PHOTO GALLERY: Employed to Serve - with support from Pupil Slicer and Going Off @ Devil's Dog 31.10.23 -

Words by Ed King / Pics by Alice Needham

On Tuesday 31 October, Employed to Serve headlined at Devil’s Dog in Digbeth – with support from Pupil Slicer and Going Off.

Coming through Birmingham on their UK wide tour, the Surry born and hell raised death metal heads played the second city before heading down to Bristol, right to Cardiff, left to London, then in a straight line to the coast for their final gig in Brighton.

Touring tracks from their four album back catalogue, including their revered 2021 release Conquering – which the Guardian gave a very respectable four star rating, calling it a ‘gut-churning thrill ride of an album’ – Employed to Serve packed out Devil’s Dog on a cold and Digbeth drizzle Tuesday night.

But whilst the seasons were turning for the worse outside, inside Devil’s Dog it was aloha to beach party vibes – with Hawaiian shirts and inflatable palm trees both on stage and off, and a super committed-to-the-cause merch desk official crowd surfing in an inflatable dingy.

A special salute to the Zombie Elvis who never broke character through the entire night – whom or whatever was under all that Halloween make up, we salute you.

Both support acts came in full make up mode too, with Pupil Slicer dressed as characters from Mario Kart and Going Off sending in the clowns (think Marcel Marceau meets Pennywise) with a mic in hand and an axe to grind.

The singers for both Pupil Slicer and Going Off, respectively Kate Davies and Jake Huxley, joined Employed to Serve founder and vocalist, Justine Jones, for a couple of tracks too – bringing a sense of shared carnival comradery to the entire night.

But enough words, feast your peepers on some beautiful pics of all the bands below.

Employed to Serve + Pupil Slice, Going Off @ Devil’s Dog 31.10.23 / Alice Needham