For the last night of this Spring Central European getaway on April 26th, 2026, we treated ourselves to another fun night of live music, switching gears towards a mix of experimental powerviolence, grindcore, sludge, noise, and hardcore sounds, represented by a varied package of bands. Tonight at Vega – or “Lille Vega” as there was a very long queue waiting to enter at the main hall of the venue (which we thankfully did not have to join) – we were here for FULL OF HELL, THE BODY, JARHEAD FERTILIZER, and JAD (for the latter, this was the last night of the tour, as their vocalist later mentioned while thanking the other bands for having them along). The hall appeared to be originally a small theater of sorts, with a wooden look and style that could be placed anywhere between the ’60s and ’80s. A small balcony on one side, which was mostly used by the handful of photographers at the show, and a few other people who wanted a different, maybe quieter, view.
After some quick reconnaissance, it didn’t take long for the Warsaw-based opening act, JAD, to get things started. Their show was quite short, as expected for a hardcore punk band, but nonetheless entertaining, if anything, as the audience must not be used to hearing this genre with Polish lyrics. Their frontman was quite active and made up for most of the performance, which, all-in-all, turned out to be an honest, genuine display of their signature genre. Nothing particularly mind-blowing, but very effective in getting the audience going, as eventually some of the fans broke the ice and engaged in the first mosh pit of the night.
Made for three quarters by members (or ex-members, in one case) of FULL OF HELL, it makes perfect sense that JARHEAD FERTILIZER would be part of the tour, adding just the bassist Vinny Vitilio to the headcount. Their blend of brutal death and grindcore seems promising on paper, but more messy in its execution. Surrounded by a thick smoke and strong backlights that made them barely visible, the band had good energy, but somewhat failed to fully convey that same enthusiasm to the crowd. Powerful and ambitious in combining grind, death, doom, sludge, and noise, as intriguing as the idea is, it was hard to follow the show as the sound appeared mushy most of the time, and that definitely had an impact on their show.
Next up was the US experimental sludge/noise due to THE BODY, who previously collaborated with FULL OF HELL on two releases dating back about a decade. Their music is certainly not for all tastes, as Chip King’s unique vocals can be quite unsettling to the uninitiated. Nonetheless, they certainly deliver in terms of heaviness, making the whole room reverberate with their riffs and drum beats. The dissonance and screams echoing in the venue brought back some earlier experiences of seeing the band at Roadburn, although in a bigger setting, and as such, not quite the same experience. Somewhat beautiful yet disturbing, their show bridged the gap from the previous support bands to the main act.
After the due preparations, some already familiar faces, together with frontman Dylan Walker and guitarist Gabe Solomon, gathered up in the form of FULL OF HELL. Here is where the audience really started to get more wild, as people began moshing more extensively and launched themselves in the occasional crowdsurfing experience. Through the years, we have seen some unique collaboration shows from this band, and naturally, a handful of proper FOH ones, so we knew that this would have been chaotic and intense, and well, at times kind of weird. Which is what makes this band so appealing live. Spanning mainly through “Trumpeting Ecstasy”, “Weeping Choir,” and the more recent “Coagulated Bliss,” while touching at the same time here and there through the rest of their long discography, they truly ignited the atmosphere, stirring the Danish crowd into motion. The varying degrees of intensity were very much overlapping with their vocalist’s dual duties: at times engaging in close contact with the fans at the edge of the stage, and then retreating to his mixing/synth station in the middle of the stage – including, of course, his curious-looking, pipe-shaped vocal synthesizer.
Sadly there was no joint effort between them and THE BODY to perform live some of their collaboration material, or at least we didn’t get to see that, as we had to leave Vega beforehand to finish packing and get at least some three hour sleep under our belts before traveling back to Finland (not knowing back then that our connection would have been cancelled overnight, but that’s a story for another time). Despite our experience being cut a bit short, we definitely don’t regret having spent this Sunday night here with this combination of bands!
JAD
JARHEAD FERTILIZER
THE BODY
FULL OF HELL
