PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
Fibber’s monthly massacre was the first endeavour by new Rock and Roll promotions to provide the people of Dublin with a fun metal gig. Hosted by Dan Keogh (Vile Regression) and Lar Bowler (Two Tales of Woe) it was a great night with a decent turnout to go on top of that. As you’ve probably guessed, it took place in Fibber Magees on Parnell Street in Dublin – a great venue. You’ll always know when something is going on in fibbers, as you get closer to the venue you’ll start to see less colour and more black attire and band t-shirts – always warms the heart.
First up were tech death band Dichotomy. They were a man down on Friday night, with bassist Ian not able to make it. They still performed to their best abilities as always. Having recently played at Carnagefest, I’ve mentioned the level of talent in this band before. If you get the chance to see them play – take it! The stamina of the band is something else, especially that of drummer Dave Fay – I don’t know how he manages not to die given the intricacy and speed he plays with (you go girl). Front man Kevin O’Connor (Big Niamh) is still boring holes into souls through his performance, he really has fantastic vocal ability. Polarity was one of the songs in their set and that one always exhibits just how good these guys are. Keep your eyes and ears open for this band as they are due to release their first recording soon.
Next up were Limerick band Shardbone. At first I thought I was seeing double, then I questioned whether or not to abandon my Heineken, then I realised the guitarists Eoin and Ciaran Culhane were clearly twins – panic over, Heineken still in hand. As it was my first time to see these guys play I was unsure as to what to expect. I was very pleasantly surprised. They brought something different to the night as they were the only instrumental band on the bill. Their sound is reminiscent to that of Opeth but they definitely hold their own outside of their influences. I wouldn’t be surprised if these guys have been influenced by other genres outside of metal (I won’t use the ‘dirty’ word ‘jazz’ this time), they are definitely on the progressive side of the genre. They can take it from soft to heavy with great ease and control the exhibited great musicianship. I’m really impressed after seeing my first Shardbone set – definitely going to watch out for these guys.
Wound Upon Wound were next to take the stage; but not before the all –important raffle. I swear I’m not bitter that I won nothing…! If you like black metal mixed with doom with the goat sacrifices on the side (or not at all), you’ll be sure to love Wound Upon Wound. In the beginning there were a few minor problems with the mic but it didn’t take away from their atmospheric performance. It’s been nearly a year since I’ve seen this band play so it was great to see them once again. There is a lot of variety in their style of playing. As I mentioned before, they can probably be best described as doom and black metal but the pig squealing and growling in the vocals gives them an edge of death metal too (no complaints). They gave a passionate performance and created a great atmospheric sound similar to that of black metallers Liturgy. Although Liturgy are sometimes described as ‘hipster black metallers’ and are more likely to burn down a Starbucks than a church, they still have a unique sound like Wound Upon Wound. Great Performance from these guys on Friday.
Next up was Brutal Death Metal band Warpath. Having recently played at Wacken Open Air Festival this year, these guys are surely set to become even more of a household name in the near future. They’ve supported a huge amount of great, big-name bands and have a wider fan base outside of Ireland, making them one of the more successful bands in the country – take that Bono! It’s clear that this band bring a large variety of influences to their music so they are not simply another death metal band. They perform with aggression and ferocity, if you’re not partial to mosh pits you should probably hide. Definitely check Warpath out if even only to see what they’ve achieved as a band – it’s quite impressive.
