One day festivals are rapidly becoming my favourite way to enjoy music, especially of they're indoors and more especially of they feature bands who I would consider to be friends.
I think the idea of turning up in a city the evening before, having a great meal and some drinks, then easing your way into a day of music, catching old favourites and some destined to be new obsessions is probably the way I like to experience most. All the joy of a discovery a festival holds but with none of the camping and three days of heat exhaustion.
So when we saw that our friends in Nytys Promotions had booked an absolute scorching line up of atmospheric doom/death/black metal acts inside The Junction down in *England's Ocean City* Plymouth it was a no brainer that myself, my super talented photographer wife and my bestest buddy, all made the trip to Plymouth (some of us via First Class Train while others slogged down the M5) to indulge. Though in true Top Gear style the car bested the train by a close 8 minutes.
Arriving the night before we had booked drinks and food at The Fisherman's Arms, a brilliant looking little pub that had been highly rated by The Great British Beer Guide, and it turns out he knows what he's talking about. Just off from the main Barbican area, it's an absolutely fantastic find, dog and cat friendly, designed in a way that modern meets traditional.
With four cask ale pumps, a hole load of other beers and ciders, an extensive wine and spirit list it will cater for every one, but my god the food is the real talking point, three separate starters and mains ordered and all of us would have happily had the others or anything else off the menu as it was just all so delicious. Personally I had the best chowder this side of New England and we wrapped it all up with some premium local ale.
It was back to the hotel and into town for a trendy brunch spot that was also delicious, worth queuing in the rain for, however the time drew close and after another couple of local ales across from the venue we stepped foot into The Junction in Plymouth with 10 minutes before the first act.
Hellos and hugs exchanged, introductions with long time message/email buddies were met with handshakes and smiles and then we took our positions (stage right, just in front of the sound desk) for the first act
Starting out the day was East Anglian 'Fae Metal' from Æl-Fierlen (7), the four piece eased us into the day with a folk-tinged atmospheres brought from the forests and the fells, the clean guitar lines weaved into acoustic backings, the persistence of the bass forcing the show ever forward and while there were bands further up the bill who were heavier, Æl-Fierlen captivated the audience with their dark magick.
Particularly I was impressed by their drummers use of space and percussion to move away from the blasts while their vocalists delivered her performance with wild eyed intensity jerking between soaring cleans, haunting whispers and feral snarls. As if Bjork joined a metal band Æl-Fierlen set a tone for the atmosphere of the evening, while the rain lashed at the windows.
A short change over, a beer and it was back in time for the reasonably local noises of Cistvaen (9) a band who we know quite well at the blog, at home surrounded by a crowd who knew them, and helped tremendously by how good the sound was at The Junction, they delivered a mighty set of tracks drawn At Light's Demise their most recent record.
Cistvaen are a band with a uniqueness about them, they use black metal ferocity in between those more melodic moments of atmosphere but underneath it all there's a rock groove as of under the trappings of extreme metal there's a goth band waiting to get out.
Due to the clarity of the room you could really hear the complexity of their sound, which opened up some new ears in my contingent for sure, especially my good friend Nick who immediately tried to buy one of everything on their merch stall. Please do go and see Cistvaen if you can as they're a unique prospect on the UK scene.
Collective breaths taken and it was once again down the front for Cairns (7) who had travelled the distance from Manchester to be in Plymouth. Their post-black, angst driven sound was just the cleanser from the two previous bands injecting some cathartic rage into the day, which was in keeping with black metal but brought a lot of post-metal shimmer too.
One of the bands who I had not seen on the bill they made an impression with a fusion of windswept vistas and forceful aggression, balancing songs from their 2022 debut along with some new tracks, for many it was strong introduction to Cairns, I'll be keeping an ear out for their new record.
Now this is where the gas pedal really pressed down as it was time for a run of bands who were going to get the emotions stirring for many different reasons as I will explain, but to start things off it was the raw, honest and emotionally devastating blackend sludge/post metal of Ba'al (9) who were fresh from releasing their beautifully brutal new record, The Fine Line Between Heaven And Here.
On stage, they captivate in a way that many other bands can't, the music is great, it's black metal with sludge and doom influences, moments of melodic bliss that are washed away by heaviness however all eyes were on vocalist Joe Stamps, who channels the music through him, living our the pain and emotion on stage for all to see.
He's captivating, his vocals raw and full of melancholic intensity, each song felt like a release to him, a personal journey through past lives. Ba'al once again caught m'colleague off guard as the emotion was reflected from many in the crowd, there aren't too many bands like Ba'al on the scene so this was a bit special.
Special is also a way you can describe what came next. Though I suppose bittersweet would also work, after a few years of hard slog, South Wales' merchants of atmospheric black metal, the mighty Ofnus (9) are playing their final shows with founding vocalist Will.
While they will no doubt find a worthy replacement, it does feel like an end of an era so each one of these gigs will be special. Not that you would have known that from their show, taking the stage and blasting out Burned By The Soul Of The Moon, they are a well drilled, devastatingly heavy unit, who blast though their set with precision execution.
The riff contingent move from tremolo picking into hearty chugs, melodic leads giving the atmosphere alongside the orchestral moments. The drumming unleashes hell with Proteus and 'that' part of Zenith Dolour while the vocals seem to have an added tenacity to them. I will say that Ofnus' return to Plymouth did seem to be highly anticipated just due to the amount of merch of there's that was being worn/purchased on the day.
A member leaving is one thing but losing one is another, this was the position that The Drowning (8) found themselves in with the tragic death of band founder/guitarist Mike Hitchin. Before his passing the band had started to become active again with Tansy Smallby joining on bass and Sam Heffernan (Agrona, Levitas, ex-Opia) installed behind the drum kit joining the established unit of Mike, co-guitarist Jason Hodges and vocalist Matt Small.
After this traumatic event you would be forgiven for wanting to pack it in but The Drowning forged ahead, keeping Mike's music and his memory alive. The show in Plymouth was one of their first without him as a member and the shift in the line up with Tansy taking guitar and Matt moving to bass. There were a few hiccups here and there, starting a song a little fast but eventually they recovered and delivered their melodic death doom with the usual virulence to an enthusiastic response.
Totally justifying their continuation, I'm looking forward to this next chapter. However as one begins another one ends. Given a very special 1 hour slot to play, encompassing tracks from across their existence, played by the most recent line up of the band plus special guests we took out our order of service and paid tribute to My Silent Wake (10) with a loud eulogy in Plymouth.
Playing their final ever live show the emotion on the face of band founder Ian Arkley was obviously emotional, strapping on that guitar and taking to stage one last time flanked by bassist Adam Westlake, drummer Gareth Arlett, keyboard/synth/samples man Simon Bibby, his band for around 10 years.
They proceed mesmerise the audience with a set of old classics and brand new offerings, the most potent of which was A Bleak Fateful Night, which was written as tribute to Mike Hitchin, who was also a member of My Silent Wake for a time. This hit many of us in the crowd right in the chest, a few tears shed around the building as the band who so often don't tally with the death doom tag, made the collected metalheads feel.
This though was a celebration of life not a mournful eulogy with everyone caught up in the moment, the introduction of original drummer Jasen Whyte who hadn't played with the band in a long time reprising his guest vocals sent cheers around the room as Kostas Panagiotou came on stage for some additional organs. Both unrehearsed, both just playing in the moment to solidify the importance of this band to the UK doom scene.
A fitting farewell amongst friends and fans My Silent Wake will continue as a studio project, but for now this was the last hurrah on stage.
With the alcohol now creeping up on is it was a quick decamp to the orange supermarket for sustenance before arriving back for yet more doom driven misery from Pantheïst (8). Whenever you see a truncated set from the band it's difficult to fully get a handle on what they do however, by the band playing two massive epics in The Final Journey and The Loss Of Innocence, showcasing the most up do date line up of the band celebrating 25 years this year.
With the addition of Linda's operatic vocals (returning to the stage after very recently having a child), they have reached a new zenith in their existence and while the consistent driving force of Kostas is still there anchoring the act, this most recent formation has reached som staggering heights already. The liturgical, organ heavy, classical/prog influenced funeral doom takes over any room it takes place in and The Junction was no different.
Maybe it was fatigue? Maybe it was Cornish Rattler? Maybe it was that emotions were running a bit too high but The Crawling (7) didn't quite hit the right spot for me after the previous few bands in the day. The Northern Irish trio crack out some disgusting death doom that moves it way more towards the death side with particular influence from Paradise Lost but also bands such as Bolt Thrower, as they utilise fast/slow dynamics in their riffs and guttural vocals.
The Crawling get on stage and come out all guns blazing, ripping and tearing the room to shreds and getting the younger (or maybe wilder) contingent happily pitting, while I may not join them, I can certainly appreciate what The Crawling do but they just be victims of timing.
Finally then it's the last band of the day, having played London before this and going to Bristol afterwards, Italian stalwarts Shores Of Null (8) are here in Plymouth for I believe the first time and they look to close the evening with the sort of power they have been bringing for over 10 years.
Fitted with a wealth of material from these years they tend to stick towards their most recent offerings drawing the same kind of set you will have heard listening to their Beauty Over Europe album from earlier this year, though with a few added.
Almost like a bookend to the beginning Shores Of Null lean heavily on their gothic sound than some of the others tonight. Maybe it's their Roman background but there's a theatrical flair to the band even on a smaller stage like the one at The Junction. Unfortunately for them the crowd had thinned by the time they took to the stage (it had been a LONG day) but they gave a great set to the hardcore that remained.
So One For Sorrow 2025 carried with it a lot of emotional weight, friends and fans all gathered by the sea to watch some of the UKs best, in a often overlooked genre, make their mark. A very special well done has to be given to Dan from Nytys Promotions (not forgetting Tereza of course) for bringing so many shows to Plymouth and for The Junction for and it's crew for keeping live music heavy. We will be back!
No comments:
Post a Comment