist, to Lords of Apocalypse. The resulting mosh was so intense, extra Cisco guards were deployed to prevent toppling barricades.More importantly, Impiety debuted their new song, Worshippers of the Seventh Tyranny. Being the first time hearing it, the crowd did not really know what to expect. The lengthy song with an unsure audience led to Shyaithan questioning whether the crowd went dead. Impiety also debuted another new song, Ave Satanas, said to be from the upcoming MCD that will be announced in a few weeks time, and which was more reminiscent of the songs the fans were familiar with and the energy level boiled over once again. The hour-long performance was not without hitches, as Shyaithan's bass ran into sound problems, as well as a very perceptible degradation in the sound quality as each minute passed. However, this conclusively failed to dampen the enthusiasm of the moshers, and the gig ended with a short meet and greet with members of Impiety and SOD.