PlanetMosh Keeping it Metal
‘Come and witness the end of the universe with a brutalistic night of true devil worship with London towns most negative extreme metal acts’ says the flyer. Not bad considering the door fee was only a fiver, and as it was also held at The Intrepid Fox I thought I go along and bear witness. Upstairs at The Intrepid Fox is not a large venue and according to reports is was a sell out affair, which I could well believe as from where I was standing it got very crowded as the night wore on. Despite the size of the venue there was a good sized stage, strobe lights and even smoke effects.
First up on stage was Daor and unfortunately, due to transport issues I only managed to catch the last song, but what I did hear was death vocals and good guitar and drum work. So nothing to offend your ears and everything to listen to.
Next up on the list was Dam which had a fast, incessant rhythm throughout that would work well for any mosh pit (great drumming and guitar work there lads). Despite the steady, driving rhythm, there were breaks in songs, with the first song changing rhythms regularly and using with vocals that seemed to go against the music. Add to this the techno element coming from the drums and guitar during the penultimate song. The vocals were hard and more loud than growl, but damn (sorry, had to be said) that man can scream.
Following them was Voices which brought with them an increase in attendance, especially near the stage. This band had a fast, hard and level sound with a slightly more melodic element to it and made good use of backing vocals to add a deeper, harsher edge to the vocals which had a screamy style. It was clear from their performance that they were very practiced and gave a tight performance – since the band consists of members of Akercocke as well as the guitarist from Sarah Jezebel Deva’s band then this wasn’t a surprise. It wasn’t to my own personal taste, but it certainly was to others around me.
The last band of the night was Ted Maul who brought a heavier death metal sound than the previous bands I’d heard that evening. This band played heavy and fast with hard deep vocals and a rhythm that made you start to move your head in time with the beat. There are clearly a lot of elements to their music, including an industrial sound which was later introduced through a laptop and during one song by the guitar and drums seeming to work against each other. These elements combined brought a certain coldness to the music which worked very well. This was clearly the favourite band of the evening and, though the vocals were not always as clear as they could have been due to the sound, the crowd were definitely entertained and inspired enough to bring on the pit, which in my opinion is always the sign of a good night.
Overall, good beer, good location and a good night of live metal.
Band websites:
Daor – http://www.facebook.com/#!/DAOR667
Dam – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/D%C3%A3m/23504191912
Voices – http://www.facebook.com/#!/voiceslondon
Ted Maul – http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/TED-MAUL/6782749959
