WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM, NAKED SHIT & ALTAR OF PLAGUES
CAMDEN UNDERWORLD 10/02/08
Camden may well have been blackly doomed with fire yesterday but it had no affect stopping people coming out for this somewhat rare showing headlined by USBM mob Wolves In The Throne Room. Before they played there were a couple of supports and 1st up were Altar Of Plagues from Ireland. They had a projector on the stage and also one to the side of it and were obviously intending to accompany their musical barrage with a fast edited collage of fragmented imagery, alas it stopped working almost instantly and left the band playing in darkness, which luckily really suited them but made using flash photography somewhat obtrusive. After just a couple of snaps I simply let the music take over.
An acoustic strum saw them launch into a feral miasma, literally hurled out the speakers in an eviscerating deluge that like a plague was rotten to the core as it took over with festering intent. This was all about layering textures down like different coloured paint and feeling them all meld together. The first assault seemed timeless before a brief sonic distortion saw the band now illuminated by one red, one blue light, suddenly plough back into things. Slowing down with acoustic meanderings in places, bleak mellow guitar fragments had that shoe-gazing slant to them that seems to be so popular at the moment. You could cite the likes of Fugazi, Slint a myriad of 4AD bands or even as others mentioned Neurosis about all of this. Whatever, there were elements of doom, black metal, Indie and post hardcore all gelling together here, making this a persuasive genre straddling treat. This is an altar worth bowing before and the forthcoming support slots with Mayhem seem perfectly deserved.
www.myspace.com/altarofplagues
I had some idea what to expect from Naked Shit (and am leaving the link to them here to prevent some rather embarrassing google searches) thanks to the fact that the ever reliable Rev Al had informed that they were a side project (one of many) of Tim Holehouse ex of Among The Missing. Not that I would have recognised him anyway but he came on wearing a horses head and with 2 drummers accompanying and trotted off with what they describe as being the worlds “slowest black metal”. It was pretty compelling stuff and it really shook through the body, rattling teeth as it went. Mr Ed provided the drone and suddenly after what seemed like forever they broke into a canter evolving things from their sluggish pace.
We saddled up and dug in for the ride. One thing I discovered at the very end of what I thought was going to be a purely instrumental set (the male drummer very occasionally screamed) was that this entire performance was actually comprising of just one 45 odd minute number! The horse stood stock still and for a lengthy passage the 2 drummers stunningly co-ordinated the sound, working in perfect harmony of drum hits and cymbal clashes, slowly of course before the horse joined back in, driving the song to its lengthy inevitable conclusion.
www.myspace.com/nakedshittheband
There is a huge buzz about Wolves In The Throne Room at the moment. I had only just managed to pick up Two Hunters and had only listened to it for the second time on the way to the gig. Song titles are not forthcoming in this review and really seem somewhat irrelevant anyway as with all the bands this evening, it was really more to do with the actual experience. Perhaps due to the fact that this lot are signed to Southern Lord the audience seemed very mixed and studiously sagely, putting it simply I could really have done with a beard to stroke (my own naturally).
WITTR had set up a drum centre of the stage as though even the small Underworld was too big for them. Candles were lit and the trio limbered up as though testing their instruments to make sure everything was in order. Lone doomed chords ebbed, cymbals were almost gently caressed and the atmosphere was building. Suddenly the wolves bit with lycanthropic fury and all hell was unleashed.
This was grizzly and intense, the vocals from Nathan Ward howled and roared in the mix, his brothers drumming battered away and guitar chords incessantly challenged the nerves in their fury. For once a band have come up with one of the most imaginative names I have heard in a long time and on stage they really lived up to it. I had needed convincing as what I have heard before had not really won me over as instantaneously as Velvet Cacoon, a band I had perhaps unfairly lumped them in with. One thing is for sure, live they were powerful, compelling and at times bordered on being actually overwhelming.
They left one feeling flattened, ripped up and spat out when they were at their most feral. Like an all consuming vortex they almost thrust the venue into a black hole (but perhaps all the beer had helped too). There were moments of ambiance backing this spatial plateau up and this eco-spiritual group had certainly hit London with something almost otherworldly here tonight. I guess it was a case of for once you had to be there, if you weren’t well you missed out as this is not a band that are likely to embark on big tours on a yearly basis, in fact I have the feeling this may well have been a one off.
www.myspace.com/wolvesinthethroneroom
Pete Woods
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