SLAUGHTERDAY FESTIVAL
LONDON PURPLE TURTLE - 23/05/09
Well this one was always going to live up to its name, when in Rome and all of that and it was not like we needed any encouragement at all. Unfortunately the set times went completely out the window and due to that and the fact that things were overrunning by about an hour and a half we missed the last two bands of the night SSS and Ravens Creed so apologies to them. Afraid unless you live in Zone 1, central London you are pretty much held hostage by an inadequate transport system, something I am afraid we have to live with. Luckily we still managed to watch ten bands and have an excellent day, taking full advantage of the venues £2 a bottle of Cobra in the process.
First up were a band I had never heard of The Bendal Interlude, despite this their lanky singer was instantly recognisable being Foxy of SSS. Before they started I had 2 people shouting in either ear about how loud they were and indeed they were, the soundcheck was deafening. Musically they were an entirely different proposition from SSS, playing a groove laden sludged up stoner sort of vibe. Foxy was not into the stage at all, leaving the band to play on it as he stalked around the dance-floor, pacing around and yelling as we sipped our first (alright 4th or 5th) beer of the day. This went down as smoothly as it as well, guitars romped away and this fitted in with many of the bands on the bill today and was easy to get into whilst it turned us deaf. According to the notes I took this was bikerpunchpunkstonerbluesfistinthefaceironmonkeyslabsofgrooveladenshambolicsludge and I think that sums it up nicely and doesn’t even lump a core on the end. One number ‘Moustrap’ certainly caught us without a hint of cheese about it and as the band finished they got a rapturous round of applause from everyone down for the early start. (PW)
Next band to take to the Purple Turtle stage were Dead Existence and they made an immediate impression with their colossal, dirty, doom/sludge. The huge riffs just washed over the audience in vast waves of noise while the primal roar of the vocals was enough to cave in the skulls of the unwary. The band mixed some enticing groove and drive in with the monolithic slabs of sound but were never, for a second, less than monumentally heavy. I’d seen Dead Existence live a couple of times before but this was the first performance that left me feeling that the band might really have something special about them. A very enjoyable half hour of feedback and filth. (CK)
Nebukadnezza must have been delighted to see me stood there reviewing them again. It doesn’t seem to matter how many times I see them, how many times I try and approach them with an open mind and a fresh set of ears they still just come across like a bleeding racket. Despite how it might seem I really don’t have anything against these guys and I respect the amount of effort they put into their live performance. However for me this was just another Nebukadnezza set – a lot of noise with little to recommend it at all. Of course there are plenty of people out there who view the band very differently so don’t judge them on my opinion, check them out and decide for yourself. (CK)
No Made Sense were the band that I was looking forward to the most having never seen them before and being bowled over by their debut album ‘The Epillanic Choragi’ earlier this year. They took to the stage uniformed up in black shirts and ties and for the next however long it was proceeded to take me off to another dimension. I was really happy that they appeared to have no problems replicating their album art into the live environment. They got off to a slightly shaky start it has to be said and there was a fair amount of feedback but they settled and gelled fairly quickly and began to seem more confident as the set went on. Musically they are a dense proposition again that word ‘groove’ comes up and they chugged away with a Meshugian dexterity which seemed to have the audience transfixed. Certainly they are not a band to attempt dancing or rucking to as there was simply too much going on here, songs are long and ponderous and completely absorbing. They took me to the zone and made my head melt to the sonic evisceration and for a young trio they were frankly excellent. Even writing this up again now, I am hungering to catch them again and looking at the amount of dates they have over the next couple of months, I am going to try my best. If this website had such a thing as a tip for the top band section No Made Sense would certainly be mine. (PW)
After the challenging No Made Sense I was ready for something a bit more vicious and the technically adept Divine Chaos were certainly that. Catchy riffs and melodic guitar adornments abounded throughout this feral set of snarling extreme metal. The band seemed to have cherry picked their favourite elements from thrash, death and black metal and then spat them out with as much venom as they could muster. It was a tight, punchy performance and singer Benny in particular seemed to invest every last ounce of energy he possessed into each and every note. The initial impact was quite exhilarating but if I’m honest the excitement did begin to wane by mid-way through the set. In the end I was left with the impression of a band in possession of plenty of technical skill and an abundance of energy and commitment who are perhaps still a step away from truly memorable songs and a unique identity. (CK)
Pombagira are a band I have both seen and indeed reviewed quite a few times and I always enjoy them. Today things were a bit different as they were playing as a duo with Pete on vocals and guitar and Carolyn on drums. The drums had actually been moved to the side of the stage and the two of them played off each other in perfect synchronicity building up a downtuned fuzz laden wall of devastation which honestly did not seem compromised by a missing band member. At first I was stroking that non existent beard thinking that they had no hope of pulling things off but quickly ended up eating my words as I was turned even deafer to their shuddering might. I noticed they had a lot of people practically bowing down to their solid noise as though they were being literally warped and contorted by it, again dancing was certainly not an option. Taking a look at their Myspace page I see they are playing a free show at the ever great Unicorn on the 4th July with Lazarus Blackstar and Dragged Into Sunlight, excellent! (PW)
The problem I always have with reviewing Centurions Ghost is that they are always too damn good for any rational, reasoned response. The pitifully few notes I can bring myself to scrawl down in between bouts of frenzied, drunken headbanging are mostly indecipherable drivel, punctuated by legible but unhelpful comments like ‘FUCK YEAH!!!!!’ When I dragged my head out of the speakers I did notice what a damn good job Fed was doing on the guitar – there’s no need for them to continue their search for a second guitarist as she’s more than got it covered. The set was littered with new material but every song felt like an old friend. They finished with a crushing rendition of the inevitable, unstoppable ‘Bed Bound (In The House Of Doom)’and beyond that all I can tell you is they were great…again. (CK)
What crazy person decided to put Salute on the bill above Centurions Ghost? One thing you have to really consider about this band is that they are all about making an ugly drunken sound and as I was both incredibly drunk and incredibly (yeah, yeah) they were pretty much the perfect band for my state. I may as well throw away the scrawl of notes that I have before me as they are on the whole indecipherable although words like bunch of cunts and wankers do stick out. The photos as well are on the whole blurry and my memory is probably at best pickled and soaked in vomit, which pretty much also describes the bands old school gnarly craft admirably. Watching a band like this on a festival called the Slaughterday in the state I was is pretty much a perfect compliment for Salute, it is like they were destined to be playing here. Next time our paths cross I am going to do my best to be just as drunk in honour of them! (PW)
Detrimentum clearly weren’t as drunk as me and Pete because their tidal wave of metallic aggression is delivered with serious focus and precision. I must admit I had expected them to be a little chaotic today but while playing with undeniable face-shredding intensity the band deliver each pulverising number with crisp efficiency. Detrimentum take their music to the extremes of brutality but still offer so much more than just a noisy battering. Their songs possess dynamics, individuality and variety in admirable abundance. Although we sadly had to miss SSS and Ravens Creed Detrimentum made sure that our Slaughterday still reached a suitably climactic conclusion. (CK)
www.myspace.com/slaughterhousepromotionuk
Drunk on duty, Chris Kee and Pete Woods
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