When I arrived it was vastly different from my last visit in the dark months of the year, daylight reigning supreme but the fans were out in force. I got there around 30 minutes before doors and the line was already going onto the pavement.
On a cold, rainy Wednesday evening I made my way to Shepherds Bush in anticipation of seeing the goth rock legends Fields of the Nephilim for the first time. I had heard lots about the band over the years and their aesthetic resonates with how I enjoy my music: dark and mysterious.
Well… well… its been a while.
This band is not only At The Gates, but they have also broken through the portcullis and have laid waste to the castle if this new album is anything to go by.
Death makes its mark on KOKO…
Where can I start with the Finnish death/sludge metallers Black Royal? Well, how about, “fucking awesome”?
Horizon Ablaze released their new album The Weight of a Thousand Suns last week through Leviathan, leaving behind for the most part the dark, graven, blackened death metal box they were put in with the previous album Dodsverk, and ventured out into the progressive black metal wilderness stretching into the fiery horizon, following bands of the ilk of fellow Norwegians, Enslaved and Emperor.
I made my way to North London having not been to The Dome before, however, as soon as I left Tufnell Park Station knew I was in the right place, with artwork and band names you couldn’t read nor pronounce on t-shirts as well as proudly displayed inverted crucifixes.
Watain have finally released some new material, much to the delight of their fans after five years of waiting.
This is one I was looking forward to— three bands who could legitimately headline their own shows and have done previously.
The temperature had taken a massive drop throughout the day, by night it was cold, so cold and the pale blue lights streaking up the Islington Assembly Hall walls made it somehow feel colder — quite fitting considering the main act are Norwegian. Once inside though, it felt almost tropical in comparison.
The artwork on this record is very telling.
Once upon a time, 1996 specifically, my favourite band in the whole world broke up and I was devastated. The Cavalera brothers had gone their separate ways and Sepultura was no more. Yes, yes, I know they continued with Derrick Green as lead singer but as far as I was concerned, the band was dead.
Electric Wizard was known as a doom metal band in times past, but the latest album has them going on more of a hard rock-cum-doom-cum-stoner adventure.
First of all, I need to talk about the album artwork. Cannibal Corpse is notorious for their early album artwork, particularly their first three records which the artwork was banned in many countries. Even now they’re still prohibited from playing some of their early songs in certain places.
As I arrived at the Electric Ballroom, the queue was snaking along Camden High Street but within a short time it was moving along swiftly much to the delight of fans wearing only t-shirts sporting their favourite Cradle of Filth artwork.
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