With NEURONSPOILER & FRACTURE POINT
Maryland, London
30th of August, 2026

I do like a good tribute. The infamous NATIVITY IN BLACK albums from 1994 and 2000 are benchmarks with stellar artists showing love for Black Sabbath.
Elsewhere, the recent NO LIFE ‘TIL LEATHER Metallica tribute and the Stoner and doom WISH YOU WERE HERE- 50 YEARS LATER- PINK FLOYD TRIBUTE albums remain constant listens.
It is equally important that 2023’s Soundgarden tribute, SUPERUNKNOWN (REDUX) is one of my go to post concert unwinding albums.

It’s when it comes to true tribute bands when I stumble.

There are the ‘mash-up’ bands like Dread Zepplin and Beatallica but, thus far, the only tribute band that excited me was Bömber, Abbath’s seldom released Mötörhead passion project.

Apart from that, I haven’t really paid much attention to tribute bands. No disrespect to those bands and It’s a bit of a dick thing to say but, after the show that I attended, I’ll gladly admit that I may have had my mind well and truly changed.

I wasn’t even aware of London’s Slayer tribute band POSTMORTEM, or the people involved that I look up to, until FRACTURE POINT’s guitarist AIDAN gave me a heads up of this gig in East London.

Speaking of which, London thrashers FRACTURE POINT were the first support at the CART & HORSES, the much touted and rightly labelled “birthplace of Iron Maiden.”

It has been sixteen months since I last saw them play so, after my day job benefited Aidan’s day job and their vocalist, SEAN, taking my place at the Vio-lence London show recently, beers were promised in exchange for my attendance. Knowing how hard it is to get a singer to get a beer in, the deal was done. Professional things.

As opening songs go, PARASITIC NARCISSIST couldn’t be more apt. Classic thrash with hardcore garnish is the benchmark set by Slayer, and when followed with A NEW AGE OF HATE, a night of quality was cemented.
There was a party atmosphere growing, and it became more clear as the night went on.
The rhythm section was upheld with the tight, furious drumming of JAMES and rumbled bass by ADAM while a second guitar slot was filled by SONNY, also of London prog/death band Secreum, but more on him later.

During the furious fervour of FRACTURE POINT’s particular parlance, a new song was aired. CROSS TO BEAR is a song so new, it hasn’t even seen the light of a recording studio yet. Needless to say that it hits every sense and scores the right points.

Finishing the set later on with SYMBIOSIS, the five mercenaries of mayhem had made it abundantly clear how a classic UK thrash sound can still hold its own with just the right amount of modern thinking. London may be a tough place to stand out, but FRACTURE POINT has the tricks to stand above. Warm and friendly guys that save the hate for the stage.

So far, things were going swimmingly and a moment of personal redemption was up next.
Back in June, I had missed NEURONSPOILER play their set opening for Acid Reign, and I was in no mood to repeat that mistake.

The London quintet play a unique blend of speed metal and power aligned thrash metal that could almost fit in with the new wave of traditional heavy metal. On paper, it’s a lot to digest but it fitted in with that night, and it slots in after FRACTURE POINT even better here, considering what was coming.

It’s easier to explain after NEURONSPOILER belted out the old one two of AN EYE FOR AN EYE and (JUST A FOOL) ON YOUR WAY UP.
This was just the sort of blend of speed metal, NOWTHM and prog metal that got Slayer started in the first place… kinda.

At this point, it should be said that there was no small amount of nepotism surrounding the lineup of artists.
We already know that SONNY is instrumental in the POSTMORTEM thing, but it is only he, and POSTMORTEM drummer, CIARAN that are stable members. Guitars are filled by a rotation of those skilled enough or have the extra time to comply. One of those guitarists was none other than NEURONSPOILER’s ADAM. Here, he accompanied longtime guitarist, DAVE (who has some of the sweetest chops I’ve heard in a very long time) like a sword in its scabbard.

What should be noted, once hearing the Maiden centric HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT, is the efforts of singer, JR. Man, this guy has pipes on him, and I am not messing about. Where NEURONSPOILER have the chops allied to classic Helloween and Van Halen, JR sits between, in front and above that.
So far, apart from having a guitarist and band making logistics infinitely easier (a la Fracture Point), the song ASCEND TO DEATH made things crystal clear. Coming across with a Megadeth/Testament vibe, it was only when JR started singing when one couldn’t shake a feeling of a Dream Theater song.

Without exaggerating, it is evident why NEURONSPOILER are a much sought after band. Songs like CRIMSON TALES and SPOILS OF WAR show off the amount of skill in writing and execution that is displayed.
What NEURONSPOILER has achieved here is bringing a new perspective (and a new ear) to metal as an ageless but ever evolving entity.

With a lineup that has both feet in the past and present, NEURONSPOILER shows us what an amalgamation of both can achieve.
The results are good and the prognosis is promising.

POSTMORTEM- A TRIBUTE TO SLAYER, as is their proper moniker, had something a bit special on this night. Enjoying a successful run of shows with their Reign In Blood full album run throughs, for their gig at THE CART & HORSES, it seemed only right to do something a bit different.

SHOW NO MERCY doesn’t feature very high on definitive album lists, not even Slayer lists, and I’ll be the first to admit that I criminally overlook Slayer’s debut. Ironically, of all the Slayer gigs I’ve been to, hearing them play songs from that release has been met with a feverish response and ardent glee.
I listened to that album again a few times prior to this show and was reminded how many stone clad classics it contained and how many became instantly recognised within the first bar or two.

POSTMORTEM have worked hard to get to the point where they can change a set on a whim and still fill a room. Especially a set based on an oft overlooked yet underrated album such as SHOW NO MERCY.
For the purpose of this article, I will speak of both the original album and the live performance. Be assured that the first half of the POSTMORTEM set was sincere, diligently recreated and of a most high quality.

The opener of the set and, obviously, the album was EVIL HAS NO BOUNDARIES. A song where Slayer laid bare the Venom, Motorhead and T.S.O.L. influences. Instantly thrash and raw, POSTMORTEM smashed it out of the park.
SONNY had swapped the six string for four and was laying down some pretty impressive vocals.
ANTICHRIST and DIE BY THE SWORD are classic metal bangers with the latter being played by Slayer last year at Finsbury Park. During this part of the set, it was nice to have a fresher point of reference between the real deal and the tribute, and I think POSTMORTEM made it faster.
CIARAN has a tough job on the kit emulating Dave Lombardo’s style, but seeing as most of the debut is played in either 1 2 or d-beat, he may have had the easiest job, except for those fills.
FIGHT TILL DEATH has a really cool riff running through it, with NEURONSPOILER’s ADAM looking locked in and delivering on point.

At this point, I must confess to not identifying the second guitarist. His guitar work and presence throughout the entire set was incredible. I offer apologies and appreciate any information correcting this oversight.

After the Maidenesque METAL STORM/FACE THE SLAYER, BLACK MAGIC was given some vocal love from FRACTURE POINT singer SEAN. This is, quite possibly, the first signs of the true Slayer sound.
For the SHOW NO MERCY playthrough, the final stretch was in sight, and TORMENTOR and THE FINAL COMMAND both share the huge debt to the Iron Maiden song Phantom Of The Opera. The latter, on record, sounds like it’s about to fall apart, yet through the hands of POSTMORTEM, was kept in check with pleasing results.
It’s no surprise that the majority of the latter half of SHOW NO MERCY is a love letter to Maiden, and it makes sense. Side by side, Tom Araya and Paul Di’Anno share common ground, vocally. Yet, with TORMENTOR, the biggest give away is the tater riff that mimics the midway riff on Iron Maiden’s Hallowed Be Thy Name. Nothing wrong with that. The odd bit of plagiarism in metal is seen more a nod to your peers a lot of the time

Just don’t take the piss.

The final, and title track, SHOW NO MERCY is, again a further cementing of the classic Slayer style. Again, going full circle to the albums entrance with the songs Motorhead classic drum intro to Overkill dominating. Not a complaint, as it is the most metal and punk intro ever.

So, that was Slayer’s debut album, SHOW NO MERCY, played in full in a small basement in a small pub in London’s East End, by a group of underground metal musicians who’s only mission is to spread the gospel of Slayer… in their spare time away from their main spare time projects.

But it doesn’t end there. The clock hadn’t run down and more Slayer classics were promised.
WAR ENSEMBLE broke the spell with its breakneck fury and unapologetic approach. This blunt attitude would shape Slayer for the entirety of their career and one missing from the debut. They’re not the only ones to do it, but they are the only band that has made it as successful and entertaining.
After that, POSTMORTEM displayed their skills with a rendition of DISCIPLE. Quite possibly the most inclusive song of hatred ever written.

It should be painfully obvious at this point that I had been fully converted to the tribute fold. Even when the first (and only) chink in the armour appeared with the rendition of SEASONS OF THE ABYSS. The why’s and how’s of this song’s inclusion into the POSTMORTEN set is a mystery, if for no other reason than that SONNY had to learn/remember the song on the fly, in real time. If that isn’t the most accurate Slayer thing ever…
Needless to say, the song went by hitchless after those panicked moments.
After that, there was just the formality of airing a medley of RAINING BLOOD and ANGEL OF DEATH to wrap up a most enjoyable and surprising night of the year. From the most humbling of genesis’ to its explosive end.

Before this night, I was a little disappointed that we weren’t getting POSTMORTEM’s Reign In Blood treatment, but by this point of the gig, truly glad that they chose this album.
Moments like these makes one take a step back, revisit a memory and hear it through wiser, refreshed ears. Yes, Slayer are most famous since their 1986 genre defining masterpiece, but it is from hearing where that came from that is equally, no, more important than that.

And this is where bands like POSTMORTEM are essential in metal, if not, music in general.
I hear so many young bands trying their hardest to be different and fresh, only to fall at the wayside amid fan confusion or a lack of any “lock on” to base themselves.
What POSTMORTEM did here was showcase a scratchy, rough album played by a legacy level band, in all its naive yet hungry ways, and knuckle down from that learning base.

I feel I owe POSTMORTEM a debt, and one I hope to PAYBACK (geddit?) real soon.