Sheer Attack

Maguire’s Pizza Bar

27/05/17

This was my gig at Maguire’s Pizza Bar and i was almost as excited to see the venue as i was for the gig itself. It is a cool little spot to hold smaller gigs as it isn't a huge place. Even though this was a sell out gig it never felt uncomfortable, unlike some smaller venues that can tend to over sell. And to be honest what’s not to like about a somewhere that is a bar, pizza place and a venue. With great options for vegan pizza too! I managed to stuff my face between bands. The only negative thing i've got to say is the sound for the entire night probably wasn't as strong as it could have been, which was a shame. But all in all great bill of bands put together by Baitin’ The Trap promotions at a cool little venue.

Abominate

The show opened with strong 90s metallic hardcore vibes from newcomers Abominate. Chugging meat head riffs were delivered at a trudging pace with outbursts of speed bringing energy to their sound. Gravely barked vocals delivered lyrics filled with anger and anti-capitalist sentiment. Screeching thrashy solos added a stylish edge to their sound.Their sound delivers heavy amounts worship for bands like Earth Crisis with moments that had strong vibes if Arise era sepultura. It was the first show from these guys and unfortunately this did show as their performance could have been tighter, but this will come with experience and playing more shows. Although they aren’t really breaking the mold in any way it was nice to see a band bringing that crushing 90s hardcore sound and I’m excited to see these guys tighten up their performance as they play shows in the future.

6/10

Horsebastard

Horsebastard are one of the more bracing and challenging powerviolence bands in the Uk at the moment. Their ferocious live performances deliver a barrage of songs at breakneck speeds with very little down time. Snare heavy drums cut a machine gun beat through their sound. Their entire sound is completely unrelenting as they thrash out short violent burst of noise. Unfortunately this wasn’t Horsebastard at their best. Normally these guys can change tempo on a dime but it didn't feel any where near as tight as they can be or have been at previous shows. Luckily this didn’t phase front man Chris Reece, who as usual stole the show. This guy is absolute tornado of energy that always delivers a performance dripping with intense charisma as he shrieks out his cryptic, paranoid lyrics.   

7/10

Dysteria

Next up london based Dysteria brought their crusty d-beat sound to the bill. Fast paced crunchy guitars riffs occasionally broke down to moments of uncomfortably slow trudge making for another performance that felt unrelenting. Their drummer held the entire performance together perfectly crashing out classic d-beat drum beats. Screamed and half snarled vocals were delivered from a singer that had a wild glint in her eyes and animalistic charisma. Her confrontational stage presence was something to behold. This was the first time I’ve managed to catch these guys and i wasn’t disappointed by their tight, intense performance that even managed to coax some movement out of the crowd.

8/10

Sheer Attack

Finally Sheer Attack finished off the night with their take on early 80s hordcore. Thick bass lines were paired up with bouncy 3 chord punk riffing. Snotty belligerent vocals were shouted over top the rest of the band tying their sound together. A ropey start to their performance was quickly brought back and didn’t seem to phase the audience. Everything about their performance was fun. Their energy was electric and contagious as the crowd rarely stopped dancing. Their music oozes coolness with their 80s hardcore and skate punk vibes thats also has moments of punk ‘n’ roll. It is real party music and I can see their EP spending a lot of time on my turntable.

8/10

Under - Slick

Under emerged from the dreary depths of stockport and over the past few years, armed with beautiful hair and proggy riffs, have managed to forge themselves a reputation as a force to be reckoned with. This three piece have honed their sound on the live circuit through emotion driven live performances that have left audience’s jaws dropped and minds blown. Their eclectic take on stoner metal, that takes heavy inspirations from more experimental bands such as Melvins and Big Business, also draws sounds from a wider range of genres. Suffice to say after all their hard work the anticipation for their debut album is high and what they have to offer audiences in Slick does not disappoint. From the first lurching discordant riffs at the start of the album to the closing vocal harmonies, this 9 track treasure trove musical ideas delivers everything we’ve come to expect from these lads and a little more. Erratic complexity and odd time signatures are paired up against trudging heavy riffs, whilst passages of eerie calm often lull the listener into a false sense of security before the next bout of intensity. Thick groovy basslines add huge amounts of texture to their sound, sometimes break into twanging psychedelic licks. Whilst the ever present rhythmically building drums are ready to ricochet into a flurry of noise at a moment's notice. Scratchy distorted vocals play off clean vocal harmonies that have a real depth of sound, all the while delivering disquietingly cryptic lyrics that hint at a sinister world just behind the curtain of our perception ready to be drawn back and fully revealed at a moment's notice. Each song flows brilliantly into the next very rarely showing any wrong footing and building to the album's highlight, Below In The Wreck. A triumphantly building track that closes the album on a dizzying high. Slick is an album that begs to be listened to in its entirety due to its excellent composition with each new sitting revealing something new to the listener. Under’s music works so well because they wear their inspirations beyond stoner genres on their sleeves and let them heavily inform their sound. Musical elements that range from art rock, avant garde rock, noise rock, prog rock and even sensibilities taken from jazz, are what make Under such an incredibly exciting band. In a scene that is becoming increasingly stagnated as bands seem happy to rest upon their laurels, this is the album bands on the UK stoner circuit should listen to and think “this is the sort of music we could be making”.
9/10

If you want to listen to this album for yourself, Slick will be available on CD and digital formats through APF Records from the 31st of May

Black Cloud All Dayer

Black Cloud All Dayer

Rebellion - 06/05/17

Black Cloud all dayer for me was easily the best all day metal event I’ve attended so far this year. This for most part can be put down to the lineup consisting of genuinely interesting extreme metal acts. What at first may have seemed like an oddly diverse mixture of bands for me was coherently drawn together through the theme of bands that rely on a mixture of misanthropy, atmosphere and sheer volume to make up their aural assaults. I was disappointed to see Let It Die to pull out at the  last minute as they were one of the acts I was most looking forward to catching, but luckily due to the quality of the rest of the bands that played this didn’t put a dampener on my mood for too long.

Ba’al

The days openers, Ba’al, were a band I was looking forward to seeing on the merit of their reputation alone and I’m glad to say they did not disappoint. These lads from sheffield provided everything you could want from a post metal band. Drawn out atmospheric riffing and weighty sludge laden tones. Their use of song motifs was excellent with sounds that built and journeyed organically developing on each song's core idea but never straying too far away from it that it became lost. Each passage flowed well, never feeling disjointed from the last with a dynamic drummer that effortlessly kept everything in check with interesting drum fills segwaying into each new section of the songs. Over the top of this their singer slathered the sound with a great mix of ferocious screeches and soaring clean vocals that never seemed to miss a note or key and performance that was bursting with energy. All in all Ba’al’s sound is one that is slick and well thought out and I’m excited to see them climb the billing in subsequent shows they play, which i’m sure they will.

8/10

Petrichor

The second band of the day, blackened doom act Petrichor, are a band I hadn’t encountered before and for me unfortunately were the least inspiring band of the day. Their commendable commitment to a traditional doom sound undercut with black metal influences unfortunately relied heavily on paint by numbers doom metal riffing and passages of lacklustre black metal. Vocals were a mixture of traditional black metal shrieks and cleaner epic metal vocals that felt heavily inspired by the vocal stylings of King Diamond but nowhere near as dynamic. A lot of the stage persona and atmosphere felt somehow miscalculated, missing the mark slightly. Bones hung from a stage mic and black body and face paint mixed with cartoonish nihilism all felt slightly off and a piano sample towards the end of the set thrust the sound into realms of symphonic black metal. Having said that, all of this can be put down to personal taste and the set was well played with tight instrumentation. For me though Petrichor were the one band on the lineup that felt out of place, with musical ideas that felt somewhat primitive next to the evolved sounds offered up by other bands on the billing.

5/10

Tides Of Sulfur

Next up cardiffs blackened sludge act, Tides Of Sulfur, were another band I was looking forward to finally catching live and another band that didn't let me down. Their sound was a fantastic mixture of dark technical mid paced riffing, face melting break neck black metal and slow heavy tones all held together by a brilliant drummer keeping time of all the twists and turns. Their bass tone was truly punishing. Their crunchy guitars were well balanced with a mixture of duel vocals offering up throaty shrieks and guttural growls. They even had time for a scattering of groovy riffs that never felt out of place amongst their sound. Their use of samples throughout their set felt well thought out, only ever adding the the misanthropic atmosphere and intense stage presence. Tides Of Sulfur have an incredibly nasty sound and delivered a tight, well performed set.

8/10

Khost

Khost took the stage with something that was a little more challenging than previous acts of the day with their blend of industrial and drone metal. With a stage almost devoid of light bar a projector shining flickering animated clockwork images revolving around their logo onto the wall, it set the tone for their set. Khost were dark. Booming electronic drum beats, Howling industrial ambience and crackling buzzes were paired with uncomfortably slow rumbling guitars. The atmosphere was oppressive, shrill feedback cutting through harsh industrial sounds leading to crushing drones. Graveling distorted vocals could be heard beneath the sound often played off against vocal samples that added tension. The sheer volume of their set was overwhelming. However, their set may have been filled with some great ideas but it did lack a variety of sound, in places some ideas overstaying their welcome. On the whole a great set.

7/10

Groak

Leeds three piece Groak delivered exactly what I’ve come to expect from them in the few times I’ve seen them so far. A fantastic mix of bleak chugging sludge metal interlaced with rough and ready grind mayhem. All this tied together with horribly piercing shrieked vocals. For me Groak are the type of band I've been wanting to see for a long time, mixing two genres of music that I love and doing it a way that works. Although there set had moments that were a little bit looser than they could have been they played a great set and are a band that keep getting better every time I see them. Groak are definitely a band i’m going to continue to keep a close eye on.

7/10

Gnaw Their Tongues

Dutch industrial noise act Gnaw Their tongues gave a set that truly put me on edge. With a sound that draws heavy inspiration from black metal it's one of the most punishing aural assaults my body has ever been put through. Rumbling walls of harsh noise. Scratchy electronic drones. Erratic electronic drum beats invoking a blackened edge. Grim distorted vocals. Physically overwhelming volume. Any moments of respite presented in softer passages were soon ripped away as the all out barrage of noise commenced again. Gnaw Their Tongues were able to create an incredibly uncomfortable atmosphere with ease, pumping dogmatic sounding religious samples into their sound. At one point employing a truly disconcerting sample of of a child's voice with a sound close to a nursery rhyme. Everything about Gnaw Their Tongues was utterly frightening.

8/10

Space Witch

For me the biggest revelation with psychedelic doom band, Space Witch was the new addition of howling epic vocals in the opening track. I’ve got to say it works for them perfectly, adding a new facet to their sound that felt fresh. This didn’t feel like a new gimmick that was overused though and Space Witch definitely delivered bags of what people have come to expect from them. Rolling proggy riffs and drumming lead to crushing tone heavy doom drops. And the psychedelic synths and yawning ambient drones conjured apocalyptic cosmic imagery. Despite some unfortunate stage malfunctions (fixed by hero sound tech Emloin) it was the most interesting set I’ve seen Space Witch play in a long time.

7/10

Downfall Of Gaia

Finally, the crowning jewel of the evening, Germany’s Downfall Of Gaia. Downfall Of Gaia are the kind of black metal band I can really get behind, mixing in bags of atmosphere and a heavy injection of post metal. Sprawling spacious riffs lead perfectly into unrelenting speed driven black metal. The drums were a scathing barrage of the double bass pedals and blast beats exactly when they needed to be, but kept perfect timing into every change in tempo. Raspy pain stricken vocals and animalistic howls added to their terrifying stage presence. Both sides of their sound gut wrenchingly powerful with palpable amounts of atmosphere; but their sound allowed for moments of reflection as monolithic building doom or grim black metal would break for softer, beautiful, introspective passages. On more than one occasion I found myself getting lost in their music as it washed over me. With a very long set that clocked in at around fifty minutes it never seemed to overstay its welcome. For me, Downfall Of Gaia are a band that display everything that is interesting

and enjoyable about black metal.

9/10

All in all Black Cloud was a great day of extreme music that was pretty busy despite the fact Deftones were playing across the other side of Manchester. excellent debut from a pair of promoters that I can see making waves in the Manchester scene if they carry on with what they have started.