A View From The Back Of The Room: Conjurer

Conjurer, They Live We Sleep, Black Pyre, Fuel Cardiff

So spending a Friday night in Cardiff's only rock bar watching a band who's star is on the rise with a couple of old friends is a pretty good way to start any weekend, especially after seeing a majestic gig from Behemoth earlier in the week.

This time though it was a much smaller affair the gig area of Fuel not even a quarter full for openers Black Pyre (6) who we have seen before as Paul called them nothing particularly special. I'd have to agree as this trio do fall a little flat even if they are a pastiche of the black metal genre. They certainly have their tongues firmly in their cheeks as the frontman talks the way he sings and they introduce most of their songs as about death. Not really fitting on this bill let's see if a third viewing will make things click.

Next up we're They Live, We Sleep (7) I'd seen this abrasive sludgey hardcore band at the Green Rooms in Treforest during Halloween, there they were playing to 12 people here most of the crowd arrived. For a support to this gig they were spot on nasty, modern metal influenced by the extreme side of things. Influences were literally worn on their denim cuts as the bass player sported a huge Converge patch the entire length of his back. With screams coming from the vocalist who once again was in the thick of the crowd, the band played heavily distorted, down tuned, ear piercing tunes to get the crowd amped.

Next then were headliners a band I'd seen in the same venue many moons ago at Red Sun Festival (2015 is so far away) in fact the band got to play twice due to another act not turning up. Since then though they have become one of the most vital, indescribable, uncategorizable bands on the UK music scene. It's not been slow and steady, the momentum has been growing and growing due to their intense live shows but it was their 2018 album Mire that firmly put them at the forefront of people's minds appearing on many Best Of 2018 lists (mine included).

This was their first UK headline tour and they were determined to make it count from the moment Conjurer (8) took to the stage they had the crowd eating g out of their hands, the set was comprised from songs off Mire as the impressive Choke and Hollow opened the evening with Brady Deeprose and Dan Nightingale sharing not only the guitar suites but the vocals two leading for another level of harsh vocal interplay as both have so much differentiation to their voices but gel so well together, the intricate guitar lines and punishing riffs are underpinned by grooves from Conor Marshall and in the engine room Jan Krause controls the flow and tempo from behind the kit. As business was starting to pick up (as Ol' JR used to say) a complete light and microphone failure hit the stage plunging it into darkness and leaving the band having to address the audience at normal volume. 

This vocal silence and lack of light went on for a while but as the instruments were still active we were treated to Blood And Thunder (Mastodon) a song which has been appearing in the set but this time sung entirely by the crowd, it was cut short to be followed by Toxicity (System Of A Down) and the Wallace And Gromit theme, after a pop the mics were back the lights weren't so like the dogged band they are the set continued albeit a little shorter due to the pause and in near darkness the only lights coming from the disco projectors which did make for a humorous sight. Powering through most of Mire this genre straddling band are definitely worthy of their hype, lets hope that on their rise to the top this show is remembered as one of those Spinal Tap moments that lives long into the band legend. I encourage you to see Conjurer as soon as possible as this is band who are leading the way for modern UK metal.

Just a massive shout out to Beers Over Tears for putting on this show in Fuel, it seemed to be pretty packed so congratulations for a great show.