Food For Thought - Roadburn's Top10 List Of 2010

We are still mulling over our favourite albums of the past 12 months, but that's not stopped our friends over at Roadburn posting up their faves for 2010 already! Check it out:

ROADBURN - Top 10 records of 2010 list

Interestingly Jurgen has chosen Satan Worshipping Doom by BONGRIPPER, while Walter has - perhaps unsurprisingly! - plumped for TRIPTYKON's epic Eparistera Daimones record.

Right now I am in a bit of a quandry, partly because it's been such a great year for new records, but also because I haven't actually heard everything that is out there yet... I want to sit down with the proper CDs (LPs if possible) for new MOTORHEAD, SODOM and even ANAL CUNT records, so I can give them the attention that they deserve and even to check out the artwork and inlays of the work. The music is not the only thing that goes towards a great album in my opinion (although clearly that is going to be what it all boils down to in the end!).

Someone wrote online somewhere recently (on Twitter I think) that Top 10 lists are a pointless exercise, because there's no real way that any sane person could possibly listen to EVERYTHING that gets released in the record industry in one year. That's obvious. But, at the same time, I love reading other people's T10's and I always make an extra effort to try and find the more obscure stuff that I see people giving their thumbs up to. I love the whole process.

So yeah, be sure to click on the link (the one that's a bit further up this post) and go see the Roadburn guys Top 10's and see what you think. Those guys really know their stuff and they have a great knowledge of what's new and what's upcoming so maybe you should try and track down some of the records that they have put in those lists that you ain't heard yet. I know that I will.

Black Breath @ Star & Garter, Manchester, UK [2010.11.22]

Date: Monday 22 November 2010
Venue: Star & Garter, Manchester, UK
Line-Up: Closure, Hang The Bastard, Rot In Hell, Black Breath
Promoter: Say It To My Face

CLOSURE


HANG THE BASTARD


ROT IN HELL


BLACK BREATH




...you weren't lying about the stacks huh Kam mate!

The Rest Of The Bands At That GRAVE DESECRATOR Show...

Shit! It's been almost a month since I took the following photos at the GRAVE DESECRATOR show in Manchester (an all-dayer called "DEAD EVIL FEST") and I've only just taken a look-see at what the pictures turned out like. I'm a lazy fucking bastard... apologies to anyone who I've told "Yeah man, I'll get those photos sent to you in a few days." Little did I realise at the time that I had been shooting the photos in RAW format (meaning you have to sit at a desk for hours pouring over each and every frame one by one, adjusting and then reformatting each to jpeg or what have you) and, just to compound that a bit further, I took about 650+ pics during that day. All in some ridiculous format that I'd left the camera switched to from the day before. Idiot!

Anyway, here's a photo from each of the bands that played before GRAVE DESECRATOR. For photos of the headline band, see the original post!

PARASITIZED


DECREPID


THE GODS OF HELLFIRE


TOWERS OF FLESH


CLOACA


SEREGON


SEREGON were a right royal ballache to shoot, mainly because they moved so damn fast and never took a second to stay still! Which is great for a metal band, but so frustrating for a photographer haha.

More photos available on request: Leave a comment and I promise to get them to you sometime before the next century begins.

Upcoming - BLACK BREATH - Manchester S&G - 22nd November 2010

Say It To My Face presents:

BLACK BREATH
http://www.myspace.com/blackbreath
Motorhead & Discharge mixed with Entombed on Southern Lord Records

ROT IN HELL
http://www.myspace.com/rotinhellband
Holy Terror on Deathwish Inc. New album coming soon...

HANG THE BASTARD
http://www.myspace.com/hangthebastard
Raw Sorcery from London

CLOSURE
http://www.myspace.com/closurehc
Leeds finest

Monday 22nd November
The Star and Garter, Fairfield Street, Manchester
£8 adv from Ticketline.co.uk
Doors 7.30pm

http://www.starandgarter.co.uk/

GRAVE DESECRATOR, Manchester, UK [2010.10.24]

(This video clip ends just as the real action starts... but you get the idea!)

Date: Sunday 24 October 2010
Venue: Satan's Hollow, Manchester, UK
Line-Up: PARASITIZED, DECREPID, GODS OF HELLFIRE, TOWERS OF FLESH, CLOACA, SEREGON, GRAVE DESECRATOR
Promoter: Clanglestrim Produckshins


WORDS: I went along to an all-day metal show last Sunday, called DEADEVIL FEST, and held at Satan's Hollow venue, a high class metal dungeon in downtown Manchester, England. I didn't know what to expect from the line-up, mainly down to the fact that a lot of the bands are still very much what you might class as in the "up and coming" category (no offense intended by that label there guys). Also take into account that I am a lazy son-of-a-bitch and never did my homework on the line-up of acts.

The day started with 2 death metal bands (PARASITIZED and DECREPID), so I guessed that was going to be the trend throughout the day ("This next song is called... *undecypherable death grunt*") but then the 3rd band hit the stage, THE GODS OF HELLFIRE, and they were more of a heavy Crowbar style sound, so that was my "death metal only fest" idea blown out of the water.

There was also a drone band, CLOACA, who went down very well with the crowd (which pleasantly surprised me - the positive crowd reaction I mean! I expected people to be like "What the fuck is this slow shit??") and then another act (SEREGON) who played Sacred Reich style thrash.

Finally GRAVE DESECRATOR set up and started their set, blinding filthy Brazilian death/black metal. I was in love from the very first chords of their show.

I have a busy work schedule today (rent is due, car needs fixing, etc) so I don't have too long to play about with all of the photos that I took throughout the day (sorry to anyone who I have promised pics too, they'll be with you soon!). I'm going to be coming back to this review and adding extra stuff later this week, so hold tight! The whole day was a definite "2 claws up!", I wasn't sure what to expect (well, except for G.D. obviously!) but I am pleased to report that this was another fucking great outing for THEE CLAW!

For now, take a moment ot bask in the glory of some GRAVE DESECRATOR photos. You should have been there, lads!!

Con Clavi Con Dio

This week I have been listening quite a bit to the eagerly awaited debut full length by mysterious, secretive, Satanic Swedes Ghost, Opus Eponymous. After much spinning of their demo and the Elisabeth 7" from Iron Pegasus, hopes were high for this release.

Here we have the three songs from the demo and 7" re-recorded, plus new material.
Ghost seem to inhabit that strange ground between metal and occult rock, using similar mise en scene to The Devil's Blood, etherial organs, genuine feel of occultism and the distance from everyday lifecreated by the old sound favoured by these bands.
However, I feel that the demo and single had more of a warm, 70s feel to them whereas the album feels a bit more modern.  Gone is the Mercyful Fate-style promise of the demos and instead the band sound a bit more clinical and produced.

But that's just a small gripe.  What the cult have produced here stands apart from all other releases I've heard for a long time due to the complete Hammer horror style atmosphere that pervades the entire album.
Top notch, well worth the wait.

Spinning Now:

Words to follow; Early indications EXCELLENT!

WATAIN, Liverpool (UK) 29th September 2010

Date: Wednesday 29 September 2010
Venue: The Masque, Liverpool, UK
Line-Up: Otargos, Deströyer 666, Watain
Promoter: Whiplash

Great black metal gig held in Liverpool city centre last night. I got there just in time to see Deströyer 666 (already on stage as I walked in), with lots of fist pumping and happily angry Scousers running about the place and thrashing out. Even saw a couple of fights brewing (including one that was right down by the stage-side crash barrier a blonde girl tearing some guys hair out of his head). And this all before the headline act had even set foot on stage.


WATAIN's show may not be as well known to some, mainly because they probably don't get to air their set-up fully at every venue (partly due to health and safety concerns). After all, it's not every band who have a couple of 10 foot-tall burning crosses on stage during their show. I found this especially surprising in a basement venue such as the one they were playing in Liverpool tonight. Surprising yet awesome!


The WATAIN set included a fair amount of material from their latest record, Lawless Darkness. A few songs I recognised from it ("Malfeitor", "Reaping Death" and more). They also played "Sworn To The Dark" and "Devil's Blood" from the Casus Luciferi record. They left the stage only once, coming back on to play a Bathory cover - Sacrifice I think.


The main memory of this show, for me, was that it was the first time I have ever got a suntan at a gig at midnight. This was thanks to the two 15-foot high flamethrowers that WATAIN had on either side of the stage! They only sparked these bad boys up towards the end of their show, during Reaping Death (I think)... there was no warning for the crowd before this happened, none that I heard about anyway! The first that I knew of the flamethrower stunt was a sudden burst of heat (the basement venue was already hot to begin with!) and 90% of the crowd saying "WHOA!" in unison.


I'm quite glad that I had got a few good photos early on during the WATAIN show and retired to the back of the hall to watch the rest of the set from behind the sound desk area. Because the flamethrower to stage-left was directly below where I'd been stood taking photos of the bassist. Otherwise I wouldn't be sat here typing out a review, I'd be laid-up in the Liverpool Royal Hospital's burns unit.


Very fucking memorable show!

Tonight!

WATAIN, DESTROYER666 & LORDAERON thanks to those lovely people at WHIPLASH. Hope you got the tyre on the tourbus fixed Sal!

Giants

Enslaved, Bergen's marauding viking heroes really came of age to me when they stepped in at the last minute to cover the non-appearance of a resurgent and highly popular Celtic Frost at 2008's Roadburn due to the forefathers implosion.
They turned up and I remember watching this driving, tremolo-picking leviathan on a stage with projections of Norwegian nature behind them, their amps covered in runic flags and just being shocked; this was when I started to sit up and really take notice of them.

After I hastily obtained a copy of 2006's Ruun (a strong album and contender for one of my favourite albums of any genre of metal, ever) I felt a bit let down by 2008's Vertebrae, thinking that the progressive elements were taking over, not a bad thing in itself, but not quite gelling with the Black Metal template.
So, it was with equal parts excitement and trepidation that I waited for the new release, Axioma Ethica Odini.
I needn't have worried.
The prog parts are  still there, and are as prevalent as ever, but it all fits together.
The whole impression I get is of standing by a harbour watching the sea, and in some parts looking out  over the bow of a ship as you crest another wave and crash into the sea under a star filled sky.
The sense of space and grandeur is ever present on this album, whist some tracks are cold, claustrophobic slices of creepy raw Black Metal.

Overall, one of the strongest Black Metal albums I've heard in a long time, Good enough to sit proudly alongside Hammerheart.

BLACK SUN / VOLITION / BASTARDS OF THE SKIES

Date: Friday 24 September 2010
Venue: Star & Garter, Manchester, UK
Line-Up: Thade, Bastards Of The Skies, Volition, Black Sun
Promoter: Future Noise

A special "Album release" show for the new BLACK SUN record, entitled "Twilight Of The Gods". Nice line up and a long show, starting at 8ish with THADE and carrying on til 10 to 1 in the morning when BLACK SUN left the stage!




Apologies to THADE - never had the camera ready for their set. Did watch them though - sludgetastic!

Doomsday III, Wakefield, UK

Went along to Wakefield's Snooty Fox yesterday for the third installment of the Doomsday festival. Traveled there on a spare-of-the-moment jaunt with friend of thee blog Robbo and also the inimitable DOOMLORD and Conan. I had suspected before the journey that I might be in for a long day but, partly due to the great bands that played and partly due to the atmosphere in the venue, the event seems to whizz by quickly. At the same time though, I have now sat down to write a brief round-up of the day's events and I realise that far too much happened for me to make this any like brief. For now let's just add a couple of photos of the bands on stage and some of the crowd.

Bands that played:

GROAN


SERPENT VENOM


IRON VOID

ASOMVEL



LAMP OF THOTH


LORD VICAR



UNRESOLVED QUESTION OF THE DAY:

Why did LORD VICAR have a sign with "CUNTBUMMER" on stage during their set??


WANDERING GUITAR SOLO OF THE DAY:
Well that goes to Mr RANDOLPH REAPER Esq of THE LAMP. Someone even fed him a pint during his wanderings but I didn't manage to get a photo of that. Damn.

Twisted Sister @ Bloodstock 2010

Saw TWISTED SISTER last night at the 10th Bloodstock festival in the UK. They played a great set, lots of on stage rants in between songs (about the weather of all things) and they played a lot of their early stuff, a greatest hits performance.

People who think that TWISTED SISTER are only about 2 hit songs... fuck off!


Setlist:

Come Out and Play
The Kids are Back
Stay Hungry
Captain Howdy
Shoot Em Down
You Can't Stop Rock & Roll
The Fire Still Burns
I Am, I'm Me
We're Not Gonna Take It
The Price
Burn In Hell
A drum solo
I Wanna Rock


They played an encore too but, for my sins, I started the long walk to the car park around that time. I hear they played SMF at the end... fuck!!

The Bloodstock guys put together a really good list of bands for the Sunday this year, including SUFFOCATION and GWAR, and the weather was really good. I have got sunstroke today I think. My own fault for not wearing a hat or corpse paint. But then, people who wear corpse paint to outdoor festivals are fucking losers, haha.

Yob @ MIDI Centre, Tilburg (Roadburn 2010)

Total bonus, just watched YOB in the MIDI centre (new venue for Roadburn 2010!). A breath of fresh air, YOB are a class act!




Went to watch the JOHN GARCIA / KYUSS set, but the main venue at 013 (where his show was on) was totally packed out, I was lucky to squeeze my way in at the very back of the room! I saw them play 2 songs: Odyssey and Asteroid. After that I made a choice and bailed, to go see YOB. I stand by my choice, YOB played a lot of material from The Unreal Never Lived, an album which I hold dear to my heart... they were simply great stuff!