Live Review: Svalbard, Mountain Caller, Underdark | KK’s Steel Mill, Wolverhampton | 11/03/2022
Wolverhampton may not be everyone's first choice of destination (headliners Svalbard admit it's their first time playing in the city) but KK's Steel Mill, taking its name in part from legendary guitarist KK Downing, has become a well-known name in the Midlands, pulling in names like Cradle of Filth as well as the three bands on tonight's bill.
Underdark
Nottingham’s Underdark kick off the night with a maelstrom of post black metal. Vocalist Abi Vasquez is a force of nature, ditching the microphone during part of the first song to scream unaided at the crowd as the band behind her craft scenes of atmospheric blackened majesty. They veer between yearning melody and outright fury, and when the two coalesce there’s an emotional rawness, like on third song ‘Coyotes’. Its soft, minimalist opening gives way to a cathartic eruption of screams and superhumanly fast blastbeats. Their emotionally wrought black metal is deeply resonant, and as it concludes in a storm of roars, tremolo picked guitars and thunderous drumming, it’s a deeply affecting experience for all those present.
Score: 8/10
Mountain Caller
Though they might initially appear an odd choice for tonight’s blackened bill, instrumental post metallers Mountain Caller are nothing short of enthralling from start to finish. Conjuring desert vistas and epic journeys across them, their sound is monolithic and the live environment adds an extra layer of grunge and grime. The trio are clearly in sync with each other, songs morphing and changing to suit the vibe. Not merely content with delivering a riveting set musically, bassist El Reeve also provides the occasional fascinating scientific fact. They also admit to changing up the setlist every night, making each show unique; while some bands might shy away if they’ve a larger catalogue, Mountain Caller simply nail it. A mid-set ‘A Clamour of Limbs’ is a particular highlight in a set full of them, its rumbling, almost psychedelic riffs accentuated by the ebb and flow dynamism of the trio. Closing with a transcendent ‘Dreamspirals’, they leave absolutely no doubt as to why they’ve become a hotly tipped band in the underground.
Score: 9/10
Svalbard
Capping off what has so far been an excellent evening, headliners Svalbard launch immediately into a rousing ‘Throw Your Heart Away’ and, over the course of the next fifty minutes deliver a euphoric set drawing from both old and new material. Reminiscing about her first ever show and seeing trailblazers Kittie opening for Slipknot, vocalist and guitarist Serena Cherry dedicates ‘Click Bait’ to them before excoriating the metal press’ proclivity for headlines written purely to stoke outrage engagement. It’s one of two dedications of the evening; the second is a much more jovial one, as she quips that, having recently seen Phantom Of The Opera, the realisation dawned that ‘Grayscale’s riff is heavily inspired by Music Of The Night, and dedicates it to Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The gratitude on their faces to be back on stage is plain to see, the sheer love of playing live, even as they tear through songs like ‘Silent Restraint, that deals directly with feelings of depression and anxiety. Co-vocalist and guitarist Liam Phelan is a a blur of motion constantly, even when he’s delivering excoriating vocal performances like on ‘Silent Restraint’ or ‘The Currency of Beauty’. The rumbling bass that underpins it ensnares the room, as if the outpouring of righteous anger and searing guitar melodies from the stage wasn’t enough. By the time Svalbard close on ‘Open Wound’, the crowd are well and truly eating out the palms of their hands, and it’s yet more proof that they’re are simply, one of the most essential voices and best live bands in the UK scene.
Photo Credit: Ashleigh Davies
Score: 10/10