The
Black Heart, Camden! Heavier than the Underworld, but without the sweaty Goths
of the Hobgoblin. Tonight’s patrons seemed to be 50% Lilliputian women and 50%
cousin It from the Addams Family. It was the majority though, who were here to
see headliners Lonely Kamel.
The
night started off well, with The Order of Israfel, Gothenburg’s premier
doomsters featuring ex-Church of Misery guitarist Tom Sutton. The set started a
bit sketchy vocally, as the opener ‘Wisdom’s sustained vocal notes deviated
slightly, but by the second song the band were on top form. Having only ever
heard the title track off their latest album “Wisdom” on record before, I was
stunned by how good these guys were live. Granted they needed to warm up a bit
before sinking into their set, I was constantly dumbstruck by the consistency
and tightness of their playing. The bands Scandi roots are very obvious in
songs like “The Earth Will Deliver What Heaven Desires”, of which I was so
blown away by. I actually had to go up to the drummer once they finished the
show to ask what the track was called! The final remark I have is that their
riff progression were seamless. Great use of small repeated phrases and
lead sections flow into each other effortlessly, never leaving you with that
feeling of “When will this song end!” Perfect band, ace performance. Would see
again!
Second
up was Birmingham lovelies Alunah. Leaning more towards the heavy doom side rather
than the hard rock theming of the other bands, front woman Soph Day showed us
her pipes in full force as she led the band through a slow, stoney set.
Sludgelord regulars will be very familiar with Alunah. Their sound really is
tailor made for our readership, and I can say with full confidence that their
live sound and performance is just as stunning. Soph manages to hit every note,
while the other band members keep a tight foundation of boomy, gloomy heavy.
Having been at the front for The Order of Israfel, I found myself having to
move back to about ¾’s of the room’s distance from the stage, as the bass was
so heavy it just muffled the sound. They were also kind enough to sign a
cassette tape of their latest album “Awakening the Forest”, which I highly recommend
picking up a copy of!
Lastly,
Lonely Kamel pulled out all stops with their filthy hard rock stylings
reminiscent of a drugged up Motorhead. They pulled in a huge crowd and
absolutely gave them the best show, with showmanship and great crowd
interaction trumping the other bands tenfold. They had a fantastic vibe about
them; you could feel the beer and weed evaporate off their instruments while
they ploughed through filthy songs about drinking and fornication. Their
scuzzy, riff heavy guitar work was only complimented by the singer’s fantastic performance.
Just
the right amount of growl and melody made him the perfect front man to complete
this ensemble of degenerates. Although the majority of the crowd seemed to be
there for the Kamel, it severely thinned out towards the last quarter, which
was kind of understandable as the night had started at 7.45pm and it was
pushing 10.45pm now. And with that, my only criticism, their set was just too
long! Perfectly paced, with a great song selection, but far too long given that
the night had 3 bands on the bill that each played a considerably long set too.
Honourable
mention must go to the sound guy for the first and last bands, he absolutely
smashed it! The only dampener on the evening was a problem with the mixing desk during the first song of Alunah's set, so the in-between-set music continued to play for awhile after the song had finished, massive shame! Thanks for reading
y’all!
Words by: Asher G. Alexander
