23.04.2009 – Earth / Stebmo @ The Croft, Bristol

Opening up tonight is jazz pianist and experimental audio junkie Steve ‘Stebmo’ Moore. Steve a multi instrumentalist, who as it goes also plays keys for Earth treats the receptive crowd to a stark and beautifully minimal and eclectic set. When was the last time you went to a ‘hard rock’ show and heard something totally different and unapologetically sincere? Stebmo drift from heartfelt chords, melodies to emotive drone like tones and cascading structures, provoking thought and taking the listener on a journey through sound and acid lounge. Playing drums tonight is Earth bassist Don McGreevy and the sound and mood this duo creates is astounding, Don’s meticulous, heavy and jazz influenced drum style adding another element and dimension to Steve’s already impressive compositions and diverse musical styling. Will definitely keep an eye out for Stebmo in the future and as an opener for an Earth show could anyone ask for more? For more info on Stebmo check out http://www.stebmo.com not forgetting http://www.myspace.com/stebmo for streaming music.

I’ve been to see a few bands recently who try and do the whole slow tonal thing but not one of them come even close to the sheer scale and excellence that is Earth’s sound. From the first note the room is filled with a thick cloud of perfect noise both enveloping and captivating all in its path. Dylan Carlson is truly the king of doom and if you consider the audience his students then tonight is a master class. Repetitive, building riffs are married off to Adrienne Davies note perfect and immensely heavy controlled drumming. Watching and listening to Earth play live feels like necking a shit load of Valium, jumping on a plane and pointing it straight at the sun. An ever-evolving crash course with destiny, interwoven with the unmistakable sound of human suffering and anguish, the entire audience is enthralled and at Carlson’s request not a single camera flash goes off the entire time… it was refreshing not to see an army of camera phone photographers (lets admit it we’re all guilty at times!) but it was bliss, no flashing lights, no singing no dancing just pure unadulterated, unapologetic fuzzy warm heroin blues.

Earth are such an influential band it was incredible to watch them in such a intimate venue and as i’m writing this reiew they’re playing out in Roadburn Festival in Holland! I’m insanely jealous of you guys partying out there in Tillburg! I could happily listen to Earth forever or until i fall over… even then i’d still have my ears open.

I’ve never seen Earth play before I tried to come with an open mind and no pre-conceptions. I left feeling like id just witnessed something incredibly special and was just blown away by the epic tour de force that is Earth!  If you aren’t familiar with Earth and like me you’re a fan of all kinds of different stoner rock, blues, doom and drone are a fan of Sunn 0))) and the supergroup  that is Teeth of the Lions Rule the Divine etc then Earth is essential listening. They’ve got a new album, an immense back catalogue and from what i gather are just about to start work on a new record.

www.thronesanddominions.com / www.myspace.com/earthofficial

24.04.2009 – Testament @ Dynamo Club, Eindhoven – The Netherlands

 

It’s been in all the ads; ‘Testament playing ‘The Legacy’ in it’s entirity at the O2 Academy in London.’ Most of us, including me, thought that this would be a one time thing for Europe. Luckily the band decided to perform , or maybe to warm-up, a night earlier at the well-known Dynamo in Eindhoven. A support act had been mentioned on site and flyers, but within the first notes of ‘Over The Wall’ we knew that Testament were the appetizer and main course in a packed Dynamo. And what a meal it was. All nine tracks from ‘The Legacy’ were played back to back followed by the best songs from ‘The New Order’, such as ‘Trial By Fire’, ‘Into The Pit’ and ‘Disciples of The Watch’. All of the tracks from the band’s first two albums were played with such brutality that eardrums were shattered, even at the back of the venue. The emphasis was on the drums a bit too much, which at times drowned Skolnick’s and Peterson’s guitars. That’s just splitting hairs though, as everyone in the club had an amazing time in the company of these legendary songs. For an encore we got ‘More Than Meets The Eye’ and ‘The Formation Of Damnation’ both from the band’s 2008 album. The final song demonstrating once again how most nu metal and metalcore bands will never top the legends of the 80s. Testament have stood the test of time and even 22 years after their first ever European show (which was in the same town)., they opened the doorway to metal heaven….  Martijn Welzen

19.01.2009 – Ringworm / Chains of Hate / Human Race @ Barfly, Cardiff

An evening of hardcore punk rock tonight at the Barfly with the eagerly anticipated Ringworm

Human Race set the mood with a solid offering of crusty punk reminiscent of 80’s hardcore pioneers such as Minor Threat and Black Flag. I’d seen Human Race once before in Buffalo and enjoyed their set immensely, tonight is no exception and the boys encourage arguably the biggest pit of the night with fat bass lines and some sexy mid paced chugging.  This four piece have a cool sound and aren’t afraid to wear their influences on their sleeves, think Agnostic Front beating up Metallica with an iron bar. Lovely jubly… www.myspace.com/thehumanracehc

Next up are Cardiff four piece Chains of Hate and vocalist Tommy wastes no time staking out his place right in the pit, egging on the crowd to prove their worth. Everyone’s a little sheepish tonight however and I can’t say I blame them… Tommy looks like he could kill a man merely by looking at him. Musically C.O.H deliver a fairly impressive slice of N.Y.H.C inspired brutality, it’s not exactly original but it’s fast, heavy and I’m pretty sure if there was a bigger crowd, things would be seriously kicking off! www.myspace.com/twisttheknifeukhc

I’m ashamed to say I’d never heard of Ringworm until I saw this gig advertised. After checking them out however I got pretty excited, straight up 100mph hardcore metal without even a hint of an emotional or slightly melodic breakdown!

Sadly what was a decent(ish) crowd has thinned out even further and the floor looks a little bare. We all shift forward and soon enough heads are bobbing back and forth at break neck speeds. The band are a well tight unit and blast out tune after tune of precision hardcore, singer Human Furnace (no lie) has even gone to the length of taping the mic to his hand… a nice touch! “How many of you have downloaded our new album” he asks staring out into the crowd. “fuck it… you should download it… Victory records are shit.” 

I’m not going to lie to you… I’m writing this review a month after the show and I have a terrible tendency of getting wankered on the booze. So as for specific details I’m a bit hazy… all I know is these guys fucking rocked and got me well riled up for a pit, impressive considering it’s a cold Monday night in January.

The gig builds to a blistering crescendo and the small crowd are left screaming their lungs out for more… Were treated to a couple more Ringworm specials including a Metallica cover… Probably a real crowd pleaser on American soil but to be honest no where near as good as the ‘Worm orinigal.

I catch up with the band briefly after the show and thank them for an awesome evening… where to next I ask. “We got a show in London tomorrow night but were stopping in Stonhenge on the way!” What an awesome vision… The Ringworm at Stonehenge. Gotta love it!

Currently touring the UK and well worth the door tax. http://www.myspace.com/ringworm13

17.01.2009 – Taint / Wraith / Portraits @ Barfly, Cardiff

There isn’t a better way to kick off the New Year than with a Taint gig and the streets and arcades of Cardiff have been buzzing all week in anticipation. Are Taint a Swansea band? Are they a Cardiff band? No one really knows… one thing is for sure however … they’re a fucking great band and with the Barfly comfortably packed it’s clear I’m not alone in that opinion.

Relatively new band Portraits have got the opening slot and fair play they do a good job warming up the Barfly cellar, not as easy as it sounds! Their sound is an eclectic one, there’s a real mix of hardcore, rock and dare I say it a fairly equal measure of stomp and pop punk! The boys are currently working on an E.P. due out in February and I expect once that starts doing the rounds Portraits will almost certainly gain a big following in the UK and further afield! I’m finding it difficult to pin this band down in terms of what they sound like, which is definitely a good thing, if I had to throw some names out there… think Hot Water Music, the Bronx, Propaghandi, Refused and you’d be half way there. The boys have a myspace but no streaming songs as of yet! One to watch for shizzle! www.myspace.com/portraits

Next up are Cardiff’s Wraith, a band whose reputation as a tour de force of jarring, chunky riffs and brutally executed hardcore / metal is beginning to spread far and wide. I’d seen them once before supporting Raven’s Creed in Clwb and was really impressed then, tonight’s performance only built on that impression and I’m definitely gonna make a point of checking these guys out whenever I can. There’s a Converge like element to their sound and they’ve got an awesome knack for drawing you in with monumental rhythms and crusty Scum era Napalm Death time changes. Imagine US band Drop Dead on a mixture of Smack and cheap speed!!! That might sound absurd but I recommend you draw your own conclusions… www.myspace.com/wraiththebanduk

It’s not long before Jimbob, Al and Chris take to the stage, setting up their back line and meticulously preparing the stage for the preceding onslaught. Everyone shuffles forward and beers in hand begin to cheer… It’s time for Taint!!

Kicking off with material from 2007’s ‘Secrets and Lies’ album, song ‘Born Again Nihilist’ instantly sets the mood, highlighting just why were all here. Intricate guitar work and intelligent, ever building drumming leads way to mammoth riffing, heavy chugging and strangely infectious hypnotic grooves. Taint have always had an awesome reputation for their performance both live and on record but preceding the release of ‘Secrets and Lies’ and the subsequent touring they’ve become such a fiercely tight unit it’s become impossible to deny them the world class status they deserve.

‘Corpse of Love’ follows, another head rocking epic and there’s not a still body to be found at the Barfly, it’s wicked watching the crowd convulsing in time to the band, anticipating time changes and altering their pushing, swaying and head banging almost as if led by an overseeing unseen force!

Taint mix it up a bit then with ‘Posion Pen Attack’ a cracker from 2005’s ‘Ruin of Nova Roma’ followed by brand spanking new tracks ‘All Bees to the Sea’ and ‘Despite Isolation’. I’d heard the new songs at shows leading up to the Christmas period and it’d taken me a few listens to fully appreciate just how good they are. Not only do they build upon Taint’s uncanny ability to deliver offbeat, original an ridiculously catchy melodies, heavy riffs and clever chord progressions but there’s a really old school doom undercurrent prevalent in the choruses, something which has always been present but never perhaps so masterfully executed. What I love about Taint is their ability to deliver some of the sludgiest doomiest riffs ever written without ever pigeonholing themselves as ‘just’ a stoner / doom band. There’s something for everyone in a Taint song and that’s precisely why they’re able to win over new fans every time they play. Still relatively unknown in the UK it’s only a matter of time before Taint are a something of a household name… some might wish to hold that against them but remember this, they got there by their own means and on their own terms.

In what seems like no time at all Taint announce their final song of the evening, old favorite ‘I’m going to Kill Henry Ford’… the Barfly once again erupts in a mass of flying bodies, thankfully however it’s one of those blessed scenarios where the set is purposefully kept short as one thing’s for sure we’re not going to let them leave without an encore and everyone is screaming for more. Good thing they’ve got a few more songs in their repertoire and the fans are kept at bay with Secret’s slow building ballad like behemoth ‘Goddamn This City’ and the cherry on the doom pie… just to ensure everyone gets their moneys worth and leave the Barfly with wide grins plastered on their beer weary faces ‘…Nova Roma’s’ ‘Drunken Marksman’… Time for one last mosh!!!

I stumble to the merchandise stand and hand over money reserved for bills and the forthcoming weeks food. So what if I’ve got Secrets and Lies in two formats already… I haven’t got it on vinyl… well I didn’t used to anyway!

Words: Ioan Thomas
Pictures: Diccy P

21.11.08 – Brown Wings / Human Race / Race Bannon @ The Buffalo Bar, Cardiff

 

It’s not every night you can go out in Cardiff and watch an equally heavy, decent live band. The fine folk behind Lesson Number One promotions however are certainly doing their bit to change this. Tonight is no exception with 3 acts ranging from experimental rock noise to straight edge hardcore to brutally heavy ‘math’ metal. There’s only one problem though… it’s nearly 9 o’clock and there’s no sign of the headliners, with no obvious channel of communication with our American friends, it’s uncertain whether Race Bannon are going to be taking to the stage at all tonight. Regardless, the show must go on!

Up first, with quite possibly the best name ever submitted into the pages of musical history Cardiff / Skewen based drum and guitar duo ‘Brown Wings’. I’d heard a few tracks online beforehand and was curious to see how these self confessed Lighting Bolt ‘nuts’ came across live. Long story short… they didn’t disappoint, with a range of pedals that would make even John Petrucci jealous (ok… slight exaggeration) and a bizarrely miniature backline (considering the behemoth scale of noise!) guitar and drums sing, dance and collide in a cacophony of warm fuzziness, decimating sound waves and filling the room with a cloud of pure unadulterated groove and tribal / rock / metal rhythm! Who needs a bass guitar when you’ve got a big muff pedal eh?!

The only thing you could ever hold against these guys is that they sound a hell of a lot like Lightning Bolt… I struggle to see how this could ever be perceived as a negative comment however as “I don’t wanna sound like a queer or nothing… but I think Lighting Bolt kick ass!” For that reason alone Brown Wings are well worth checking out, these guys are seriously talented, equally inspired and I’ve got nothing but respect towards them for getting up on stage and trying something a bit different. I could probably listen to these guys play all night and not get bored, trouble is they’ve only got so many songs written and everyone is left wanting more… much more, one to watch for sure! For more information on how to get your very own ‘Brown Wings’ check out their Myspace at the following address… www.myspace.com/brownwings

Next up is Human Race, who, as some of you might gather from the moniker are a hardcore band. I’ve personally got a bit of a love / hate relationship with hardcore but for me that’s also part of the appeal. I’m instantly drawn in by a sticker on the bassists guitar “Drugs are for sluts and Losers”, how awesome is that? I’m a slut and a loser so I guess I’m doing alright on that front. There’s a lot of testosterone on show tonight but the band are both loud hell and tight as fuck! For me Human Race’s set was the embodiment of what ‘hardcore’ is all about and the boys put on a solid show. I wasn’t even shitting in nappies when Minor Threat and Black Flag were out there, putting in the miles and giving a whole generation of disenchanted youths a voice so it’s really cool having a bit of that going on 20 years later… and in your own backyard. Check em out at… www.myspace.com/thehumanracehc

And that’s that… the night is over, Race Bannon didn’t make it. There’s nothing left to do except say our thanks to the promoters and retire downstairs for some dearly priced tequila slammers. Fair play to Noel and the guys at Lesson Number One as anyone who wasn’t content with the two varied offerings of noise are being reimbursed at the door (how often do you see that happen?). Were still out back in buffalo pissing our refunds up the wall when word finds us that Race Bannon are in the building… We head upstairs to see what all the commotion is about and sure enough there they are… ready to play, ready to tear this place a new asshole… trouble is, this is the UK and after 11, it doesn’t matter if your Motorhead, Jazzy Jeff or Madonna you aren’t getting on stage. I’m so pissed by this point one of my eyes has started to close and the only word I can say is “Boobies!”, so you know… excuse me for not quoting the band word for word. From what I can gather there was a mix up at the airport with the van, with no working mobile phones or indeed a clear idea or plan of how to get to the venue it was a lose, lose situation. The guys look slightly bummed about missing the show, not that you could really guess from their wide grins and absurdly positive, friendly American attitudes!

“We’d play now if we could!” they all in turn assure me, even offering to play the following day wherever and whenever it could be arranged. It would have been awesome to see Race Bannon play, but sometimes you just can’t have it all, I wish them the best, thank Noel and the team and stumble off towards home. The next day I wake up and plonked underneath my letterbox is a copy of Race Bannon’s new album ‘Acid or Blood’, Southern records sent it across prior to the gig, the CD like the band however, arrived slightly too late… but hey we do live in Wales after all and props to the guys for making it over at all! Next time I’m sure will be a different matter… this isn’t over Race Bannon! I press play on the stereo, sit back and cradle my aching head… shit… I think I’m going to be sick! But don’t just take my word for it, check ‘em out for yourself at www.racebannon.net or for you social networking whores type into your browser www.myspace.com/racebannonrocks

For more information on Lesson Number One and the best upcoming live shows in South Wales / Cardiff go to lessonnumberone.blogspot.com