WITCHSORROW, DOPEFIGHT & SERPENT VENOM –
THE HORN, ST ALBANS, 4TH FEBRUARY 2010
So… the day after a terrific Saint Vitus show, I am not done with the doom! The Horn in St Albans is a perfect music venue, great sound, good layout, easy to get to (staggering distance from St Albans Thameslink station – about 20 mins from St Pancras) and a pinball machine! Just goes to show when they have won Music Pub of the Year in 2009; that’s 2 years running, or something like that. In any case, a few casualties of the night before began to surface and it was time for some low end heaviness. Apologies for the lack of photos, I got to the venue and realised I had left my camera at home!
Serpent Venom is a band I have been going on about for a while since I saw them at this very venue for their debut gig. There is just something about them, the doom laden guitar work, with many ‘trills’ and all (sorry – a term used by guitar players!) gets the most from the Orange amps via an SG guitar courtesy of guitarist Pete during ‘Four Walls of Solitude’. Gaz on Vocals (whom used to front SLOTH) is a great front man, although the music is slow, his movement never stops along with some excellent vocal lines that sometimes remind me of Dan from Count Raven or Christian Lindersson (Lord Vicar and Terra Firma). One thing that struck me tonight that I never really noticed before was the quality of the drumming from Paul. To have such a range and variation within the slow-tempo presentation is simply wonderful and I found myself concentrating on what the drums were doing for the majority of their set. I think they only played 3 songs (‘Under the Compass’, The Outsider’ and the aforementioned track) and they were on for a good 30-40 minutes. These chaps are certainly a band to watch in the coming months and, to me, they are one of the greatest finds of recent times. Doomed perfection!
Next up are a surprise for me, I had no idea they were playing, namely the balls-out goat worshipping chaps that are Dopefight. Their split EP with Dead Existence last year was something I grew to love quite quickly, and whilst integrating many sound samples to their music via some technical wizardry machine at the front of the stage, they blew the roof of the venue in my book. There is a distinct lack of communication between the band and the crowd, tending to play to each other, so bassist “Epic-fail Hale” lets us quickly know who the band are. In short; a bludgeoning, stoner, doom-laden weed smoking set, perfect!
Witchsorrow is another favourite of mine. Coming on stage later than planned (what’s new for this venue!) the crowd seems especially thin, not sure why. It would have been nice if the other bands could have stuck it out and supported Witchsorrow, after all, they all watched your sets chaps. Anyway, I only got to see two tracks tonight, once again, crushingly heavy but I did feel there was something missing tonight, a lack of spark, just something not quite right. By the time opener ‘Thou Art Cursed’ and ‘The Trail of Elizabeth Clarke’ finished, it was time for me to go.
The Horn is a great venue but as it’s open till midnight tonight, bands did not start till after 9pm, so I only saw two tracks from Witchsorrow and missed Headliners Trippy Wicked all together (again). Just start the damn shows earlier, people have to travel and go to work! Of course, this gripe was expected, but for me this line up was pretty special, offering us punters the chance to see some of the premier unsigned/underground bands in the South East.
Paul Maddison
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