Where do even start with reviewing a night like tonight? How do you find the words to describe what just happened? Frankly, I've no idea, which, let's face it, isn't the ideal place from which to write a review.

Let's start with the facts. The night was a Sargent House showcase featuring And So I Watch You From Afar, TTNG and Mylets in the intimate surrounds of London's Old Blue Last. Those of you who follow these things will no doubt be aware that ASIWYFA are currently supporting Nine Inch Nails & regularly playing to huge arena / festival audiences so the chance to see them in such a small venue promised to be special indeed. As it turned out, 'special' doesn't even come close.

When we arrived doors hadn't opened and the atmosphere in the bar downstairs was an electrifying mixture of anticipation & fear as it was a largely first come first served affair and as the clock ticked closer to 8 so everyone surreptitiously tried to edge, ever so politely, towards the door to make sure they got in.

First up was Mylets, the 18 year old guitar / loop pedal prodigy. Now, I'd been hearing a lot of effusive praise for this young man in recent months but this was my first chance to witness him up close and personal. I've got to say, nothing anyone said prepared me for the reality of his show.

(((o))): So, first and foremost, who is Theo and what is your musical background?

Theo isn't a real person I'm afraid, although sometimes I feel as if I'm playing a character, or an extension of myself. Theo is what I call this solo project; one man, and a lot of equipment. I had a pretty standard musical upbringing really: learnt piano from an early age, got onto guitar pretty early, studied music at school/uni and always tried my hardest to contribute somehow to the various communities I have been a part of.

(((o))): How, and why, did you first start playing?

I started learning guitar, thanks to my Dad's love of Hank Marvin, at 7 years old; and then playing in bands when I was a bit older. Once I had started playing in bands, I soon had an overwhelming desire to learn to play drums too. I often get asked which I'm better at, or which I prefer, but I seem to be equally competent at both, and I appreciate them both just the same. Theo really started because I had begun to dictate too much during band practices, so I used it as an outlet for my bossy ways, which in turn helped me to be more of a team player with my band work.

(((o))): Has your local scene had much impact upon you as a musician?

I started going to gigs in my home town (Worcester) from an early age, and always wanted to perform, the difficulty was always trying to get good enough! Worcester has boasted some pretty amazing acts in the past, so I've always had the opportunity to see genuinely life changing performances. The gigs I went to back home tended to have a good mix of brilliant out of town bands, as well as equally good local bands, and Birmingham, Bristol, Oxford and London are all close enough, so really I was spoilt for choice. Having seen all this great music, I just wanted to try and contribute my own offering and stand next to those guys in some way.

(((o))): Your music is incredibly complex and expansive considering you’re just one man! How do you go about creating such a sound on your own?

I would say that my playing style, at least in terms of guitar work, is quite simple; and the looping style is very intuitive, so you just have to keep trying different combinations until it works. Normally I start with a core looped riff and work around it until I have several ideas, after that it's just a matter of arranging everything (in my head).

(((o))): How difficult is it then to recreate the sound live?

Playing live is the easy part, it's actually much harder for me to transpose those ideas onto a record that can go some way to matching the intensity of the live performances.

(((o))): We’re looking forward to seeing you at ArcTanGent Festival in August. Who else on the bill should we check out?

I saw Blacklisters in Birmingham this year, which was superb noisy hardcore. then obviously Among Brothers, Delta Sleep, The Pirate Ship Quintet and Howard James Kenny have all played shows with me in the past, and are all awesome and definitely worth watching; and then there's That Fucking Tank and Astrohenge who are brilliant!

(((o))): What are your plans for the near future?

Finally get my album pressed, play more shows, and then write another record!

It was a red-letter day for dark souls.

Devotees of H.P. Lovecraft descended upon Rhode Island for this year's NecronomiCon Providence, a mammoth, multi-day convention paying homage to the literary horror icon. The event took musical form – sort of – Saturday night at Lupo's Heartbreak Hotel in the Strand, a downtown landmark and favorite haunt of Lovecraft himself. Neurosis, fresh off their European tour, made a rare New England appearance. The opening act: Lustmord (aka Brian Williams), for whom concert dates in general remain a special occasion. Here was the godfather of “dark ambient” taking the same stage, on the same night, as the godfathers of “post-metal”, both acts still reigning sovereigns of the sub-genres they are commonly credited with creating.

A performance like this was bound to raise questions. Who among the attendees would be Lovecraft fans of the non-metalhead variety, merely intent upon experiencing the full range of festivities the weekend had to offer? This might be answered by the number of people who beat a hasty retreat upon being confronted with some of the heaviest riffs imaginable; for it is an inevitable irony that Neurosis, presumably no strangers to Lovecraft, create unforgiving soundscapes that would compel the notoriously sensitive writer to run screaming from the room were he somehow alive to hear them. But how many metal-hardened Neurosis fans would have the patience for Lustmord, whose compositions tend to lack vocals, guitars, and – for that matter – actual percussive beats?

I could only answer these questions by showing up in person. As it turned out, nearly everyone in the room was an obvious metalhead. Shortly after the doors opened, a 2005 silent adaptation of “The Call of Cthulhu” was shown on a screen at the front of the rather ornate venue; around it gathered several people, who watched intently and applauded at the end. Everyone else congregated toward the back, drinking and socializing and perusing an impressive table of merchandise. By about 6 o’clock – this was an early show – the crowd had been heavily augmented by the teeming ranks of Neurosis fandom.

The level of devotion involved was easily gauged in casual conversation. I spoke with an earnest, bearded young man named Larry, who had driven all the way from Maryland with his friends – and it wasn’t even their first Neurosis show of 2013. (“So all of this Lovecraft stuff must seem pretty weird to you?” “No, I’m familiar; I dig his stuff.”) These were veterans of the much-heralded Neurosis/Mastodon gig of Brooklyn Masonic Temple, January ’08, and my impression was that they were not atypical.

Lustmord

Lustmord’s set consisted of an unbroken piece lasting about an hour. Recognizable samples appeared here and there – the clarion-like intonation and unearthly cries from the first track of Heresy, for example – but the through-line was a steady (if erratic) bass pulsation. This was all laptop-based, but the stage was somewhat enlivened by visuals, as kaleidoscopic and geometric patterns – emphasis on pentagrams, clouds, and fire – were projected on the screen behind him. At least half of the audience appeared fully engaged for the duration; the others continued mingling to the extent possible.

I myself came away unconvinced, not only of Lustmord’s effectiveness in support of a band that plays metal (Melvins collaborations notwithstanding), but also as to how well his work translates to a live setting. His records, in all their disquieting glory, seem best enjoyed in solitary contemplation, and whatever feeling one derives from that experience is not something that can be compensated for simply by increasing the bass levels. Perhaps more to the point, the Neurosis oeuvre is already replete with ambience and built-in moments of extreme restraint – slower, quieter passages verging at times on unnerving silence. An entire opening set that functions according to that same principle comes dangerously close to…

Making…

The anticipation…

Unbearable…

But Neurosis did eventually take the stage. When this happened, an intense energy took over, seeming to radiate in waves across the expanse of the room even before the first note was played, and not letting up until the five members of the band had made their exit well over an hour later. Scott Kelly, in particular, exuded an aura of utter concentration; this was a man occupying his own zone. Lighthearted calls from the audience went not so much unacknowledged as unheard. Some slam-dancing was attempted early on, but the impetus for this had largely abated a few songs later, perhaps because mere displays of physicality were an insufficient means of homing in on the sheer seriousness of this music.

Neurosis

Not surprisingly, the setlist leaned toward newer material: 'We All Rage in Gold', 'At the Well' and 'Bleeding the Pigs' all were rendered with impeccable sonic intricacy closely mirroring Steve Albini’s recording of their Honor Found in Decay incarnations. (Things like the spoken female vocal snippet from 'My Heart for Deliverance' were carried over intact.) Other songs performed stretched back far enough to include fan favorite 'Locust Star' from Through Silver in Blood, while the aughts era of the band was represented in 'A Sun That Never Sets', 'Distill (Watching the Swarm)', 'The Tide' and a particularly bone-shaking 'Stones from the Sky', which closed the show.

There was then a sense of darkness giving way to light, a catharsis terminating the intensity.

Snippets of conversation overheard on the way out were uniformly positive. But all along, alcohol-lubricated goodwill had pervaded the atmosphere. Perhaps this had not been such a grim occasion, after all.

So I arrive at the always terrific The Cluny to watch and review Moon Duo, a band who I've been following since they were formed in 2009. Moon Duo are comprised of Sanae Yamada (keys/vocals) and Erik ‘Ripley’ Johnson (guitar/vocals) of San Franciscan band Wooden Shjips (silent ‘j’) and they play a heady blend of psychedelic drone mixed with a fair amount of krautrock. This intermingling manages to be both spaced out and full of indistinct but catchy hooks: a winning combination. The gig tonight is part of an extensive European tour in to promote their album, Circles which is roughly based on the 1841 Ralph Waldo Emerson essay, of the same name.

It was a crowded bill (see above) and I’d made mental note to arrive in time to catch one of the support acts; Parastatic. I didn't know much about these guys apart from the fact they're a local band. From their website, they play: "… spacerock, a dance beat cabal, softened by an aura of psychedelic overtones. The result is fortified, mutually electroloud and jizzed up by the motorik artistry of Krautrock, influenced and beguiled by the likes of Loop, Spacemen 3, Neu!, Spiritualized, Holy Fuck,  65 days of Static , Orbital and much much more musically and beyond." Now you can't go wrong with that!

Here’s a quick SoundCloud clip I recorded of their set, impressive eh?

Their setlist below only consisted of four songs,  ‘Like A Fraud’, ‘Doors Of Perception’, ‘Where's Your Base’ and ‘glaxoChem’, but all were executed fantastically well with some first-rate visual back projections.

I just about had time to buy yet another pint of Trooper beer then Moon Duo, along with a real human drummer, (in the past I understand that they've played gigs with a drum machine) appeared much to the delight of the packed venue. In fact I've only see The Cluny fuller on one other occasion, when Municipal Waste were playing … but that’s another story.

The ten song set list kicked off with ‘Sleepwalker’, the title track from their latest LP Circles.

What was immediately apparent was that both Yamada and Johnson were happy to forget that the audience actually existed (and possibly each other too). Sanae moves back and forth over the keyboards with her black hair obscuring her face, with her shoulders rising and falling. Ripley, on the other hand, sporting his characteristic silver-flecked beard maintains an aura of tranquillity while he focuses on his feet, which are pushing a multitude of effects pedals and his fingers as they dance up and down the guitar fret.

They sing the ‘Sleepwalker’ chorus together and this great opener had the jam-packed audience all bobbing and jumping their way through the grooves being dished-out. Next is ‘Catch as Catch Can’, a 7'' released back in 2010 with its very simple, very repetitive but very catchy keyboard hook and barely discernible vocals. Another track from Circles follows; ‘I Been Gone’ which is feels like it’s the theme tune to a ride through the desert on a Harley Davidson. I felt the vocals were a lot clearer on this track and there were masses of opportunity for Ripley to open up Moon Duo’s sound with several of shattering turns on the guitar.

Next up was the foot stomping ‘Free Action’ (again from Circles). This track sounds like it was written whilst brewing a big batch of moonshine somewhere in the Deep South. Moon Duo then visited their 2011 release, Mazes, to play In the Sun before calling in on their 2010 EP, ‘Escape for Motorcycle, I love You’. ‘Goners’, closed the set and after a brief exit they returned to play one more song as the encore, the track ‘Mazes’ then they're gone. No chatter, no conversations or interaction with the audience. However, they’re happy to mingle with the crowd afterwards, shaking hands, taking photos and enjoying the thanks and praise for the great show.

As a live group the overall performance was very understated and straightforward. They limit themselves to brief inflected vocals underpinned by a foundation of repetitive looped electronic hooks. All of this is overlaid by a fuzzy three chord guitar which is warped and deformed through a multitude of effects. The drummer is like a robot mechanically bashing out a cyclical beat with the minimum of fuss. The songs drone into one another making it challenging to discriminate between each tune. This isn't a problem because you end-up with a 75 minute transcendent spiralling reverb heavy mix with infrequent breaks and without any identifiable peaks or troughs. This is in no way tedious or dull rather it’s excitingly compelling. In fact at times it was difficult to believe interstellar panorama came from just three people. Therefore to say one track was better than another is almost missing the point of this particular genre of music.

In summary, Moon Duo didn't put a foot wrong. Strong support from Parastatic complemented their sound very well to make a brilliant gig: excellent sound, excellent visuals, excellent crowd and venue. If you're lucky to see this band live then be prepared to have your mind blown.

Many years ago, a pretty famous author once borrowed a quote from a Scottish poet about how the best laid plans of people and rodents oft go to complete and utter shit to title his pretty famous book. Obviously, I’m loosely paraphrasing that quote, but “plans going to shit” seemed to be the theme of the night at Great Scott in Allston, MA on August 14, and we wound up better off because of it.

Great Scott was originally supposed to host Ancient VVisdom and The Saint James Society, with support from local doom quartet Second Grave. However, due to a family emergency, Ancient VVisdom had to drop off the tour partway through. Then, on the day of the show, The Saint James Society’s van broke down in Brooklyn, and they were unable to make the trek northeast.

Boston-based psychedelic doom trio Elder were originally supposed to be on hiatus, as vocalist/guitarist Nick DiSalvo will be spending the next year in Germany. Their originally-planned last performance was supposed to be at the Something Bloody festival in Providence, RI. However, they were offered the headlining spot after Ancient VVisdom’s cancellation, and their fans got one more chance to bid them farewell. Meanwhile, the members of Rozamov were each in the middle of otherwise uneventful evenings, when they were asked to fill in for The Saint James Society only hours before the show; as vocalist/guitarist Matt Iacovelli put it, “An hour ago I was sitting on the couch watching Jeopardy, and now I’m here.”

And the crazy thing is that the bill was improved by the chaos. I only recently checked out The Saint James Society as research for this review – I hadn’t even heard them going into the show – and I quite enjoy their brand of dirty-but-atmospheric psychedelic rock that reminds me of a darker Black Angels. However, Rozamov’s blend of riffy, high-intensity sludge metal is just as good – if not better – and arguably fits better on the bill anyway. Ancient VVisdom, meanwhile, have never impressed me, and had the tour proceeded as normal I would have skipped this show. While I wish the switch could have happened under less unfortunate circumstances, replacing them with Elder takes this bill from a skippable show to a high-priority one, especially with Elder’s impending hiatus.

The only negative about the gig was the location. I’m not referring to the venue; Great Scott, while small, has pretty good sound for the room and a decent selection of beer on tap, so they’re perfectly fine in my book. The venue, however, is located right on Commonwealth Avenue in Allston (right outside of Boston), meaning insane traffic and very little available parking. My cousin, his girlfriend, and I were driving in circles up and down Commonwealth Ave, occasionally finding an open space only for our hopes to shatter upon the discovery that it was reserved for residents only. We eventually found an open space in front of small liquor store a relatively short walk from the venue.

Rozamov I had seen once before at the Silk City Tap Room in Florence, MA, on a bill that also included Elder, and was rounded out by Vaporizer and Black Pyramid. The two things that stuck out the most for me from that first performance were the sound of bassist/vocalist Tom Corino’s Rickenbacker bass played through a Sunn head (borrowed from Elder bassist Jack Donovan), and the sound of guitarist Liz Walshak’s expensive-looking Les Paul played through a vintage Ampeg. Both sounds were fantastic, and Liz in particular could lay claim to having the most crushing guitar tone of the night. This time around, Liz used an SG, and Tom played through his own Orange head (albeit through an Ampeg 8x10 borrowed from Gein of Second Grave, rather than his own Emperor 2x15), but both still sounded fantastic. They played through the majority of their material, opening with ‘Empty Sky’ and ‘Of Gods and Flesh’ from their recently-released Of Gods and Flesh EP, continuing into ‘Cryostasis’ (which was dedicated to Nick DiSalvo) and ‘Woman of Fire/Red Giant’ from their self-titled EP, before closing with the other two songs from Of Gods and Flesh in ‘Shadow of the Vulture’ and ‘Famine.’

Rozamov

‘Of Gods and Flesh’ and ‘Cryostasis’ were the standout songs by virtue of being my favorite Rozamov songs, but their entire set of energetic sludgy goodness was on-point and vicious as fuck. In conversing with some of the members after the gig, they mentioned that they were dissatisfied with their performance at Silk City where I first encountered them, and while I disagree about the quality of that first performance, which I enjoyed very much, this one was certainly more intense; the sound was sharper, the vocals were angrier, and the performances tighter. Despite the extreme last-minute nature of their appearance, they showed up ready to destroy, and destroy they did.

(On a side note, I ran into Liz at a Kylesa/Blood Ceremony show at the Middle East a few weeks ago, and very rudely ordered her to bring Rozamov back to western Massachusetts. While I was very happy to see them perform again, they’re still not off the hook. If anything, the quality of their performance makes their return an even more urgent priority.)

Second Grave, who I’ve been meaning to write about for Ech(((o)))es and Dust for some time, contain some important people from the Massachusetts doom scene. Vocalist Krista Van Guilder was a founding member of Warhorse and performed on their earliest material, and if you’re familiar with Black Pyramid (whose newest album I reviewed) or The Scimitar (whose gig at Silk City with Titanis and Birch Hill Dam I reviewed), you’ll recognize the name of bassist Dave Gein. Their setlist was, to my best recollection, the same as the last time I saw them live (Ralph’s Diner in Worcester, with The Scimitar, Birch Hill Dam, Gozu, and Lo Pan), opening and closing with newer songs ‘Mourning Light’ and ‘Drink the Water’ respectively, with ‘Mountains of Madness,’ ‘Covet,’ and ‘Soul Extinction’ from their self-titled EP sandwiched in between.

Second Grave

Second Grave’s particular brand of doom metal is more traditional than the aggressive, stonery sounds of Black Pyramid or the slow, crushingly-massive sludge of Warhorse, with elements of Candlemass, St. Vitus, and Type O Negative poking through (and Black Sabbath, but they’re a doom band so you knew that already). It’s difficult to pick a favorite moment when the band’s set is only five songs long – especially when each of those five songs kick ass – but they did announce that vinyl release of new material including ‘Drink the Water’ (and presumably ‘Mourning Light’ as well) is forthcoming. Needless to say, I am very much looking forward to it, and I expect this band to make a pretty big splash in the near future.

And so we come to the headliner and guests of honor. Of all the incredible bands making music in the New England area, Elder stand above them all for the sole reason that there is no one else anywhere making music like them. The psychedelic, beautifully melodic stoner doom of Dead Roots Stirring and the Spires Burn/Release EP forms at the intersection of Sleep, Baroness, Colour Haze, and Red-era King Crimson. My first live encounter with them (at the afore-mentioned show with Black Pyramid, Vaporizer, and Rozamov) was fantastic, and this was even better, as the energy on stage and in the room was (for obvious reasons) ramped up well past eleven. Furthermore, their setlist was comprised of my favorite Elder songs (with the exception of one new one that I will address later), opening with ‘Dead Roots Stirring’ (my cousin’s favorite Elder song), continuing with ‘The End’ and the new song, and closing with ‘Release’ (MY favorite Elder song, at least for the time being) before the crowd demanded one more and got ‘Spires Burn’ out of it. Just about the only way to improve that set is to make it longer; on any given day I might argue for replacing ‘The End’ with ‘Gemini’ or ‘Riddle of Steel,’ but fuck it, it’s Elder and it’s all fantastic.

The new song, however, was possibly the best thing I heard all night. I approached Nick after the set and asked him for details, and found out that:

1. The song doesn’t have a title yet

2. The song isn’t even completely written (but they’re playing it anyway because it’s fun, and I don’t blame them)

3. The finished product will likely be in the 20-minute range and will probably be the centerpiece of their next album.

Elder

It’s the proggiest I’ve ever heard Elder get (I originally thought it was two different songs, until Jack corrected me), and was full of all of the elegant melodic goodness I’ve come to expect from the band. If the yet-to-be-written parts of the song turn out to be as awesome as the parts they performed here, then we’re looking at something mind-blowing. I’m a sucker for extra-long progressive pieces, and the prospect of Elder tackling such an effort (not that their normal output is short) is exhilarating.

The gods themselves could not have planned a better send-off for the band. While the events that brought us this bill were unlucky on one end and tragic on the other, the fans at Great Scott were treated to a memorable night full of killer performances, and the folks in Elder were able to end it (at least temporarily) on a high note. And, based on the new stuff they played, they have the potential to reach even higher upon their return.

Thank you, Elder, and good luck, Nick.

All photos courtesy of JJ Koczan at The Obelisk, who also reviewed this show. 

After saving my mate from some Dutch girl who wouldn’t take no for answer, I finally got about 3 hours of sleep before the sun finally baked down on our tent turning it into a combustion chamber. Spotting heaps of people still parting the realization of “fuck yes, one more day of noise” set in.

By 10am I managed to be seated for the first band of the day. A band called Beton took the stage and started their sound check and finally I got to see a crust band that had a variety of influences, from Bolt Thrower to Nihilist and of course some Discharge to add that hint of d-beat. So it’s like crust/death/d-beat hybrid of some sort. They’re sound reminded me of a lot of The Beyond, especially their Frostbittenpanzerfuck record. It was like having bricks hurled at your head and the intensity was a lot to handle, I am pretty sure a few of the guys with hangovers were crying. It was relentless, unforgiving, crude and unrefined; yet well executed. Usually crust/punk bands can get away with being a bit sloppy, these guys were on the dime all the time. It was quite the live performance for the first band of the last day of a festival.

I found some time to grab some fries and a virgin mojito as I prepared myself for one of my favourite bands from France. The two-man grindcore machine that is Warfuck took the stage as a few of us gathered against the railing. Getting very up close and personal, it went off like a fucking rail-gun. It was destruction all over the place as the guitarist/vocalist made good use of the space as he shenanzed along the stage, playing and screaming as fast and loud as he possibly could. The drummer looked like he was a RAF tail-gunner of a B-17 flying fortress as he absolutely annihilated the hell hammers. They played most if not all of the songs off their Weak and the Wicked debut full-length and looked like they ended a bit too early, because they we’re playing at hyper-speed.

Warfuck

I managed to catch up the grind-duo after their show to congratulate them on one of the best performances I have seen and that from a two-man grindcore band… your move Wormrot. I managed to go complete fan-girl and bought one of everything they had to offer. They’re top blokes and if you can get their stuff, totally worth it.

Berns and Warfuck

It was time for more crust as Russia’s Distress took the stage, combining the best of British and Scandinavian crust punk in one destructive “fuck the system” package. The package detonated and sent the gathering crowd into a frenzy, especially the crust royal family, they quite enjoyed it by the dancing and being bad ass mother-crusters. Shit jokes aside, they were quite good and after I managed to drag myself away I spent some Krona at the grind-market. The best/worst thing was that the best of the day was yet to come and I was already in awe of the bands I saw, a noise-high if you will.

I made my way back from the market in time to catch Horsebastard as the air filled with blast beats, violence and the smell of cheap cider as they bestowed some god-awful noise upon us at an alarming speed. This is Horsebastard, the kind of band that you could see live and drinking piss would be totally acceptable. The chaotic grinding–powerviolence took most people by surprise, who merely came due to the absolute novelty of the name. They’re a lot of fun to watch live and they really do pack quite a punch! The crowed thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I.

It was finally time to see Sete Star Sept the drum and bass due from Japan. The mere fact that they were from Japan was a massive crowd puller as Japan has a reputation to produce bands that push the envelope. Thinking about it, bands like D-Clone, Disclose, Bathtub Shitter, Intestine Baalism and 213 to name but a few. The merciless noise terrorism that ensued was out of this world. I didn’t know if I should weep or jump for joy. It was something to behold as sheer analog terror set down like a napalm firestorm. The crowd was either completely horrified/shell-shocked or they were losing their shit. It was quite something to behold as the Japanese drum and bass brigade collectively tore the crowd a new fuck-hole! To make it easier to understand how disgustingly awesome the music was, have this analogy: If grindcore is the hardcore porn of extreme music, Sete Star Sept is tentacle porn, simple as that.

Bit of a break as I mentally prepared to sell my hole for Rock ‘n’ Roll as Swedish fastcore/hardcore punk outfit Massgrav took the stage. They were pretty adamant that the crowd had enough of this grindcore shit and asked us if we were ready for some rock ‘n’ roll. Well, fuck! It wasn’t rock ‘n’ roll as they ripped into the crowd at 1000MPH! They are in fact “Still The Kings” as we were crushed into oblivion by the sheer speed and intensity of it all. The Swedes represented at the front of the stage as you could only see silver studded jackets as the crust brigade were on the warpath, rocking out, some with their cocks out even! They even played us 'Police Bastard' by legendary crusties Doom or as they say “This is what we think it should sound like”. The fastest cover song I have seen performed live in my life, with the utmost precision. It was quite something special indeed from the Kings. All hail Massgrav!

Cock and Ball Torture

Next up was Wormed, Spanish tech death behemoths, who put on quite the show, but it’s not really thing, I wanted to see Cock and Ball Torture! The crowd started gathering and the Banana grinders were there as were the other costume freaks, in full force. There was a party about to go down and everyone with a keen ear for “Toilet Grind” was welcome as the kings of said “Toilet Grind” took the stage. Flailing limbs and beach toys were the order of the pit as it got quite out of hand with beach balls and lazy boys being thrown about as if an maple syrup enema/ant hill combo were upon them! It was absolutely nuts! I have never experienced something quite like it as the German band was really getting the crowd to participate. Our esteemed “colleague” with the CBT tattoo was representing as if his life depended on it somewhere in that pit, I’m sure.

Cock and Ball Torture madness

We were in the twilight of the festival as the final stretch seemed to be in sight. The bands that were to follow included Hemorrhage, Krisiun, Aborted, Ratos De Parao, the gorelords Exhumed and the mincecore machine Agathocles.

Hemorrhage picked up where CBT left off as the scrubbed up Spanish grinders donned in surgical outfits appeared on stage. The response was lukewarm like a fresh body. As Dr. Fernando made his entrance, drenched in blood as the first song kicked-off. The Spanish splatter goregrind legends were right at home and started to peel away at the crowd as the noise rained supreme. The crowd got into it as the D&G (Death and Grind) party kicked it into a high gear! A splatacular performance from the goregrind champs and the crowd showed their appreciation with stage-diving/dancing on-stage mischief.

Dr. Fernando and Berns 

Brazilian death metal trio Krisiun took the stage to deliver an ear full of Satan, darkness, murder and death. Riff, upon riff, upon riff rang round the festival as live execution was in full flow. They tend to thank the crowd a lot more than the crowd thanked them, well mannered lads. I only noticed their continues crowd praising/thanking because my Aussie mates pointed it out. We started counting the amount of times they said thank you after each song. Dickheadedness aside, they were amazing and oh so tight. It was the kind of performance that makes one feel inept as a musician.

One of the top acts around took the stage and they were all in a band called Aborted and fuck me, goremageddon was well and truly here! The Flemish death metal act was there with one objective, to deliver a clinical colostomy of a performance.  It was a surreal performance. One of the best death metal acts and well on par and even better (in some people’s opinion) than Hour of Penance. The struck an amazing balance between death metal and goregrind making sure that even their oldest fans got into it and everyone loved every minute of it!

Break out the riot shields, water cannons and tear gas! Ratos De Parao came to deliver face crushing crossover thrash/hardcore punk. The band has seen a lot of line-changes over the year but still maintained that “fuck the system” attitude to their music. Doing what they do well and just having fun! It was business as usual for the basement rats as they played some killer tracks and just had a blast whilst doing it! It was an electrifying atmosphere and a very special performance from the Brazilians.

The end was insight, whether we liked it or not! The disentomb foursome Exhumed appeared on stage to deliver their own brand of Gore-Fuckin’-Metal! They wasted no time and just got to it, with their iconic mascot running around with a chainsaw to the sweet death metal tunes that send chills down our spines. I saw them a few years ago at Party-san and they surely delivered, creating putrid atmosphere as the mosh pit descended into utter chaos or as Carl likes to put it “ANARCHY IN THE PIT”. Blood, Guts and Beer would be an ideal description for the atmosphere as they ripped it up!

Agathocles

It was time for some MINCE FUCKING CORE as the split-kings Agathocles started to grind us into mince-meat. The mincecore trio from Belgium and their bestial noise reigned supreme over a battered and bruised Trutnov. If grind is protest, then Agathocles embody that completely with a no-bullshit approach to their mincecore noise that had a real punk feel to it. Next level noise attack that left me in utter mince mania disarray, absolutely fantastic live performance from the split-kings! Words can’t describe what happened on that stage, it was phenomenal.

It was finally time to say some goodbyes, but that didn’t stop us partying all night! I definitely want to go back next year! Best festival I have been to! Thanks Curby, you’re a fucking champ!

On the second day of Obscene Extreme Festival (OEF) it actually did start at 10am and I managed to assemble the troops with motivations of “Come on guys, this is what “Partners in Grind” is all about, grinding from 10am to 3am!” and we made our way into the festival area, not at our full compliment because of various beers being consumed the night before.

"Partners in Grind"

So after making our way to the stage we got some good seats and were in for a treat as I read through the OEF schedule and double check I had the right day. It read “Short, fast and loud!!! The Czech answer to Insect Warfare” so that was enough to tickle my fancy. Controlled Existence made their way onto the stage and the sound check started and purely from the guitar tone I knew we were about to be obliterated. The female fronted grind outfit were on the dime speed wise and it was just disgusting noise, blast beat to blast beat! For a band playing that early, the crowd was surprising large all be it a bit drunk still. They were amazing live and the noise was surely impressive, might have a point about Controlled Existence being Czech Republics answer to Insect Warfare, non-stop ear splitting grindcore.

Berns with Controlled Existence

On  -probably- a day with the most unforgiving line-up I have ever come across it was time to check out some bands I have never heard of before as the killer line-up continued with: Six-socre, Cave Had Rod (chines cartoon girnd? Well nothing more than a shenanz band, but so much fun), Ratbomb and finally it was time for the 4 –piece noise brigade from London. Oblivionized came on and tore me a new fuck-hole where my head used to be. Still reeling from the Confine release I reviewed (see here) before going to OEF, I was annihilated by the perpetual barrage of noise produced by Oblivionized. If I had to describe the sound “A wall of noise collapsing on a child” would be a pretty spot-on description.

Oblivionized

The food/merch stands were calling so I managed to take a break before catching Coldwar, the Irish band that dished up what can be described as death metal played in a hardcore style? Yeah, I know. They’re pretty versatile when it comes to infusing the best of various extreme music sub-genres. The front man in his own right is quite the character. He would later be the drunkest guy at the festival, not before delivering a pulverizing performance from the Irish heavy weights. They were spectacular to watch, very tight with groovy sections and some more death metal/hardcore slam downs, which had everyone’s attention firmly focused.

Finally something with some proper speed! Strong Intention got my backing to deliver some real speed to proceedings and they didn’t disappoint. They took the stage and obliterated, as the razorblade express took no prisoners. Fast, noisy riffs with crashing symbols and a snare drum that took a beating for about 25 minutes of endlessly mind fucking our senses. Up to that point they were probably the fastest band yet!

Strong Intention

It was time for a much-needed break and I hung out with some cool guys from Christchurch, New Zealand. Story telling and some mocking behind us, I managed to make my way back to the stage with the Christchurch crust brigade, as it was time for the much-anticipated Captain Cleanoff. I think they took everyone by surprise, it was fast, it was gritty, it was dirty and well, they took my fucking head cleanoff! Amazing riffs, with some groove to it that really got the crowd going. Remembering that Captain Cleanoff are very much a touring band as all the members stay in different parts of Australia. They were so tight and absolutely out of this world. At first the crowd were a bit subdued, not sure they really knew what to make of an Aussie grindcore band. The shell-shocked crowd didn’t know if they were coming or going, but after the first three tracks, they really got into it. This might be a bold statement, but I reckon they were definitely on par with the best bands if not the best band at the festival. The most fun I have had to a grindcore band ever.

Captain Cleanoff

This was only the start of what would be the heaviest few hours of noise ever. Just to give you an idea, Captain Cleanoff were followed by Hour of Penance, Gadget, Coldworker, Birdflesh, Napalm Death, Grave and Anaal Nathrakh. Well, fuck!

Right, so before we could catch our breath, Hour of Penance were on the stage doing the thing they do best… crush you to bits with heavy riffs and technicality second to none. Not that I am a fan of technical death metal, but these guys definitely do it right. The crowd responded in kind by losing their shit. The brutality was second to none and it was encapsulated with excellent execution, skill and precision. If you weren’t a fan before, after that performance I was already making plans to get more of their material on vinyl/CD. Brutal death metal done well is closest you would come perfect. This kind of display would totally get one in the same conversation as say Bolt Thrower live or Autopsy.

A quick break and Gadget took the stage to grind us up into tiny little meat cubes for some kind of stew later on. It was fast, it was noisy and they are probably the best grindcore band from Sweden atm, doing it as fast, but also incorporating groovy bits that was reminiscent of the legendary Nasum. Some awesome tracks off both the Funeral March and Remote records. I basically lost my voice, or most of it yelling lyrics as loud as I could. They pretty much only played the fast tracks, ‘Feed on Lies’ was probably my favourite as it was a bit slower than the rest, especially throughout the chorus. They crushed all my expectations and were just amazing.

Gadget

Coldworker were next, as the death-grind hybrid took the stage. Formed in 2006 by Nasum drummer Anders Jakobson. They have been bulldozing their way through the grind and death metal scene for a few years now. Just taking over where Gadget left off, as the second Swedish band got the crowd into a grind frenzy with ridiculous blast beats and riffs. The culmination of death and grind producing an end product that had the crowd reeling and begging for more. They did drop some bad news and announced that this was their last show ever and that after OEF Coldworker would be no more.

On that bombshell, Swedish shenanz grinders Birdflesh took the stage, not really allowing the crowd to dwell on the end of Coldworker. It was costumes as usual, accompanied by masks and of course hilarious stage presence, as they didn’t mess about when it came to the grindcore. It was absolutely ferocious, from start to finish. The vocals were shared but majority of the blabbing angry commentary over what sounded like instruments being thrown down a well along with Timmy and Lassie. Along with stage diving, beach balls and ridiculous costumes up on stage from the crowd, it was basically fun grindcore and it was in good spirit. Seeing Birdflesh is definitely a must see for all grindcore fans who don’t take it too serious. Make no mistake, they’re a gifted bunch!

Birdflesh

At this point in time I didn’t even know what time it was all I knew was that the next wave of noise would be the mighty NAPALM DEATH as the masses started gathering. The well-seasoned grindcore veterans have probably played more shows than the most avid of fans could attend in a lifetime throughout their illustrious existence thus far. Let me tell you this much, they don’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down. The atmosphere was intense as they took the spotlight and blew us away track by track from they’re large discography. It was faster, harder, dirtier and more intense than anything. Precision and speed was the name of the game as Barney did the famous drunken-grind waltz as he lost his shit all over the stage amongst various stage invaders. It was Napalm Death, there isn’t anything else to say but  a quality performance! They ended off the set with a cover of 'Nazi Punks Fuck Off' by the Dead Kennedys, faster than you could ever imagine! Phenomenal stuff.

Finally the perpetual barrage of grindcore came to an abrupt end as it started to wind down. After such a high energy bursts of noisy fun, it was finally time for Grave, who are by no means slouches mind you. The grind powers that be saw it fit that we had a break and we were treated some classic death metal by the Swedes. Treated to a variety of old and new tracks, we were spoiled. I did feel a bit sorry for Grave as the crowd was quite depleted after Napalm Death. They got on with it however and it was a phenomenal life performance by all accounts.

One last act I wanted to catch despite my aching everything at that point. Anaal Nathrakh took the stage and treated us to their fusion of black metal, death metal and grindcore with various punk elements in the mix. It’s quite the acquired taste but it was absolutely amazing especially with the varieties in tempo within the various tracks. They got the stranglers going as the crowed started to liven up a bit more after having a wee rest. It was the perfect end to a marathon of wall-to-wall perpetual fucking noise.

Read Berns' review of the last day of OEF tomorrow, including Warfuck, Sete Star Sept, Cock and Ball Torture, Exhumed and many more!

Band names: everyone has probably imagined what their band would be called if they had the inclination or talent to form one. Some people don't care too much about this process and just fire one together while others are more inspired, try High on Fire, and some do what they say on the tin, ummm, like Metallica (once upon a time). However, after a while there does seem to be trends in band names, at least in the heavy end of the spectrum. Dead is used a lot - Dead Meadow, Cosmic Dead, Dead Confederate (485 entries on Encyclopeida Metallum). Black too; Black Sabbath…Black Breath and 880 results in between.  Those examples are obvious perennials but now 'pig' seems to be having its moment in the sun.

 So, joining Pig Destroyer, All Pigs Must Die and Skin the Pig are Pigshackle taking us up to a mere 18 bands – plenty of mileage in that, I’d say. Anyway, I like the name - sounds robust like it can take some damage and the band certainly give it out tonight. The mathy post-rock trio combine both literal and figurative heavy organ with sometimes sparse, sometimes stoner guitar and grow in stature after a jerky start to their opening slot that sees vocals slowly mixed into the dissonance with some added sax skronk until it all becomes a deluge of abstract prog. 

Second on the bill are ANTA and I have less to say about their name you'll be pleased to know, but I can tell you their music certainly isn’t pan pipe derived.  Having dropped a new full-length effort back in June, ANTA get down to work - quickly stepping into the crowd to roar their space drama for what seems like hours but actually passes in minutes. Hair and fists fly through the crowd to tracks from Centurionaut with its preponderance of jagged grooves sounding like a psychotropic Flash Gordon soundtrack. 

Headliners; Astrohenge, then, or, if my Wikipedia skills are anything to go by, 'Star-neolithic earthwork' are more down to earth than their name lets on. Stripped down to shirts and skins the four piece also delve into the crowd with effect petals strewn near dangerously pissed feet owned by dangerously pissed metalheads riddled with boyish (and it must be said that it is defiantly boyish) excitement. Despite no new album since late 2011 Astrohenge repay that pre-gig excitement in buckets of sweat and heaven tinged psychedelic ‘omnimetal’ with Rozeik and Harvey out front swinging a double guitar attack worthy of Robbo and Gorham.

Whilst sounding like classical musicians freaked out one day by the sound of Captain Beefheart on record, live Astrohenge are a more muscular, visceral affair. The riffs clench and release rapidly atop yet more humming keys from the sensibly attired Olly Weeks and a relentless beat, courtesy of the focused drumming of Kieran Iles, whirling around your head making for a beer slamming, high-fiving type of a gig and yes that is undoubtedly a good thing. The gigs that follow the new record will be worth catching that’s for sure. 

So after a very slow night at the pre-DOOM fest for Obscene Extreme Festival (OEF), it later turned out we had quite a massive night. The bands might have ended just past midnight, but the noise didn’t, as our fellow campers with automobiles managed to keep the night alive by blasting grindcore from just past midnight and beyond the night. As the sun rose on the first official day of noise, the casualties of Barmageddon were quite evident, with grinders passed out everywhere. By avoiding various passed out “people”, if you could call it that, I managed to get me some coffee.

Early OEF Victim

Slowly but surely people attempted to get some breakfast and face the perpetual hangover that was by no means going anywhere anytime soon. I got up pretty early as I was under the impression that the bands started at 10am, but instead it only started at 2pm. I didn’t mind that one bit as I attempted to mingle with some very serious people at that point. Didn’t you know? Grindcore is serious business. Dickheads aside I found my mates who were still hungover and they convinced themselves that keeping on drinking would be a good idea.

Roll on the noise was the cry from those of us who were suffering from grind withdrawal. As 2pm came round and we were finally set to grind our heads in. Smashing Dumplings, which seemed like nothing more than a shenanz band, kick-off proceedings followed by Ape Unit who were a grinding powerviolence band with some disgusting riffs and wall-to wall noise from the offset. It was pretty fast, but we were looking for something faster. They did deliver well-rounded performance and the crowd, be it small, went ape!

The first death metal band of the fest Graveyard took the stage. Before you even start to think “Hisingen Blues”, can you not? Don’t confuse Graveyard with the stoner band form Sweden. These guys hail from Catalonia, Spain and are one of Spain’s most prominent death metal acts around. None of this technical death metal gash kids are into these days. Solid, mid-tempo crushing death metal with great body and amazing riffs. They formed in ’07 and recently released The Sea Grave. Performance wise, they created an awesome morbid atmosphere, being daylight and all, it was pretty fucking cool and they just tore into us like a fucking meat cleaver. They basically do death metal right; sticking to the original death metal recipe and executing it live with flying colours.

A few more bands came and went, eventually it was Chapel of Disease’s turn as the German death metallers took the stage and just clawed into it from the offset. Uncompromising, “evil as fuck”, heavy death metal and the crowd really got going. It was like a breath of putrid air that was needed just to get people out of their dormant/hung-over state, with some help from Czech beer. The Germans had killer riffs with amazing leads and the rhythms were nice and full so you could really bang your fucking head. They’re no slouches when it comes to speed as it just keeps getting faster and faster like a fucking juggernaut. It was an outstanding display of music showmanship from the German lads, a superb live performance.

Putting the death metal away for a while as the female fronted Canadian noise/grindcore act Fuck the Facts took the stage. The band has been going since ’98 and the change in the vocals department no less than 3 times has really evolved and shaped the bands sound to what it is today. Lead out by a petite fiery redhead they took the stage and as it started you heard a vocal ranger from the underbelly of the abyss. Backed up by some fast, unforgiving grind as they absolutely killed it! The noise would be pretty chaotic at times with regards to song structure. If you close your eyes it’s like the demon king is yelling at you and you’re not quite sure what you did wrong. They really got the crowd involved with some on-stage crowd shenanigans. It was an impressive performance to say the least and it was the first real noise/grindcore band that was unrelenting from start to finish.

Malignant Tumour was probably the biggest crowd puller of the day as the kings of “Rot ‘n Roll” emerged from back stage. Being a local Czech band, one would understand why they’re so popular. The music on the other hand speaks for itself as you’re bombarded with catchy riff upon catchy riff as the bearded hat/aviator sunglass wearing band just plough ahead. Before you know it you’re yelling, “Saddam Hussein is Rock ‘n Roll” and the on-stage antics makes for a very fun experience. They were excellent and the stage diving and beard pulling was a feature of the show as the crowd went ballistic.

Finally it was time for some hardcore punk as the legendary Negative Approach from Detroit took the stage with a no bullshit, no fun attitude and delivered an amazing show. No bullshit, no crowd interaction between songs, just taking care of business and why not? They’re NEGATIVE FUCKIN APPROACH, that’s why! The guitarist was a bit odd, as he never actually faced the crowd. Who cares, they put on what can only be decried as swift roundhouse kick to the kisser!

Negative Approach

Next up was Cryptopsy, they didn’t really do it, for me or the avid tech death Aussie mates from Perth. I managed to find myself in a moustache bar, for obvious reasons of course and it turns out that it was nothing more than a drunken karaoke. Seems that when grinders get drink, they know all the lyrics to the Backstreet Boys and Britney, BITCH! Most of them were so intoxicated, they wouldn’t have noticed the lyrics on the tiny screen anyway.

Read Berns' review of Day 2 tomorrow, including Captain Cleanoff, Napalm Death, Grave, Anaal Nathrakh and many more!

I recently travelled to the Czech Republic and I am going to try and review Obscene Extreme Festival (OEF) with journalistic integrity and professionalism, but due to various shenanigans that took place, it might be a fool’s errand.

Before we left Stockholm for Prague we met some more grinders at the Arlanda Airport, one of which was pretty adamant on showing us his Bathtub Shitter tattoo on his bum. The same man later disclosed a Cock and Ball Torture tattoo, situated on his scrotum to a very (un)lucky member of the traveling party.

Prague, the Czech Republic. After landing at the very modest airport on the 2nd of July with my Partners In Grind, some Swedish Slam Pigs (top blokes, the fucking lot) and leaving a copy of Bunker 66 – Alive and Melting and Bolt Thrower – In Battle There is No Law on an ATM machine, it was time to dry my eyes and just get on with it.

After taking a much needed grind-break and shopping for some supplies (mostly meat and beer) and consuming it like barbarians in a near by park, we made our way into the subway system of Prague. After a lot of asking around and calling people various names we manage to find our way to our hostel.

Drinking ensued and I was basically the supervisor, making sure everyone got back to the hostel. Debauchery again took place after we met another one of the Swedish crew at the train station. Finally after a day of continuous mucking about we managed to get some shut-eye.

Trutnov station

The next morning we made our way back to central station and bought a group ticket… destination: Trutnov. The train trip was 3 hours and of course it was filled with more OEF cretins, so it was party on… again! Eventually we reached the town of Trutnov with modest inhabitants of 30-odd thousand just going about their daily lives, not for long. We made a few stops, stocking up on supplies and met some lovely Canadian ladies along the way.

After a massive trek, up the worst fucking hill in existence, we made it. It was smaller than I expected, but that is the beauty of Obscene Extreme! Tents up and so the OEF Olympics ensued with dumpster racing, saltwater drinking and various other extra curricular activities, such as piss drinking and vomiting. Sounds like quite the glamour lifestyle, am I right?

OEF Olympics: salt water drinking

Music -or Noise depending on your point of view- is the reason you’re all reading this I assume. On the Wednesday we had some awesome doom bands that started at 9pm, with Evoken from New Jersey, USA. The “Kings of Funeral Doom” and we were treated to a performance worthy of such a mantle! It was eerie, slow and just crushing from start to finish! They seem to be taken aback by the stage invaders, but it didn’t really stop them from delivering a performance that was fucking mint! If you like My Dying Bride and the lot, definitely check these guys out. I managed to catch up with Dave (Bassist) and Robert (Keyboardist) after their show and they seem to have had a busy, but successful European tour, absorbing the freak culture of OEF and enjoyed it thoroughly.

Evoken

Next up was Esoteric from Birmingham, England. I was a fan before they started as one of the members was wearing a Camel tee. So they had to be champs form the offset, right? They did not disappoint. The English doom titans delivered a spectacular set of eerie, droning doom filled with misery and despair. What more could you want? At that point the crowd was getting into it for the most part when I noticed the unmistakable Aussie accent going “Fuck man, this is cool, but I want something faster”. I didn’t mind, the doom was satisfying and overpowering any urge for noise, easing us into the carnage that was to follow in the coming days.

Hooded Menace

Finally, the moment I was waiting for… Hooded Menace! Three black figures appeared on stage with hoodies, some with sunglasses and it was on! Our doom was at hand with crushing riffs, amazing variations and excellent instrumental showmanship from the Finnish doom masters. The biggest catcher was the variation in tempo as it had a healthy dose of death metal with faster sections in the various tracks. The lyrical themes were filled with utter horror and on a wet eerie night it was pretty appropriate, creating an atmosphere that is hard to describe.

Pretty fucking sweet for a pre-OEF Doom Fest if you ask me!

Read Berns' review of Day 1 tomorrow, including Chapel of Disease, Negative Approach, Cryptopsy and many more!

(((o))): So, first and foremost, who are Cleft and what are your musical backgrounds?

Cleft are Dan on Guitar and bendy legs, and John on Drums and flailing. 

John: We’ve both been playing in bands for years, I think this is band number 37 for me which makes me look like I have ADHD.   I started learning keys a long time ago, but found drums at the age of 14 and decided that being noisy was lots more fun than playing a bossanova consistently at 92bpm.

Dan: I first started playing guitar obsessively when I was about 14 too. I used to sit and learn whole albums by bands I was a huge fan of at the time like Deftones, RATM and Tool – driving my parents mental with my little 10w practice amp cranked up, windmilling my hair around my bedroom. God I was cool! I was initially a bass player in my first band which probably explains my love for massive sub octave laden riffs.

(((o))): How did the band come together?

John: We moved to Manchester at exactly the same time, and ended up finding each other on the internet, but without the romance (well, maybe a little) and awkward dating.

(((o))): Please describe your sound in poetic form. (Haiku, rhyming couplets, acrostic, etc - take your pick)

Dan:

There once was a band called Clef(t)

Who tried to make people deaf

The guitars went SHOOOOWWWAAAAANNNG!

And the drums went BAAAANNGGG BAAAANNGGG!

That ludicrous duo called Cleft

(((o))): How has your local scene impacted you as a band?

John: Because the amount of bands playing the math/progressive circuit is quite low compared to mainstream rock for example, we've got to know a lot of them on our travels which is really nice.  I've found that there's a great community feeling as a result, and bands will do a lot to help each other out.  We've been bringing bands to Manchester for our own gigs recently, to try and help buoy the scene for those that are interested in this kind of music.  I've started running my own nights in Manchester under The Drum Tamer (www.facebook.com/drumtamer) banner with the aim of creating high-quality gigs at good venues that people want to come to.

Dan: Yeh, oddly enough the best gigs we've played have been out of town (we recently did a Scottish tour with Vasquez and Alpha Male Tea Party which was easily my best gigging experience to date). Manchester has a really thriving indie scene (perhaps due to the city's musical heritage), but there doesn't seem to be that many people into the instrumental, proggy, mathy guff that we make. We have chummed up with a few local bands that are making music in a similar vein to us like Trojan Horse and Halfling's leaf who are both awesome and good chums of ours.

(((o))): You've had a couple of EPs out so far. What can you tell us about them?

Dan: Well, our first EP was ‘Utter’ which we released digitally for free in April last year. We were only just starting to work out what we were trying to do as a band when making this as we'd only been playing a few months before hand. Like all of our material, we recorded it ourselves in our rehearsal room.

Our second EP is ‘Whale Bone’ which we released for free download and super cheap on CD (with ludicrous artwork by my girlfriend Jessica based on a Stewart Lee reference). We both feel this EP is far stronger than the previous, mainly as we had played a lot more gigs between the two recordings so we were a lot tighter and road hardened. As we track everything live (with a few overdubs in post production) the recordings really are reflections of what we sounded like at the time, which is something I have always liked about listening to classic recordings of the 50s and 60s, they are sonic snapshots of us two sweaty idiots making a right racket above a garage in south Manchester.

(((o))): As just a two-piece do you feel like it’s an extra challenge to create the epic sounds you do or does it just come naturally?

John: You do feel the need to fill the space a bit more without extra members, but at the same time we try to avoid over-playing stuff.  Being a two piece gives you more freedom to think about how you approach songs, and it's also a lot easier to learn our stupid tunes when there’s only two of you.

Dan: For me as a guitar player, I have had to approach my instrument in a fairly unusual way to try to keep the overall sound we produce not sound too thin like something is missing, but also varied enough tonally so that after listening to just drums and guitar for half an hour the listener isn't bored witless. John is really REALLY good at filling all the little gaps with little tricky fills and his array of cymbals. We have loads of fun experimenting with different sounds. Our main aim is to entertain ourselves really, it's all highly self-indulgent!

(((o))): What do you think is the most difficult challenge facing new bands starting out in the music industry today?

John: Not getting bogged down in thinking they have to appeal to massive audiences all the time.  It's music, it's meant to be enjoyable and not a chore.  Write stuff that you like and have a shit-ton of fun doing it, and there's likely to be a few others out that share your brain juices.

Dan: Yeah exactly, the budding musicians that seem to be the most stressed out or dejected by what remains of the music industry seem to be obsessed with success. The concept of “making it” is really an outdated idea. Very few of the general music consuming public pay for music anymore, therefore there is very little money for artist development from labels and/or publishers. I think if you are breaking even as working musician (i.e. the money you spend on gigging and recording etc is eventually coming back to you), you have “made it” already! Music is awesome; it should be the most fun ever. So there.

(((o))): Every band has different aims. What would have to happen for Cleft to make you feel that you’d “made it”, so to speak?

John:  Already there in my book.  We're playing gigs that we love, making music that we love and have met so many nice people over the last year or so.  We're always trying to move things on though, so playing more supports with bands that we want to see and releasing new music in interesting ways is something we're always looking forward to.

Dan: Oh, I've already answered this one! What John said! We'd love to get over to Europe and tour places where people can't understand a word we're saying but still allow us to flail about and deafen them.

(((o))): You’re given the opportunity to create your own All Tomorrow’s Parties Festival. What would be the first five bands on your list?

John: Tough choice as there's loads I'd pick.  Off the top of my head today I'd go with Vasco Da Gama, BATS, Vasquez, Mutemath & Laura Marling.

Dan: That is TOUGH. As this is a fantasy, alternative universe type situation mine would be: Nick Drake, Miles Davis, Slayer, Pantera and Deftones (with Chi Cheng). Although choosing an entirely dead line up does seem quite morbid now I think about it.

(((o))): We’re looking forward to seeing you at ArcTanGent Festival in August. Who else on the bill should we check out?

John: My top five are Fat Goth, Axes, The Physics House Band, Future of the Left and You Slut!

Dan: I can't bloody wait for this!! My most excitable moments will be watching Three Trapped Tigers, That Fucking Tank, Future of the Left, Zun Zun Egui, and And So I Watch You From Afar. That being said, I am a fan of more or less every band on the line up. I am beside myself about this festival, it is such a privilege to be playing it.

(((o))): What are the band’s plans for the near future?

John: Finish recording this album we’ve got simmering away and then release that little blighter.  We keep being asked to do gigs though, so we really need to knuckle down soon.

Dan: Yeh the album is definitely our main priority at the moment. It is probably about 80% written. We are of course super excited to be playing ArcTanGent festival in Bristol in August and Carefully Planned festival in Manchester in October.

(((o))): Thanks!

No, thank you.  Big sloppy love to Echoes & Dust.