Fun and Black metal aren’t a combination of words you’re likely to hear too often, but Oldham’s Wolfbastard evidently doesn’t hold much stock in the more serious nature of the genre. They did a great job of setting the scene for the night with a rare mix of crust infused black metal and a cracking sense of humour. Comprising mainly of members of other local favourites Burial, their clever song titles and banter between songs, certainly got more than a few laughs from the audience, and managed to instil a real sense of fun in the audience from the start of the gig.
That’s not to say they’re a comedy band by any stretch of the imagination, they more than delivered the goods on stage, short and snappy songs, laden with distortion and galloping on the back of some relentless drumming. Whilst announcing songs such as ‘Sick in the Bath’ as their pop-punk hit of the summer would probably not sit well with the genre purists, it went down very well with the audience. They got more than a few heads banging in the surprisingly good turnout for a moody Monday in Manchester.
Next up were the surprise stars of the show, very much picking up the ball of energy from Wolfbastard’s set, Implore smashed it out of the park with an absolutely storming set, and for my money stole the show from Vallenfyre. A whirlwind of intensity on stage focused largely around an absolute powerhouse performance on the drums, which was quite mesmerising to watch. The only downside, as commented on by more than a few of the audience was the bands’ tendency to spit everywhere, on each other, on the stage, on themselves. Manners dudes, manners!
Their performance though was particularly impressive, and whilst they gave the distinct impression of giving everything they had on the cramped stage, they didn’t miss a note and dealt with technical issues so fluidly as to be barely noticeable. This hinted that the wild demeanour was a lot more calculated and rehearsed that appearances would seem.
It’s kind of difficult to put into words the spectacle of the show. An overabundance of crusty black punk attitude, the relentless energy and some heavy riffs tearing through a savage and unrelenting set: a set which would prove difficult to follow. Implore are ones to watch out for if they play near you, but maybe take a brolly as they were spitting at each other like a herd of pissed off camels.
By contrast to the enthusiasm of the opening two bands Vallenfyre brought us back down to earth. Cloaked with dry ice, and shrouded with backlighting it was difficult to make out any of the members on the stage. This dark oppressive atmosphere the perfect backdrop to their heavy tunes. Probably the most noticeable issue with their sound was that despite it being the second show of the tour Greg’s voice was already quite worn and he admitted that he was struggling somewhat, although performance wise his energy and expression of energy was undiminished.
All in all, they put on an excellent and confident set, partly death doom which was lapped up by the crowd, and partly just the crowd cracking up at Greg’s deadpan stand-up comedy. Indeed, there was almost a sense that the audience were almost looking forward to the gaps between songs just to see what he would come out with next, witticisms dry as any desert, and his dealing with hecklers were a surprising highlight of an excellent set.
WORDS AND PHOTOS BY RICH PRICE