WODENSTHRONE, NOCHAA, NARCOTIC DEATH & POISON DWARF –
LEEDS SUBCULTURE – 27/03/10
Well those filthy Londoners have been spoilt for choice as far as good gigs go these past two months but the Northern scene seems to have completely stagnated. Or is it just me? Tonight is the first time I have been out in exactly two months since Marduk and given that it is no less than two years I have spent trying to catch Wodensthrone but for some reason or another end up missing them, I wasn’t about to miss this gig. I must first of all apologise for lack of photos; my camera is in fact very poorly at the moment and is in quarantine for the deadly H3N1 strain of camera flu that is going around, or something (well it’s slightly less embarrassing than the truth that I broke it while trying to fix it). But anyway. With a name like Poison Dwarf I was half expecting a Dio tribute band up first, but far from it these four boys seek to pacify a sparse and indifferent audience with some filthy, sludgy doom. The bass is devastating in its power and comes wrapped in that Sunn0))) style fuzzzzzzz, as guitars…….ring out…..in a slow, droning fashion. Upbeat and catchy is not the aim of the game, kids…and it suddenly dawns on me that the clocks go forward tonight so it better go double time to catch up as I’m sure time is running in slow-motion. The band may look as though ready for sleep, but there is nothing half-assed about the frontman’s performance – despite back facing the crowd (pet hate, sorry!) at one point he looks like his head is about to explode and the guttural, gurgling rasps equally have me wanting to call a doctor/exorcist. Cheers from the next table as they exit the stage show this isn’t for everyone, but they give a tight and intense performance and would go down well with the likes of Atavist, Dragged into Sunlight and Sunn0))).
It’s a while since I saw or heard anything of Narcotic Death; at their first gig I seem to recall thinking they had quite a bit of potential if they worked hard and developed their songs, etc. What is clear straight away is that their stage presence has come along nicely; they are starting to look like a real band up there and confidence has really grown especially in the frontlady. Musically though I am just not seeing the development in their sound that I had hoped for; there are no new songs and it seems little improvement in the existing ones. The execution of tracks like ‘Narcoleptic’ is tight and there are some solid riffs but I find them quite dull and uninspired at the same time. The main problem I can point out is that the band are clearly taking influence from a wide pool of sources; there’s a bit of thrash, death, doom, black, etc. and these elements just need blending together a lot more to fuse a more defined and individual sound than what I am currently hearing. With new members in the fold, perhaps things will quickly turn around for this young band but tonight I’m left somewhat unimpressed.
Nochaa have only just made it here all the way from Wales, so the frontman tells us, before the band blast into their first song. The frontman reminds me a bit of a caged animal as he frantically paces the diminutive stage as though looking for a way out to savage us all to death. This is one of those occasions when I’m a little bit lost for words; Nochaa are not doing anything so spectacular that I want to shout about them from the nearest hilltop, but they are not bad either. Their brand of death metal is highly run-of-the-mill, generic stuff, but it’s competently played and it gets the crowd going so who am I to argue? Speaking of arguing, there is some sort of lovers’ tiff play fight in the form of a mosh pit going down and it seems someone spilt beer on someone else…whoa, this is way more interesting. Back to the bar.
How Wodensthrone escaped my top 20 of 2009 list with the excellent ‘Loss’ is merely down to my having only in MP3 format due to real problems getting hold of the album, which I finally put to right tonight over on the merch stand. Opening with the spoken passage of ‘Fyrgenstréam’ the Sunderland Pagans instantly up the ante and its clear they are leagues above the bands that preceded them. Visually they are hardly the most spellbinding of bands; their single stripes of blue war paint could just as easily pass as rowdy rugby fan garb (guess it’s handy if they are travelling by train – a few grunts and belches no-one would bat an eyelid) but it is the music that does all the talking here. Tracks like ‘Leódum On Lande’ are delivered with true passion and vehemence; a volley of harsh riffs over relentless drums while the swooshing keyboards add a thick layer of atmosphere and work to create truly rich and sonorous soundscapes. The main vocal attack of Brunwulf is loud in the mix and nice and clear, leading the clan with his intense and impassioned yell, occasionally backed up by Wildeþrýð. The sound is surprisingly clear and their music comes across well in the live environment; tight and with a genuine air of fury and its hard not to be transfixed by their sound. Sadly due to usual crap transport links I had to haul ass after a very short half hour but their set was anything but disappointing. Woden be praised!
Luci Herbert
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