As I was getting ready to go out for a night of sludge, doom and post-metal at The Louisiana, I glanced at my phone and saw the terrible news that Cardiff DIY haven The Moon was abruptly shutting down. I couldn’t believe it: only a few weeks earlier, I’d caught Torpor (and Sugar Horse) put on a powerful and emotional show there.
And during that show, I remembered that I’d seen Sugar Horse guitarist Jake Healy do a solo electronic set at SHIFT before they were driven from their city-centre space by “noise complaints” into an out-of-town location (which was subsequently snatched away when the landlord sold the building at short notice). The loss of such spaces to the Cardiff DIY scene is hard to quantify, so this journey to see Torpor play the last ever show on their farewell tour, after 12 years at the forefront of underground heavy music, was loaded with emotion.
Kicking open the doors to hell tonight were Torpor’s Human Worth labelmates, Warren Schoenbright (9). The London noise metal duo, consisting of Alexander Virji on guitar/vocals and Daniel McClennan on drums, were joined on stage by an extra drummer obliterating a single tom. Their sound was aggressive, atmospheric and bleak, grinding up elements of noise rock, industrial, screamed vocals, abyssal reverb and absolutely battering drums, but with plenty of cavernous space and industrial textures to let the oppressive gloom seep in. This show had also been sold out for some time, so it was heartening to arrive and find the 140-cap venue packed from the start.
Next up was Bristol supergroup, Host Body (10), arriving confident and fully formed over the past year, opening ArcTanGent in 2024 and releasing their searing debut EP Strain in late October. Tonight, they ran into technical issues with the bass almost immediately, leading to a few minutes of frantic amp diagnosis and cable swapping while the band created layered noise and gave their thanks to the other bands. But it barely mattered; once the bass was sorted, the band launched into an exhilarating set that embraced the best of black metal, post-metal, sludgy riffs and noise, driven by ferocious drumming and dual throat-shredding vocals, swerving between genres but never losing the driving groove of each track. Absolutely beastly set.
When Torpor (10) took to the stage, the place was already rammed and buzzing with anticipation. This Bristol date concluded a 10-night farewell tour taking in Glasgow and major English cities (plus the dual-headline Cardiff show with Sugar Horse on 2nd November). The show opened with ‘Interior Gestures’, which always hits like a calving iceberg, hypnotic and awesome in its power. The Louisiana is a boxy venue, but the sound (handled by engineer and Host Body bassist Sam Drower) was rich and textured without losing the harshness and enveloping volume that these genres are built on. 7
Kicking open the doors to hell tonight were Torpor’s Human Worth labelmates, Warren Schoenbright (9). The London noise metal duo, consisting of Alexander Virji on guitar/vocals and Daniel McClennan on drums, were joined on stage by an extra drummer obliterating a single tom. Their sound was aggressive, atmospheric and bleak, grinding up elements of noise rock, industrial, screamed vocals, abyssal reverb and absolutely battering drums, but with plenty of cavernous space and industrial textures to let the oppressive gloom seep in. This show had also been sold out for some time, so it was heartening to arrive and find the 140-cap venue packed from the start.
Next up was Bristol supergroup, Host Body (10), arriving confident and fully formed over the past year, opening ArcTanGent in 2024 and releasing their searing debut EP Strain in late October. Tonight, they ran into technical issues with the bass almost immediately, leading to a few minutes of frantic amp diagnosis and cable swapping while the band created layered noise and gave their thanks to the other bands. But it barely mattered; once the bass was sorted, the band launched into an exhilarating set that embraced the best of black metal, post-metal, sludgy riffs and noise, driven by ferocious drumming and dual throat-shredding vocals, swerving between genres but never losing the driving groove of each track. Absolutely beastly set.
When Torpor (10) took to the stage, the place was already rammed and buzzing with anticipation. This Bristol date concluded a 10-night farewell tour taking in Glasgow and major English cities (plus the dual-headline Cardiff show with Sugar Horse on 2nd November). The show opened with ‘Interior Gestures’, which always hits like a calving iceberg, hypnotic and awesome in its power. The Louisiana is a boxy venue, but the sound (handled by engineer and Host Body bassist Sam Drower) was rich and textured without losing the harshness and enveloping volume that these genres are built on. 7
Maximal volumes are nothing new in heavy music, but what’s always set Torpor apart is how they balance vulnerability with heaviness and use the visceral nature of volume as an embrace. There is rage, despair and catharsis, but their sound evokes transcendent guitar-led drone acts Sunn O))), Nadja or BIG|BRAVE, where the pressure and sheer volume of the bass and guitar creates a sense of being held, elevating the experience about the dark themes the music is rooted in.
Their set moved through their 2023 masterpiece, Abcission, but the album is such a journey through light and dark, crushing sections, raw and wild vocal performances, and quiet, vulnerable passages of ambience and spoken-word poetry, that it’s a rare full album playthrough that never outstays its welcome. Compared to their performance at The Moon, which felt sombre, I was not expecting such a joyful performance or such an upbeat crowd. The music was bleak and relentless, but the band were smiling and laughing through the whole show, and there was so much appreciation from the crowd. Torpor finished with an encore of Jasager, from their 2016 split with Sonance, and Benign Circle, the opening 11-minute onslaught from 2019’s Rhetoric Of The Image.
Their set moved through their 2023 masterpiece, Abcission, but the album is such a journey through light and dark, crushing sections, raw and wild vocal performances, and quiet, vulnerable passages of ambience and spoken-word poetry, that it’s a rare full album playthrough that never outstays its welcome. Compared to their performance at The Moon, which felt sombre, I was not expecting such a joyful performance or such an upbeat crowd. The music was bleak and relentless, but the band were smiling and laughing through the whole show, and there was so much appreciation from the crowd. Torpor finished with an encore of Jasager, from their 2016 split with Sonance, and Benign Circle, the opening 11-minute onslaught from 2019’s Rhetoric Of The Image.
They ended the show with heartfelt speeches, hugs and crying, and the whole night felt historic. And a powerful testament to Bristol’s heavy music community, as well as a reminder of how fragile and precious such scenes are. Set against another dark and difficult year in the 2020s, tonight felt like a rare and joyful gift.
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