Sanguisugabogg brutalise Glasgow as they continue to blast through Europe with a bill stacked to the hilt with brutal death metal.

WINTER IN GLASGOW

It’s still winter in Glasgow, but inside the Classic Grand the atmosphere was anything but cold. Arriving a little late meant unfortunately missing Celestial Sanctuary, who had just finished their set when I walked in. Disappointing, to say the least!

I head straight for the front, ready for the night to properly begin. The crowd is impressively mixed, old-school death metal fans, hardcore kids, and plenty in between. It’s always great to see how certain bands can bring such a varied crowd together.

 GATES TO HELL

The energy level, and temperature, really start to rise when Gates To Hell storm the stage. The American band, with their intense and aggressive approach, prove to be the perfect bridge between Fulci and Sanguisugabogg, blending horror, gore, and sheer violence into one cohesive assault. They fire through a 14-song setlist, warming up the crowd in a serious way and setting the tone for the chaos still to come.

Disfigured, originally introduced during their 2023 tour with Dying Fetus and recently released as a single, opens with tribal-style drumming and razor-sharp guitars that cut straight through the room. Ryan Storey’s vocals come in rough and abrasive, like sandpaper scraping across your skin letting you bleed. A perfect choice to ignite the first real movement in the pit and set the tone for the night’s macabre dance.

Fortress of Torture, a 2022 track taken from the band’s album of the same name, gets the closing slot. It hits like a chainsaw revving to life, relentless, oppressive, and impossible to escape. A fitting finale for the American outfit, and almost a prophetic introduction to the cinematic onslaught that Fulci were about to unleash on stage.

I take advantage of the break to check out the merch, where T-shirts , patches and other treasures popped in acidic, fluorescent colours , like something straight out of an ’80s sci-fi movie are all available. With loot secured, I make my way back to the front row, ready once again for the Italians, Fulci; a proper moment of national pride for this writer.

FULCI

The air turns deep red as Fulci step onto the stage; fearless and commanding. For this occasion, the Italian band are joined by Jason Dahlka (Left to Rot, Spirit Adrift), stepping in for Fiore on vocals. Almost instantly, we’re pulled into a surreal dimension where zombies, fog, and pure dread take control of the room.

Fulci choose Glass to open their set, the 2021 single, taken from the concept album Exhumed Information, inspired by Lucio Fulci’s 1986 cult masterpiece Voices from Beyond. From that moment on, it becomes a sequence of cinematic references, onomatopoeic samples, and pure terror translated into music. Rotten Apple, a musical reinterpretation of the 1982 cult Giallo, The New York Ripper, stands out in particular. The infamous duck-quack sound sample used by the film’s serial killer to torment his victims, echoes through the venue, instantly recognisable. Slow, hardcore-tinged grooves and especially guttural growls naturally pull the crowd into a widening mosh pit, perfectly mirroring the twisted psychology at the heart of the story.

THEATRE OF HORRORS

The theatre of horrors continues with tracks like Voodoo / Tropical Sun, Fucked with a Broken Bottle, and the manifesto track Among the Walking Dead. A clear tribute to ’80s horror movies, the song draws heavy inspiration from Lucio Fulci’s cult classic City of the Living Dead, as well as the early sound of Cannibal Corpse. Taken from the band’s 2015 debut album Opening the Hell Gates, it remains one of the Italian quintet’s standout tracks. Built on rapid-fire riffs alternating with slower, crushing passages, the song moves between speed and weight with precision. The cavernous, inhuman growls sound less like a human voice and more like something clawing its way out of a grave, hungry of human brains .

Staying true to the themes of zombies and decay, Fulci close their set with the 2019 track Eye Full of Maggots. The song unleashes an immediate wave of mosh pits and stage diving, pushing the crowd into full chaos.

It feels like the perfect trigger, a final eruption that sets the stage for the delirium about to unfold as Sanguisugabogg prepare to decimate the stage.

SANGUISIGABOGG

Just enough time for a quick stop at the upstairs bar, and an infernal mass gathering below could already be seen; something worthy of a Hieronymus Bosch painting clustering around the pit, ready to erupt at the first sound of the Bogg.

At that point, my courage to fight my way back to the front line faded. The very real threat of death by crushing felt imminent. So I decide to enjoy the show from above, taking advantage of the view to watch the chaos unfolds.

The Ohio four-piece step onto the stage of the Classic Grand’s main hall, opening with Repulsive Demise, taken from their 2025 studio release, Hideous Aftermath. The track unfolds almost like a hypnotic chant, driven by sharply placed china hits, a dense wall of drumming, and steady, repetitive guitars. The effect is nearly trance inducing. It pulls the crowd into motion, bodies swaying and surging across the entire floor of the venue.

AN IMPOSING PRESENCE

Frontman Devin Swank commands the stage with an imposing presence. His heavy, guttural vocals lock tightly into the band’s crushing groove. Within minutes, the pit erupts. What begins as ecstatic movement quickly turns into full collision mode, bodies crashing into each other in constant stage-diving rotation. From above, it’s total chaos.

The band deliver an 11-song set, six of which are taken from their 2025 full-length, rounding out the setlist with tracks from earlier releases. They close with the neurotic, typically caveman anthem Mortal Admonishment, driven by guitars that repeat like a twisted nursery rhyme. Cody Davidson’s drumming is surprisingly intricate. It hints at the more complex stylistic choices that have started to emerge in their recent material.

Dragged By A Truck, the penultimate track of the night, leans fully into their primitive death metal groove. It is built on a relentless bass line and a sharp, metallic snare tone that almost envisions the violent impact of a body torn apart by twisted metal and covered in blood. The moment of chaos ends with the iconic Dead as a Shit!

The circle closes with another track devoted to the world of the undead, this time seen through the eyes of the Bogg as they put their own spin on it. You can easily imagine an army of zombies marching in time with the song, steadily closing in to devour you. Time to run! At that point, I make my exit, fearing for my safety.

Highlights of the night: fluorescent colors, horror cinema, onomatopoeia, and total chaos.

 Sanguisugabogg: Website

Fulci: Website

Gates To Hell: Website

Celestial Sanctuary: Website

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