Haast/Empire Of Dust/Hollow Blessings (FHED) The Moon, Cardiff, 26.01.24
Transport For Wales didn’t care how much I wanted to get to this show, so the train was delayed and I had no time to enjoy the cold, still moonlit evening as I marched across central Cardiff to catch the first band.
I had high hopes. Hollow Blessings, featuring the vocalist from Welsh hardcore outfit They Live We Sleep, would be playing their debut show ahead of an upcoming EP. Empire Of Dust I’d seen drive a tank over the crowd at Moor Brewery in early December, and wanted to see them destroy one of my favourite Cardiff indie spaces. And I’d enjoyed Haast’s shift away from their early sludge releases to the more epic, melodic and progressive Made Of Light (2021), which earned them a spot at ArcTanGent 2023. I was excited to see how their newer work would translate to the smaller scale of The Moon.
Hollow Blessings (7) came on just after 8pm to a packed venue. Whether thanks to the combination of TLWS fans curious to check out this new spin-off, the later start time or free entry, a band couldn’t hope for a warmer welcome for a debut show. And they delivered: confident on stage, assured in their sound, and they took no time in winning over the crowd. Compared to the snarling aggression and high energy of TLWS, HB played a slower, filthier brand of metal.
Their songs were built around a simple but effective blueprint: the guitarist stepped forward in the verses, hammering out searing dissonant lines and catchy asymmetrical riffs in offbeat time signatures; the choruses then crashed over the crowd like a wave as the rhythm section straightened up and the strangled guitar work gave way to walls of raging distortion. The whole while the vocalist was screaming in the pit, moving with the crowd, who were immediately onside with this new band, slowly head-banging and pulling grimaces of appreciation. A very promising debut show
Next up was Bristol doom and sludge unit, Empire Of Dust (6). Friendly guys off-stage, they’re nonetheless an imposing five-piece: bare-chested, covered in tattoos, and led by a ferocious frontman, a foot taller than most of the crowd and bearing a sprawling back tattoo of a Japanese Oni. And they are loud. They opened with the slow and nasty Purgatory, taken from their debut EP released in December 2023. Owing elements of their sound to Iron Monkey, Cough and Sourvein, it’s familiar but effective sludge/doom territory of feedback, dissonance, dual-guitar down-tuned riffs and a thunderous rhythm section.
Their sound on the EP is huge, taken to the next level by Cook’s relentlessly brutal delivery. For this set, they did seem to be having issues with levels and hearing each other, even apologizing for the rusty performance, but you couldn’t really tell from the crowd, who were completely on board. After another slow pounding track, with the venue now nicely warmed up by the packed crowd and head-banging, the band took things up a gear with Living Moon. They gained some great momentum over the next few tracks, which will appear on their upcoming album supported by a 4-day tour with Grandad later in the year, including some international dates.
Frustratingly – for them and the now-buzzing crowd – they ran over their time and had to cut their set short. The compressed window for the bands and later start had served Hollow Blessings well, but being sandwiched between two bands with a tight time cut off penalized EoD on this occasion. That said, they still left an indelible impression and I look forward to seeing what they’re up to next.
Newport post-rockers Haast (8) took to the stage just before 10, channelling the sweaty, nasty energy of the first two acts into something more sombre and epic. They blacked out all the lights, fired up a slim band of neon that circled the band along the back wall, casting deep shadows on the faces of the intent crowd, and began.
In their earlier three-piece iteration as Haast’s Eagled, the band’s raw sludgy sound from their 2013 and 2016 releases could have slotted in easily between the other two acts tonight. But Haast’s decision to trim the name and bring in James Tottle on guitar marked a huge shift in ambition and sound. Aside from the step up in production quality, their 2021 album Made Of Light delved further into experiments hinted at on the earlier albums with song structure, harmonized male and female vocals, a more vulnerable and nuanced melodic and emotional range, as well as putting Wretch’s powerful clean vocals centre-stage.
The “new” Haast on stage at first appear like a different band, from the moody neon lighting to the gorgeous high-end instruments. For example, unlike the reliable but ubiquitous Strats, Les Pauls and SGs you often see bashed up by sludge and doom bands, Tottle and Wrench played a stunning Chapman Baritone and a custom Dunable Yeti. And they sounded beautiful too, trading melodic and trem-picked lines drenched in delay and reverb, and delivering plenty of grit and warmth during the huge soaring choruses.
They were more reserved than the support acts, but still carried the quiet confidence of a band who’d filled the Bixler Tent at ArcTanGent in 2023. And the songs were that good they didn’t need too much patter. In particular, their hair-raising rendition of the Made Of Light opener Antipodean was superb, elevated by harmonies from drummer Hywel Williams. Beneath the new aesthetic and sound, the crushing doom influences were still there though, in the slow epic choruses, walls of guitar sound and the appetite for chunky riffs throughout. Goosebump-raising post-rock, which finished night on an epic high note
Overall, an excellent night from promoter FHED and The Moon; a superb showcase of bands, thriving at various stages of their careers, boosted by a great show of support from the Cardiff metal scene, and all done in time to catch the last train home.
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