Cytotoxin
Special Guests: Analepsy + Osiah + Cognitive.
Venue: Ivory Blacks, Glasgow.
Date: 13th November 2025
Review & Photos: Dave Buchanan
Tonight, Glasgow’s Ivory Blacks is set to be transformed into a brutal playground of technical precision and sheer sonic devastation as the Biographyte Tour rolls into town. Featuring an unrelenting line-up of death metal titans, the crowd seemed primed for a masterclass in extremity.
Cognitive
Opening the night with zero soundcheck, and zero fucks given, Cognitive proved why they’re one of the most exciting names in modern death metal. The bands set tonight was a whirlwind of technical riffs, shuddering tempo shifts, and feral energy. And if you like your Death Metal with a side helping of neck-breaking grooves, then you’re in luck, because the New Jersey quartet’s latest release, Abhorrence, is absolutely stacked to the brim with drops that hit like a guillotine. Tonight, tracks like Insidious and A Pact Unholy (from said release) sound even more devastating.
Sadly, the bands frontman Shane Jost couldn’t make it out on this run of dates with the band, but Cognitive have thankfully come prepared with a secret weapon…Mr Tyler Lauer. Prowling the stage like a man on a mission, Tyler brings an intense energy to the bands set, not to mention a set of pipes that could sandblast skin. If you’ve never heard Tyler’s main band, Torturous Inception, then be sure to give them a listen.
Closing with To Feed the Worms from 2021’s Malevolent Thoughts of a Hastened Extinction was an absolute highlight of the set; absolutely ferocious and with a dissonant groove that kept the crowd moshing from start to finish. It was a bold, confident start to the night that immediately raised expectations for the punishment to come 
(4 / 5)
Osiah
Reppin’ the UK tonight, Osiah stormed the stage with a deathcore barrage that felt like a controlled demolition. Their brand of deathcore is unapologetically heavy, and tonight it was dialled up to maximum intensity. Downtuned riffs, spine-snapping breakdowns, and vocals that oscillated between guttural lows and piercing highs kept the audience locked in.
Tonight we were treated to a selection of choice cuts from the bands previous albums, 2021’s Loss, and 2023’s Kairos. I was a huge fan of Loss, so to hear The Eye of the Swarm up-front and in-person was quite the treat, with Osiah proving that as a live band they’re not just heavy; they’re devastating.
Tonight also heard the band debuting some material from their brand-new EP, Aion. If this new material is anything to go by, then expect the next full length from Osiah to be an absolute neck-wrecker. Keep ’em coming, lads! (4 / 5)
Analepsy
I’ll admit to not knowing a huge amount about Analepsy, but my god, they didn’t half leave an imprint. These Portuguese slam masters brought an assault that had this venue’s floor shaking under bludgeoning low-end riffs and guttural vocals. Their signature blend of slam and brutal death metal created an atmosphere that was both crushing and infectious, and for the first time tonight, the pit in Ivory Blacks really started to come alive.
Analepsy frontman Calin Paraschiv stands fairly rock solid for the entire set, not really moving much at all. But what he lacks in movement, his vocal, on the other hand, is absolutely terrifying. No need for backing vocals of any kind; his gutturals were monstrous, hitting subterranean depths with a clarity that cut through the dense wall of sound. Every inhale and exhale vocal felt like a primal roar, perfectly synced with the band’s rhythmic punishment. Speaking of which, Léo Luyckx, take a bow. Your drumming was off the charts tonight – a powerhouse of intricate chaos. Double-kick patterns that felt like artillery fire, perfectly timed snare accents that punctuated every breakdown, and relentless blasts that injected pure adrenaline into the set. I could have watched him all night.
What makes Analepsy stand out is their ability to balance sheer brutality with infectious rhythm and pristine technicality. The relentless nature of their music should feel overwhelming, but somehow they manage to keep you completely engaged, pushing and pulling the flow of the tracks in all the best ways, and by the time their set closed, it was clear they had left an indelible mark on Glasgow’s slam faithful 
(4.5 / 5)
Cytotoxin
If Analepsy was the scalpel, Cytotoxin was the sledgehammer.
Cytotoxin delivered a performance that was as visually entertaining as it was sonically devastating. From the moment they stepped on stage, the German tech-death titans transformed Ivory Blacks into a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Their stage setup was a spectacle in itself; gas masks, smoking barrels, and props evoking a radioactive disaster zone. It wasn’t just a gig; it was an experience that perfectly complemented their thematic obsession with nuclear catastrophe.
Musically, Cytotoxin were flawless. Their technical precision bordered on inhuman, with guitarists Jason and Fonzo unleashing a torrent of hyper-speed riffs and intricate sweeps, seamlessly shifting between crushing brutality and dizzying complexity. The bass work added depth and clarity, locking in tightly with the machine-gun bursts of drummer Maximilian Panzer.
Vocally, Grimo is a force of nature. Not only were his gutturals delivered with an intensity that cut through the dense instrumentation, but his stage antics were highly entertaining – gesturing like a mad scientist orchestrating the end of the world, he commanded attention from start to finish.
By the time Cytotoxin loaded their final track into the chamber, the crowd were literally on their knees. And as the circle pits detonated like nuclear blasts to the sounds of Chernopolis, the bands finale felt apocalyptic in the best possible way, leaving the crowd knackered, but ultimately, surviving the meltdown (4.5 / 5)
