The Reliable Surprise

It seems that no matter what tangent I go off on, I always come right back to metal. It's not that I ever enjoy it less or get bored by it, but occasionally other styles drag me away. Recently I realised I had an awful lot of Radiohead to catch up with. A while ago I became enamoured with Comets On Fire, Guapo, Black Mountain, and other superficially 'retro' but ultimately quite contemporary stuff. And last year I realised The Flaming Lips are one of the finest American bands of all time.

Last night, though, was all about metal. I went to the Scala in Kings Cross to catch the ever-evolving Enslaved for the first time since the 'Below The Lights' tour in 2003. They've got bigger in every way since then - bigger stage, bigger crowd, bigger sound. It was a great performance at the beginning of a tour supporting a justifiably widely acclaimed album ('Vertebrae'). What is really remarkable is that they are one of the few remaining original Black Metal bands and their momentum is still gathering after fifteen years. Every one of their ten albums seems to have been a destination, from which they would then start again. They have a rich sound and their genuine progressiveness never reaches a point where it no longer Rocks Very Hard (alternatively, they are never form over function). The international metal scene is lucky to have them.

Most of the set was from the opposite ends of their career - 'Vertebrae' was, naturally, represented heavily alongside a couple from 'Ruun' (including the pit-opening "Fusion of Sense and Earth"). But they also played "Eld" and a track from 1992 (does that make it from the "Yggdrasil" demo tape??), and ended with what may have been "Slaget I Skogen Bortenfor" (my Old Norse is a little rusty) from 'Hordanes Land'. The unity between old and new was as palpable as the difference, but all the thematic speculation was swept aside by massive blastbeats. Righteous!

So metal raised my eyebrows and called me back in again, as has become the reliable norm.

The only sour point was a very tall man who stood in the centre of the crowd and Zieg Heiled his way through the first three songs. Thankfully he was ejected by security. He looked unsurprised, and made almost no attempt to fight back for the Fatherland. Sadly there are still some grown adults that feel the need to make their small, hateful point from within a scene that has far outgrown such insularities. If he wished to live out in the woods listening to puerile NSBM and avoiding racially impure citizens, then why not do it? Because he must live in the real world to pay his bills and buy his pagan jewellery, and the real world does not accommodate him. Thus, he sulks. And when he goes to the black metal show and feels his "sincerity" rebuffed by every other attendee, who is to blame? Unfortunately, if he's already stupid enough to earnestly Zieg Heil in public, the logical truth - that he is to blame - will not register in his mind.



On a Lighter Dark note, the lineup of the new band Shrinebuilder has given me something to look forward to: Scott Kelly, Al Cisneros, Wino and Dale Crover.

Read that again. They have the potential to be the best band in the entire universe.

Roadburn '09 will destroy us all

Just when I thought this December's ATP Nightmare Before Christmas was the best festival lineup ever*, along came Roadburn 2009. The festival, held at the 013 in Tilburg, is effectively the Mecca for stoner rock fans and its reputation is growing. Rare things happen there. In 2008, Lee Dorrian and his cohorts took over one evening for the Rise Above Records 20th Anniversary, with the mighty Down headlining.

Next year's lineup has excited me greatly. First and foremost, Neurosis are in town. When this happens I'm compelled to attend. They are, however, bringing their Beyond The Pale festival with them. This event happened two or three times at the beginning of the decade in San Francisco and usually presented itself as a kind of Neurot Recordings showcase. As the label and its roster have grown in status since the last festival, this should be a truly unique event and they've already signed up Guapo, Akimbo, US Christmas, OM, Skullflower, The Young Gods and Josh Graham's latest project A Storm Of Light (which seems to have temporarily replaced Red Sparowes for him - his place was taken by the Made Out Of Babies guitarist at Supersonic Festival this year). The very notion of Om, Skullflower and Neurosis playing the same gig is overwhelming. This beats the Earth/Boris/SunnO))) Doom-a-thon of ATP '07 hands down.**

The rest of the festival does not disappoint either. Cathedral themselves have confirmed, which means more than just a quality gig - perhaps they're back in the game after a few years off. A reformed Saint Vitus are booked too, which is a real coup considering the supposed animosity between Wino and Dave Chandler. I'm especially looking forward to Colour Haze's set, which will be my first. But my excitement will be almost entirely reserved for Amon Düül II.

I have a great fondness for Amon Düül II, they were a very colourful and idiosyncratic band that stood out from their peers and made some truly kaleidoscopic music in what many would call the Golden Age of rock music. I remember my first listen of 'Tanz der Lemminge', being utterly stoned, confused, and in awe. They've been reformed for a while now but remained low-key (save for a performance on the long-running and much-loved Rockpalast in Germany), and their inclusion is an unexpected one. Their relationship with doom/stoner etc. is not strong, but they were definitely psychedelic and very heavy on occasion.

On Halloween night I had the great pleasure of seeing Doomriders, SSS and Tortuga at the Islington Bar Academy. The guitarist Chris Pupecki was wearing an Amon Düül T-Shirt. He blew up his amp shortly into the set, and Tortuga's new guitarist (ex-Bossk) lent him his lovely fat Sunn head, which was then also blown up. Only SSS's rack could stand the volume and held up until the end of the set. We spoke briefly about his shirt, he told me where I could order it and I informed him that they're booked for Roadburn 2009. "I can't imagine they're very good these days." he said. Let's hope they prove him wrong.

Here's an excellent performance of 'Eye-Shaking King' for your pleasure:

*Previous "best festival lineups ever" include the Portishead ATP '07, Glade Festival '07 and Download Festival '05. But we all know the actual Best Festival Lineup Ever was in fact the Isle Of Wight Festival 1970.

**It must be noted that all three bands surpassed themselves the next night at the 'Altar' show in London, one of the best gig's I've ever seen.