Shredinburgh Festival 3 | website
Photos: Bruce Cowie | More Photos
After a good number of years the third instalment of Shredinburgh Festival returned to Scotland’s capital, with a line-up including local bands showcasing Scotland’s metal talent. Completing the line-up were known and lesser known guests from South of the border. Being held at Studio 24 I was wondering how the bands were going to cope on Studio’s big stage, but the promoters (Yorkshire Riffer, Pisschrist Promotions, GBH Events and Sea of Corruption Records) decided to do a floor show instead, which created a lot more intimacy and was therefore a brilliant move.
Kicking off procedures were Endless Swarm, who are one of the more prolific bands in Edinburgh and surroundings, releasing EPs and splits all over the place. This was the first time I witnessed their powerviolence attack with new drummer Dave Taylor behind the kit, and not disregarding their previous drummer, it did make their live show a lot more intense with less stoppage time between songs. They set the standards of the day high playing what felt like two-thirds of their extensive back catalogue.
Endless Swarm
Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair were up next. I finally got to see the infamous Wheelchair x4, a name I’ve seen on many gig posters but somehow always managed to miss. This two-piece is definitely a band you shouldn’t miss though as they played one of the funniest grindcore sets I’ve ever seen. I do love it when a band don’t take themselves overly serious, but still manages to play a tight set. Their cover of ‘Ace of Spades’ in memory of Lemmy was brilliant (“If anyone asks for a Jack n Coke smash their head in. It’s called a Lemmy”).
Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair Wheelchair
An Edinburgh all-dayer wouldn’t be the same without the next two bands on the bill, Atragon and Dvne. First up were Atragon, who played one of their better sets (and believe me, I’ve seen them enough times to be able to say this!). Their sound was spot on with Mr Pisschrist Ewen’s bass sounding heavier than ever before. Singer Jan was obviously loving the floor show aspect as he was working the crowd from left to right. I love their newer sound with more up-tempo playing and riffing, and perhaps 2016 will finally see their long awaited album be released. We can hope, right?
Atragon
Dvne followed Atragon’s heavy doom set with their trademark brand of progressive sci-fi sludge. Seeing Dvne live never disappoints and again they were playing very tight and an overall impressive set. I have to say that this was the only band that probably didn’t benefit from the floor show set-up as Dan and Victor’s vocals were lost in the loud mix for most of their set, which was probably due to the PA speakers being positioned behind the crowd rather straight in your face. Dvne is also looking into recording and releasing a full-length album this year, which is something I personally look forward to a lot.
Dvne
Last minute replacements Black Talon stood in for Zillah, who unfortunately couldn’t make this show. The local thrashers did a phenomenal job though, with vocalist Johnny Steele visibly enjoying the show. Funnily enough, Johnny’s vocals were spot on and very clear, so I really don’t know what happened during Dvne’s set. I have to admit that this was the first time I actually managed to see Black Talon live (I know, where the fuck have I been??), but I loved their brand of classic thrash metal so much that I picked up a copy of their album Endless Realities on CD, which was released by local label Wasted State Records last year.
Black Talon
Next up were first visiting band of the day, Gloomweaver, who came up from Leeds. I had only heard the name before, but had no idea about their music. After some fiddling around with a non-working bass amp (or something which didn’t make Yorkshire Riffer Paul’s bass work), they managed to put on a decent doomy drone set, which provided a nice change to all the riffing and up-tempo stuff we had experienced up till that point. I’m not sure if everyone agreed with me though as they probably had the lowest crowd attendance of the day, or a bunch of people decided to go to the nearest chippy or something.
Gloomweaver
After a short interval to change the backline it was up to local atmospheric black metallers Haar to get full usage out of the smoke machines and throw some much needed blast beats at the crowd. I love black metal, especially when it’s of the non-gimmick kind. Just lots of smoke and a bunch of very talented musicians shredding away. Being kvlt without looking kvlt or something like that. If you haven’t checked out their latest album The Wayward Ceremony yet I highly recommend you do so as you won’t be disappointed.
Haar
After Haar’s black metal shreds it was time for some proper old school death metal pummelling as Glasgow’s Scordatura took the floor. I saw these guys a few months back at Damnation Festival warm up show in Leeds and they were dead impressive back then and again this day. As far as Scottish old school death metal goes these guys are at the top and I recommend them highly if death metal is your thing.
Scordatura
At this point in the day I made the foolish decision to have a little sit down on one of Studio 24’s very comfortable looking couches, which resulted in an old man’s power nap and yours truly missing most of Narayana’s set. Though my sub consciousness still picked up the fact they decided to play without their guitar player who, I think, was coming back from mainland Europe that day and wasn’t able to get to Edinburgh on time. Again, I saw their set at the Damnation warm up show last November and with the help of some video footage I can only conclude that they were good. I think. Definitely good.
Narayana
The good thing about the power nap was that I was completely recharged for the mighty Horsebastard. I’ve always wanted to see Chris Reese (of Corrupt Moral Altar and sometimes Napalm Death)’ other grindcore band. And bloody hell, they played an amazing set, my favourite of the whole day actually. I never knew a drummer could play so fast and make so much noise using quite a tiny drum kit. The crowd was on top form moshing brilliantly, really making use of the floor show to the fullest extent. This was probably the most fun grind set I’ve ever experienced!
Horsebastard
Finishing this edition of Shredinburgh was up to local death metal and grindcore legend Cancerous Womb. They don’t play Edinburgh very often anymore these days and it was the first time I saw them with their recent full line-up as the last time I saw them, when they supported Benighted at Bannerman’s, they played without their bass player. They played a great show and were the deserved headliners of the day, which included guest appearances from Horsebastard’s Chris and Scordatura’s Daryl Boyce on vocals. And of course there had to be a wall of death which added much to the overall experience. With guitarist Mike on his way to Australia for a couple of months this was the last chance to see them for a while and I’m sure everyone who was present agrees with me that their set was the best icing on the extreme metal cake.
Cancerous Womb
Shredinburgh Festival 3 was a great success and hopefully number 4 will take place soon! It was great to see a crowd having so much fun, without any fucking about or anyone being an aggressive dickhead. That’s how metal shows are supposed to be. More of this please!
