Sonic Mass
By: Richard Collins
Riffs, some of us like them so much we want to hear the same one again and again and again until we black out. Some of us like riffs so much we not only want them to completely destroy our minds, but also conjure new worlds and let us explore them. Luckily, we’ve entered a golden age of heavier bands becoming increasingly progressive, pushing new boundaries and delivering on the above in a variety of weird and wonderful ways.
Prog no longer belongs to some old guys with long hair your dad has been banging on about since you can remember, but maxed out bands killing it in 2014. Sonic Mass, which takes place on February 20th/21st at Bannermans Bar in Edinburgh, promises to be a cosmic celebration of all this and will probably be the best thing that ever happened in Scotland… ever (apart from shortbread, everyone loves shortbread).
Hey Colossus are headlining the Friday, whose 11 year career has propelled them in to becoming a noise rock institution, their new album In Black and Gold, which is due out in February, will see them explore a new and exciting direction yet again and their live shows are nothing short of jaw dropping. Joining them is Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, an insanely loud bunch of nutters who sound like Bongripper and Hawkwind playing drinking games. Glasgow’s Voe will be making an appearance to do what they do best, sounding like a right miserable bunch of bastards and Edinburgh 3-piece BRITNEY are kicking things off with some no nonsense noise rock that would put your average punter in hospital.
If by some miracle you make it out of bed on the Saturday, Space Witch from Stoke will be unleashing some amazing instrumental cosmic doom inspired by something too magnificent for any mortal to understand. Joining them will be Glasgow duo Ommadon whose V album made it into Rolling Stone Magazine’s top 20 metal albums of 2014, possibly the loudest band I have ever seen and will make you feel like your trapped in a derelict doom dimension. Buried Sleeper will be smashing out Grade A doom metal like it ain’t no thing and Edinburgh’s Dune will be launching the evening’s activities with their epic spacey sludge, they sound almost like a Scottish Slabdragger… HUGE!
This is a breakthrough event, which is more than worth hopping on a train, plane or space craft for. It’s co-hosted by Pisschrist Promotions, the most prominent doom promoter north of the border and Sander, the Metal Editor for Echoes and Dust who’s owed a pint by pretty much every heavy band on the planet for his services to the scene.
This promises to be one of the most ridiculous and maxed out weekends ever. See you on the other side!
The amazing looking poster was designed by Ross Mckendrick/RDM Visuals.
