Two of Manchester's finest Metal bands Ten Foot Wizard and Nomad decided to embark on a mini UK tour together, kicking off the heaviness in their hometown Manchester. The two managed to pack out Manchester's new home of Metal, Rebellion, on a Tuesday evening of all days!
Opening a fine evening of Metal was Sheffield based quartet Regulus, in what was their first ever show in Manchester. Their Stoner Rock sound was definitely more than welcome to Manchester, but with Stoner, Doom and Sludge having such a resurgence in the North West, it can be difficult for other bands to come visit and make an impact. Regulus certainly had no shortage of belting Stoner riffs laced with gravelly vocals and touches of psyche guitar and wah. Regulus are more than happy to launch into Psychedelic Blues guitar soloing sections that show their finesse as performers with a fun chemistry on stage. A brand new song raised the energy of the crowd with fist pumping riffs and "Last Die Young" (I think that was the title?) had a strong Queens of the Stone Age feel to it. The band closed with a new single "Big Business", hinting towards a forthcoming album. Regulus played with very strong enthusiasm and have some great riffs to their name. I felt like they covered all the basics of the genre very well, but I didn't quite hear that extra special something to make me lose my shit like the other bands provided tonight. 7/10.
Fresh off a split EP with joint headliners Nomad, Wort made for a perfect choice of support. It's a shame we don't get to see Wort play too often, but frontman Mike Collins is also commited to playing bass in PIST. It's also a shame because Wort happen to be one of the heaviest and most brutal bands in Manchester right now! From the moment they kick off a show I'm blown away by just how vile and disgustingly heavy this trio's sound is! Every crushing wall of sludge felt like ugly spots oozing with pus on the haggard face of a rotting corpse! Wort punish you with a raw punch to the face of guttural ear splitting vocals and a barrage of pulsing low end Sludge riffs, punctuated with battering drums and clattering cymbals, with pinches of double bass thrown in to up the intensity. Mike's bass playing is fantastic, and he performs with so much anger and hatred in his vocals. You can see so much genuine passion in Wort's performance, but Mike especially seems to lose himself and transforms into something truly frightening! A lovely highlight near the end of the set saw Wort traverse from slow as hell Sludge straight into a lightning fast Grindcore section with blastbeats, reminding me of Goatsblood's cult classic "Drull". Once their performance was over I was left overwhelmed, like I'd had the wind knocked out of me. Wort truly hacked my balls off harder than that scene from Cannibal Holocaust! 9/10.
Manchester's riff abusers Nomad are always a great band to catch live because they know how to put on a high energy performance and they always invite the crowd to share that blistering energy. Tonight was no exception, and with a packed out Rebellion crowd before them, the atmosphere in the room was sensational. After a wall of feedbacking guitars, Nomad kicked into the NOLA Sludge worship of "Slaves of Mourning", one of their best songs. Guitarist Lewis Atkinson has really crafted a special sound that always delivers a full course banquet of meaty tones. Lewis and drummer Hayley tend to lose themselves in their performance, concentrating hard and delivering precision based performances. On the other hand, bassist John Carberry and vocalist Drian Nash move all over the stage and interact heavily with the audience. This balance seems to work well for the band. Nomad tried out a couple of new songs tonight that went down really well and I am excited to see where this band take us next.
Nomad's signature is their love for lengthy songs. They only need 2 or 3 riffs per song to play with, but they are always mighty fine riffs that are drawn out and churn away, beating the audience into submission. Though Nomad's writing isn't as technical as some of their peers such as Boss Keloid and Barbarian Hermit, there is still something admiral about their style, always bringing a DIY kind of rawness to their music, that has a real nostalgia making you think of the earliest recordings of EyeHateGod and Down. Nomad closed the show brilliantly with a true epic behemoth that is "Corpse Dragger", with it's teasing stop/start riff, and another new song "Feral" left us on a more up tempo and accessible note to go out on. This was one of the finest performance's I've seen from Nomad yet and in particular Drian's throat shredding vocals were on top form tonight. This is how you kick off a tour! 8/10.
Manchester's Ten Foot Wizard are one of those bands that I seem to enjoy more and more every time I see them play! They never fail to put a huge cheesy grin on my face. At their core, Ten Foot Wizard are a fun Stoner Rock quartet with funny lyrics in their songs. But dig a little deeper and you will find that this band are much more eclectic than you'd think!
The Wizard kicked off with some immensely fun Stoner riffs with plenty of groove. They have such a fun way of twisting and turning the rhythms of their songs that it would make Josh Homme proud! Their Metal is one that a crowd is more likely to dance to than mosh to, but when they want to they can certainly send a crowd headbanging with some crunchy Doom riffs that seem to come out of nowhere! Ten Foot Wizard frequently tug at the threads of other genres, whether it is Thrash Metal, Surf Rock or the cowbell stomp of "Through This World". Flourishes of Reggae tinged bounces and even "6 Feet Rising"'s Country hoedowns are no strangers to a Ten Foot Wizard show, and it is these little pinches that make them such an exciting and unpredictable live band. Stacking up such versatile sounds could make their sound too cluttered, but the result is far from it. Their music is delivered with such a big passion and confidence that they are able to lead the audience down any rabbithole they choose!
More highlights tonight were a brand new song ("Get Out of Your Mind"?) that was a real sexy bastard of a tune! But with the hilariously titled "King Shit of Fuck Mountain" the Wizard really proved just how good they are at composing. This epic Doomy song closes in a finale of finely tuned dual harmonised guitars that created beautiful tones and soundscapes. And of course no Ten Foot Wizard show would be complete without a finale of their legendary anthem "Covered In Tits". This is when the show turns into a full on party, and everyone in the crowd loses their shit and goes mad, just like the band on stage. It is impossible not to smile during this deranged song that invites megaphones, a theramin solo, and a mighty singalong chorus!
When you first hear Ten Foot Wizard they come across as a kind of goofy, comedy rock outfit. But the more I hear them the more impressed I get. They show a true love of all kinds of music and are able to draw seamlessly from other genres and implement them into their sound. They also happen to be some of the finest performers and a breath of fresh air in Manchester's Metal and Rock scene. In particular, vocalist and guitarist Gary Harkin has an exquisite vocal tone and such a warm charm and sense of humour, always chatting away with the crowd between songs. The whole band emit such a warm and lovely radiance on stage. Simply unmissable! 9/10.
May 17th 2016 @ Rebellion Manchester
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