WOLVES IN THE THRONE ROOM & WODENSTHRONE –
LONDON UNDERWORLD 24/05/10
Only two bands on the bill tonight but both were playing long sets and sometimes less is more, so nobody was complaining. It also meant time could be spent supping beer in the pub and laughing at the parody that is heavy metal (yes you read that right). Honestly though for some people it’s just one big scene fashion show and after cracking up at the dress sense and hairstyles of a group of people meeting up and working out they were not going to this show but a secret Enforcer do at clique hangout the Crobar it all made sense. At first I was wondering if Kajagoogoo were back in town as one of the muppets had hair just like Nick Beggs and if you are reading this, cheers for the great comedy moment.
Anyway, normality resumed we wander into the venue to be confronted by signs on practically every surface asking as not to use flash photography under any circumstances tonight. This explains the lack of photographic evidence of the headliners who as I have found out before do not like much in the way of lighting in the first place and were near impossible to shoot. Thankfully I faired better with Wodensthrone and was looking forward to catching them for just the second time in London. Last show they cancelled due to heavy snowfall and today was one of the hottest days seen in the UK for ages, we could have welcomed some cooling down. Luckily whatever the temperature songs from the wondrous album ‘Loss’ translate with majesty and elegance, quickly wowing those of us filling up the venue. The smell of incense wafted through the normally stinky venue and for the next hour or so time stood still as the music flowed around us. Bathed mainly in cold blue vocalist Brunwulf throatily roared from behind a backdrop of twisting guitars and swathing keyboard. Moments of feral intensity burst forth one moment to be dropped down into trembling and fragile acoustic passages. I recognised lots from the album, indeed they may have played all of it. With a guitar cutting out the band soldiered out and you really noticed the impact once the problem was sorted out and they were back on full strength. I particularly loved the quirky and jaunty folk sounding parts of ‘Black Moss’ and look forward to catching Wodensthrone again in August with Winterfyllth and Sigh. (PW)
The Throne Room er… I mean Underworld had turned out to be far busier than anticipated, and with no camera I resign myself to the balcony to get a reasonably full view of the stage. From what I can see the Wolves In The Throne Room have done a good job of making themselves at home, surrounding themselves in an entanglement of branches and twigs, and in near-pitch black but for a few candles there’s a highly ritualistic feel to their stage set-up. I have been intrigued by this band since hearing their Two Hunters album however tonight is the first time I’ve managed to catch them live in action due to geographical restrictions, and I wasn’t disappointed. Opening with ‘Wanderer Above The Sea Of Fog’ this is one I recognise straight away as being off the recent album, Black Cascade and its lush, ambient melodies transfer magnificently, drifting across the room as naturally as the aroma of incense as the guitars lay a harsh foundation. It’s an intense rasp that crackles down the microphone from the lungs of Nathan Weaver and sounding truly fearsome and strangely spellbinding. There’s an ambience to their performance that doesn’t quite come across on record and nowhere does it seem more powerful than on ‘I Will Lay Down My Bones Among The Rocks And The Roots,’ which is introduced with some calm and reflective clean guitars before blowing us gustily away with a full-on array of battering drums and ferocious guitars and gradually settling down into a dark, trance-inducing rhythm that quickly captivates. They play for well over an hour getting through a grand total of four songs, and put on a great performance! (LH)
Luci Herbert and Pete Woods
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