#325: CONAN + BOSS KELOID & THE BENDAL INTERLUDE - LIVE IN MANCHESTER
________________________
BOSS KELOID
Wigan based Psychedelic Prog Sludge Stoner what-have-ye Metal quartet Boss Keloid have just released their second album "Herb Your Enthusiasm" through Black Bow Records, a label ran by none other than Conan's Jon Davis. Having already seen Boss Keloid perform at Bolton's The Alma Inn and at Rebellion Manchester this year, it was interesting to see them play at a different venue. This was arguably the heaviest and loudest I have heard them play yet, with the wide, thin Star & Garter gig room trapping the sound at crazy volumes.
When the opening doomy chords of "Lung Mountain" kicked in, I could hear far more bottom end than any of their previous shows, and it was almost like experiencing them in a new light. Once again the quartet delivered an earth shattering show. Guitarist Paul Swarbrick's twiddly guitar riffs always sound excellent. Boss Keloid deliver lengthy songs full of twists and turns, built on dynamic tempo changes. Vocalist Alex Hurst uses his voice as an instrument to sculpture varying moods and textures. From the paranoid whispers of "Cone", to the all out Captain Caveman yells of "Lung Mountain", his versatility reminded me of mad Metal professor Devin Townsend, with as many funny facial expressions to boot. He sounds almost like no other vocalist in the genre. Boss Keloid have a fantastic mixture of dense, crushing Sludge riffs, expertly carved out by Adam's slamming bass grooves and Ste's technical, jazz leaning drums. Whilst Paul and Alex explore spiritual and cosmic realms. Their music can make you bang your head one moment, and then lose yourself in a hypnotic trance the next. You don't even need to take any substances to feel a high off their music!
Boss Keloid played a concise 30 minute set that left the whole audience wanting more. Still sticking exclusively to their latest album, which has seen an incredible reception in the Metal media. They left us with the anthemic "Axis of Green", perhaps the most direct song off the new album. It hits you with jagged Meshuggah-esque chugging riffs with vibrations that channel into your body. The song builds into a breathtaking finale with a Middle Eastern scale that is so epic, and so intense that I could barely take it! Boss Keloid's heavy spiritualism is one of the most refreshing sounds in modern Metal, and seeing them live has the power to make even the most hardened Metalhead sink to their knees and cry beautiful tears (not that I cry at Metal gigs or anything... It's a metaphor... Don't give me that look!!!) 10/10
________________________
THE BENDAL INTERLUDE
This was only my second time seeing Liverpool quartet The Bendal Interlude (also signed to Black Bow Records) and tonight I felt like I connected with their sound much more. The band are in the midst of touring the UK with Conan on the Majestic Hammer tour. Compared to Boss Keloid before them, The Bendal Interlude stick a little closer to the blueprints of Sludge and Doom, carved out by legends such as Sleep and Down before them. However the quartet find ways to carve out their own niche in their sound through the use of sampling. Their set began with a spoken word sample intro (possibly from a film?) and the samples continued here and there throughout their set, sometimes bridging their songs together.
Because the Star & Garter was so packed tonight, I struggled to even see vocalist Nat, who chose to perform within the crowd at floor level. Though I couldn't really see him, I could certainly hear him, and Nat belted out a ferocious and fiery performance throughout. His vocal tone was raw as fuck, with this vicious, throat scraping tone that add real nastiness to their sound. As for the rest of the band, they more than matched his fire, with a pummelling, low-end heavy sound that matched Boss Keloid before them. The Bendal Interlude certainly have some belting riffs to their name, with a very powerful bass sound. They deliver a mixture of groove, Doom, Stoner, Sludge and the occasional thrashy moments, blending these styles seamlessly. Whilst they didn't explore outside of the genre boundaries as much as Boss Keloid did, they performed the standards superbly well. 8/10.
________________________
CONAN
Conan's guitarist and vocalist Jon Davis announced to the crowd that this was probably the 25th time they have played The Star & Garter! This was my 3rd time seeing them here in less than 2 years, and it feels like Conan have a true affinity with Manchester's iconic venue. Yet considering how much Conan love The Star & Garter, it feels like they have plans to destroy the place, shattering the building brick by brick with their insanely heavy sound! Conan like to play so ridiculously loud that not wearing earplugs at one of their shows is practically a death wish! Their slow, lumbering Doom riffs are truly something to admire.
Conan usually like to bring it slow and heavy as all hell, but by playing songs off their latest album "Revengeance", I heard them add in a few more Thrash riffs than I expected. Of course, we aren't talking Slayer speed Thrash, but a mid tempo Thrash out is about as fast as these warriors get! The title track from the new album was perhaps my favourite song of the night, with a teasing, stuttering riff switching between monolithic Doom and faster tempo Thrash. Jon Davis' psyched out reverbed screams added a cavernous atmosphere to their music, almost as if Jon was trapped in the bottom of a well and screaming in agony! But the moments where bassist Chris Fielding would double up with his raw growling bellows are what really made my hair stand on end. These moments were seriously intense and absolutely flattening! Another thing I love about this band, is that whilst Jon and Chris are content to churn out their riffs as slow as possible, their drummer keeps the momentum going by smashing the shit out of his kit and cymbals. He plays like Animal from The Muppet Show, sneaking in impressive fills and off kilter grooves between the almighty slow heaviness of the guitar and bass. Conan are truly the holy trinity of British Doom Metal, and seeing them live is one of the loudest and most brain punishing experiences you will ever hear! 9/10.
________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment