A rare Monday night outing to Cardiff’s premier (read only) rock and metal bar and the effort was well worth it. Kudos to Eradication Booking Agency for a thoroughly enjoyable evening. Fresh from what was apparently a stunning show at Incineration Fest in London just two days before, the Australian Black Metal outfit Advent Sorrow made their Welsh debut along with two of Cardiff’s most loved outfits in Agrona and Levitas.
There was however, another band making their Welsh debut and although they may not have had as far to travel, a nightmare 3 hour journey on the ball-ache of the M5 from South Devon was more than enough for Cistvaen (7). Luckily for those of us who decided to check them out, all their efforts were well worth it for us as the band’s dark brooding atmospheric black metal swirled around the venue, cloaking it in darkness. Cistvaen, are aptly named after a burial chamber formed from flat shaped slabs in a box shape mainly of Celtic origin. I say apt as their dark, mournful music fits comfortably with their name. Three lengthy tracks allowed the band to concentrate on their music and with influences including Agalloch, Panopticon and Winterfylleth, the band’s sound is one of intense heavy riffing, soaring soundscapes and passages of delicate, intricate calmness. Formed in early 2017, the band has played with numerous luminaries in the black metal world including Dunkelnacht, Deadwood Lake and Waylander in recent times. Plenty of promise with them too. Guitarists Lee Meade and Chris Finch linking superbly, whilst vocalist Guy Taylor, who cuts a slightly curious figure for a black metal band with his tasselled leather and sunglasses, possesses an excellent voice which delivers brilliantly. Roaring, guttural and even relatively clean vocals are all in his arsenal. Voice Of An Old God was the standout track, but this is a band who are definitely ones to see again.
We’ve written about Levitas (8) many times in these pages. The Cardiff/Bristol four-piece and their deep atmospheric black metal fitted neatly into this package. With Liam Wolf hooded and sinister as usual, the band dispensed with any pleasantries and delivered a set of their usual quality. Held together by drummer Sam Heffernan who makes the punishing fills and rolls look effortless, the band delivered tracks from their excellent Charnel Sky EP. Rhys Williams’ clean vocals counter the aggressive roaring of Wolf, whilst Williams and Helen Kinsella’s guitar work was on point as always. This is a band who are slowly becoming a massive favourite, with their sets becoming more an experience than an event. You can lose yourself in the thick atmospheric reverb-drenched shoegaze, the pummelling drumming and the sheer intensity of a band who will be back at Fuel on Saturday 18th May for their Semi-final in the M2TM competition. They should have a real chance of progressing.
Main support for the evening were the blackened Welsh horde otherwise known as Agrona (9). It’s rare that we write anything other than good words about this band and their performance one again confirmed why they are one of the most exciting bands in the UK Black Metal scene at present. Despite struggling to cope with non-existent feedback from their monitors and bassist Kreulon’s strap snapping (again!), the band blasted through a set which included Burn, the magnificent Storm’s End and most excitingly the debut airing of The Rising Embers, a track which benefited from Arawn’s clean vocals and which showed much promise (given his ghastly flatulence it was an apt song title as well). Agrona are blistering live, a wall of intense ferocious desolation, with the snarling duo of Taranis and Adara as eerily haunting as ever. Ankou was doing double drum duty having already played with Levitas but he shows no sign of fatigue … this guy has an energy level I can only dream about these days! With ambient backing throughout, Agrona are moving to a situation where they present a show as much as a gig. As the closing minutes saw Taranis and Adara exit the stage, the remaining band members played out an atmospheric instrumental which took many by surprise. Developments in the stage show, the music and the delivery – it’s a good thing.
With more announcements of music venues closing (the latest the Borderline in London), it is becoming more important than ever to support smaller establishments and to have a band as impressive in reputation as Australians Advent Sorrow (9) in Fuel was massive. Having played at Incineration Festival on the weekend the band took the smaller confines of Fuel in their stride and having spent the evening chatting with a couple of star struck fans then donned the horrific corpse paint before bludgeoning the assembled 30 or so into submission. Three songs into their set and disaster with one of the guitarists having some severe technical difficulties. Cue the house band techno team as a couple of members of Agrona and Levitas steamed forward to offer their in-house knowledge of the mysterious world of the Fuel sound system.
Main support for the evening were the blackened Welsh horde otherwise known as Agrona (9). It’s rare that we write anything other than good words about this band and their performance one again confirmed why they are one of the most exciting bands in the UK Black Metal scene at present. Despite struggling to cope with non-existent feedback from their monitors and bassist Kreulon’s strap snapping (again!), the band blasted through a set which included Burn, the magnificent Storm’s End and most excitingly the debut airing of The Rising Embers, a track which benefited from Arawn’s clean vocals and which showed much promise (given his ghastly flatulence it was an apt song title as well). Agrona are blistering live, a wall of intense ferocious desolation, with the snarling duo of Taranis and Adara as eerily haunting as ever. Ankou was doing double drum duty having already played with Levitas but he shows no sign of fatigue … this guy has an energy level I can only dream about these days! With ambient backing throughout, Agrona are moving to a situation where they present a show as much as a gig. As the closing minutes saw Taranis and Adara exit the stage, the remaining band members played out an atmospheric instrumental which took many by surprise. Developments in the stage show, the music and the delivery – it’s a good thing.
With more announcements of music venues closing (the latest the Borderline in London), it is becoming more important than ever to support smaller establishments and to have a band as impressive in reputation as Australians Advent Sorrow (9) in Fuel was massive. Having played at Incineration Festival on the weekend the band took the smaller confines of Fuel in their stride and having spent the evening chatting with a couple of star struck fans then donned the horrific corpse paint before bludgeoning the assembled 30 or so into submission. Three songs into their set and disaster with one of the guitarists having some severe technical difficulties. Cue the house band techno team as a couple of members of Agrona and Levitas steamed forward to offer their in-house knowledge of the mysterious world of the Fuel sound system.
With things fixed, Advent Sorrow resumed where they left off, and for the next 30 minutes or so everyone held their breath as the band simply destroyed. Ferocious in the extreme, they are better live than on record, and tracks from 2016’s As All Light Leaves Her dripped with malevolence whilst the new material including Verminblood, Pestilence Shall Come and Wolf & Weapon from the recent Kali Yuga Crown was massive. Their misery is imparted in such a way that you enjoy the torturous black metal that the band from Perth deliver despite the descending black gloom that is never far away. The aural assault was relentless with vocalist Rhys King an intimidating figure at the front of the stage, his mournful roaring screams ensuring a chill went through the room despite the typically warmness of the venue. All too soon the strains of Waltzing Matilda signalled the end of a quite magnificent evening of black metal; all four band worth the entrance fee on their own.
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