There is a stink in the air at The Underworld on Sunday afternoon, but it’s not just the hordes of unwashed battle jackets and the industrial-strength bleach; it’s the nastiest, smelliest sludge riffs from Midhaven. They come across a modest, likeable bunch and put on an engaging show, caught somewhere between Machine Head and Russian Circles. Dazzling guitar solos, a rhythm section with impeccable feel and a stellar vocal performance, not bad for their UK debut, eh? – NC
Kicking off day two at the Black Heart, this doom-stoner outfit drew one of the weekend’s most suffocatingly packed crowds, with security operating a strict one-in-one-out policy. Whether fuelled by genuine hype or simply the luck of being the first band on, this turnout is fantastic for the time of day. Their riffs arrive slow, crushing and gloriously overdriven, igniting a sea of nodding heads beneath the venue’s already sweat-slicked ceiling. In a venue room renowned for making heavy bands sound incredible, Isak let the sheer technical weight of the performance do the talking while maintaining an almost meditative stage presence. By the time the final notes ring out, the crowd still seemed suspended in the set, reluctant to let the sonic journey come to an end. – CL
The near-constant crowds of Camden are always carnage, but today many of them are flocking toward Desertfest. After some lengthy delays getting in, Bismut opened the Underworld stage on day one of the festival. Originating in Nijmegen in The Netherlands, they take to the stage in a show of solidarity with the trans community. It’s a classy move and a positive start to the weekend. Their space-rock-infused blend of post-metal is as moody as it is doomy, and they do a great job of whipping the crowd up for a whole weekend of riffs. It’s fun and it’s filthy. What’s not to like? – NC
The London date of Basement’s WIRED release show run felt particularly significant, arriving as part of a string of smaller shows stretching from Los Angeles to UK cities including Brighton and Manchester. Released via Run For Cover Records, WIRED marks the band’s first full-length album in eight years and a reunion with the label that helped shape much of their early career. More than simply a comeback record, the album feels like a return to the urgency, melody and emotional honesty that made Basement such an important band within alternative music in the first place. In the compact setting of 26 Leake Street, that connection between band and audience felt stronger than ever.
One of the big four of Swedish death metal, Grave has been prowling the extreme metal realm since 1988. And two years ago, Jörgen Sandström, Jens Paulsson and Jonas Torndal reunited with guitarist Ola Lindgren, returning Grave to its original line-up and bringing the band’s “golden age” back to the stage. Armed with red strobe lights, fire and riffs that could chug their way through entire sieging armies, Incineration Festival gets a taste of exactly what these hardened bastards are capable of. They’re a relentless riff machine, yes, but they’re also calmly humble. Jörgen expresses his appreciation of everyone who made the time to come and see them, despite knowing that it’s “a bit of a puzzle to see everyone” at this festival. A particular highlight of the Grave catalogue is ‘Black Dawn’, which, Jörgen reminisces, they wrote when he was about 14. He’s now 54. It’s a primitive, swaggering piece of death metal that inspires a swell of the crowd to join in with the chorus shouts of “black dawn”. The band pull faces at each other as they unleash a massacre of bludgeoning bass lines and trampling drum blasts, inciting pits and a couple of crowdsurfers to surge forth in triumphant rage, right up until the last fragment of pyro heat has bled from The Roundhouse.
