WAYLANDER, SILURIA, ANNWN & RAVENAGE
LONDON UNICORN 25/10/08
A night of folk metal meant a yomp up the Camden Road to the Unicorn, an unassuming but friendly boozer that has been putting on some good shows lately for free. The only downside of this was not being able to blag a guest list, tonight we were all equal! First up were Ravenage a clan who had travelled down from Yorkshire and one I believe I had caught a fleeting number or two of at Bloodstock. The imposing singer ‘Heralder’ declared that by Thor’s Hammer all would perish and that was where the problem lay - the battlefield was empty! Many had fled down the road and were watching The Prophecy, another Yorkshire clan before taking the long path up to this venue and bodies were scant on the ground. Luckily this did not put Ravenage off their stride and they gave it their all entertaining those of us here with a battle clamour with proud heathen blood running through its veins. In fact the singer and guitarist were happy to fill the floor space and get off the stage and into the audience during numbers such as ‘War Band’ which in essence was exactly what they are. They even had one of the pubs gnarled and ancient locals led up to strut their stuff for a second (complete with flat cap I must add). Last song ‘The Corpse War’ had me hungering for more and I look forward to clashing blades with this lot again.
www.myspace.com/officialravenage
Next up were a couple of bands from Wales, flying the dragon and sharing the odd member in the process. Anwwn (apparently pronounced Anoon) instantly had us jigging as the “hoy, hoy, hoy” cry leapt from the speakers. Once this calmed we were struck by the vocals which were clean and baleful whilst also rich and somewhat distinguished. At full croon I was struck with the folk elements that the music also more calmly portrayed here rather than the metal ones, although this was at times certainly reminiscent of the likes of Falkenbach. ‘Broken Sword’ had a medieval plainsong air about it at first before it went full tilt and had heads banging in appreciation. By ‘Mountain’s Sunrise’ my opinion was that this lot were very serious about their craft and there were no silly fur wearing, battle metal elements here to please the crowds and get major label attention. This did perhaps make them slightly less enjoyable and dynamic. Even if the last song which was about drinking ‘At The Inn’ was no ‘Happy Little Boozer’, it was still a number that you could collapse drunk in a pile quite happily to.
www.myspace.com/annwnofficial
Siluria (named after a Celtic Tribe) were much gruffer and had some doom filled riffs flowing through things before a hey-nonny-nonny clamour from the guitars began to seep into things. Vocalist Taran was singing from behind an acoustic guitar which he would at times swap his electric one over with whilst growling and roaring, so he was pretty damn busy during the set. Musically they had the swaggering, fist banging bravado about them that was lacking in Annwn although the two bands certainly complimented each other nicely and showed how versatile folk metal can be to the uninitiated. I was reminded a bit of the likes of Grand Magus and The Lamp Of Thoth here, there were certainly doom fuelled elements running through this and the belting number ‘Sleeping Giant’ was anything but and the highlight of another good but short set.
www.myspace.com/siluria
It had been ten years since I last saw Waylander at the Braindead club at The Walthamstow Standard along with Desecration and other bands whose memory escapes me. They had been busy applying blue war paint in the toilets (but not for the full ten years I should add) and when they finally stretched themselves on the stage they looked like a cinemascope scene from Braveheart in front of us. By the time this much busier venue had got into the swing of things and the Irish horde were romping away with new song ‘Walk With Honour’ the mead was flowing and everyone was really getting into this wild manic jig. The flute weaved its magic and added distinction here and made the pace at times fly in a frenzied zeal. Another new one ‘Beyond The Ninth Wave’ may have got off to a false start but when it really came crashing down it caused a full on wipe out. The fact that I had played the tracks such as another brand new one ‘As The Deities Clash’ on the groups Myspace earlier in the day and recognised them spoke words. These were songs that obviously stuck with you and the energy that they were played live had me thinking that we were kind of lucky being able to wander into a pub and catch them live on a Saturday night for free. Forget your pirate, caveman, Viking metal and what have you, this struck as ‘brigand metal’, rebellious and rabble rousing it made me want to fight, it made me want to drink, it made me want to…damn is that the time? Leg it and catch the bus home. Great stuff, and with ‘A Heroes Lament’ ringing in my ears I can only say more please, come back for a full tour soon and bring Primordial with (well one can hope)!
www.myspace.com/clanwaylander
www.myspace.com/folkmetaluk
Pete Woods
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