The Drowning, Gorgonchrist & Halveksia, Fuel Rock Club, Cardiff, 12.09.22
Death/doom showcased at its finest on a Sunday evening? Yeah go on then! What was originally supposed to be an evening of dark, death meets IP metal the original main support of Twilight's Embrace was changed to Ba'al then days before the gig Ba'al pulled out due to Covid leaving a support space empty. Though let it never be said that Dan from Nytys Promotions isn't resourceful as he managed to curate a three band line up in Fuel on a Sunday night to a decent crowd too.
First on the bill was Brighton doomsters Halveksia (8) who were fresh from opening for Finnish supergroup Kypick along with tonight's headliners and delivered a 45 minutes showing of what they do best, slow heavy rhythms with growled vocals and a depressing atmosphere perfectly, opening a show can always be a challenge but Halveksia handled it well with their very well versed death/doom getting the crowd onside early and ready for what's to come.
Next though were the wildcard a band who are striving to be "the UK’s most dependable last minute replacement" irreverent death metal crew Gorgonchrist (7) were next, playing Wales for the first time with songs such as Dick Pick Graveyard ringing out through Fuel. A Ronseal type band who do exactly what it says on the tin Gorgonchrist play the Raised By Owls style of death metal where the song titles are often rude and the songs themselves are gnarly. Four veterans slinging out death metal in between two lots of doomier music made for a refreshing change of pace.
However it was back to the downbeat death doom with tonight's headliners, South Wales merchants of misery The Drowning (9) playing their most recent (and most accomplished) album, 2019's The Radiant Dark in full. The Fuel Rock Club crowd got as near to the front as they could, kudos to the band and Nytys Promotions for getting in this many on a Sunday night. Played in order the instrumental intro Alpha Orionis gave way to the first song, The Triumph Of The Wolf In Death, 9 minutes of crushing doom from Richard Moore's cavernous basslines which guitarists Mike Hitchen and Jason Hodges build on with slow deliberate riffs and atmospheric/melodic leads/solos. The end speeding up into some proper death metal battering that leads into Prometheus Blinded another shorter but effective track that goes thrashy in the middle. Behind the kit Steve Hart dictates the pace on tracks such as In The Cold Earth.
Though it's Matt Small who captures much of the attention with his awesome growls and roars carrying the introspective lyrics in conjunction with the melancholic music. At just over an hour in length the set was there to not only show how good The Drowning are live but what a brilliant album The Radiant Dark, a triumph of death/doom from the marching All That We Need Of Hell to the exorcising power of Blood Marks My Grave, this was a very strong showing The Drowning on a dreary Sunday evening.
First on the bill was Brighton doomsters Halveksia (8) who were fresh from opening for Finnish supergroup Kypick along with tonight's headliners and delivered a 45 minutes showing of what they do best, slow heavy rhythms with growled vocals and a depressing atmosphere perfectly, opening a show can always be a challenge but Halveksia handled it well with their very well versed death/doom getting the crowd onside early and ready for what's to come.
Next though were the wildcard a band who are striving to be "the UK’s most dependable last minute replacement" irreverent death metal crew Gorgonchrist (7) were next, playing Wales for the first time with songs such as Dick Pick Graveyard ringing out through Fuel. A Ronseal type band who do exactly what it says on the tin Gorgonchrist play the Raised By Owls style of death metal where the song titles are often rude and the songs themselves are gnarly. Four veterans slinging out death metal in between two lots of doomier music made for a refreshing change of pace.
However it was back to the downbeat death doom with tonight's headliners, South Wales merchants of misery The Drowning (9) playing their most recent (and most accomplished) album, 2019's The Radiant Dark in full. The Fuel Rock Club crowd got as near to the front as they could, kudos to the band and Nytys Promotions for getting in this many on a Sunday night. Played in order the instrumental intro Alpha Orionis gave way to the first song, The Triumph Of The Wolf In Death, 9 minutes of crushing doom from Richard Moore's cavernous basslines which guitarists Mike Hitchen and Jason Hodges build on with slow deliberate riffs and atmospheric/melodic leads/solos. The end speeding up into some proper death metal battering that leads into Prometheus Blinded another shorter but effective track that goes thrashy in the middle. Behind the kit Steve Hart dictates the pace on tracks such as In The Cold Earth.
Though it's Matt Small who captures much of the attention with his awesome growls and roars carrying the introspective lyrics in conjunction with the melancholic music. At just over an hour in length the set was there to not only show how good The Drowning are live but what a brilliant album The Radiant Dark, a triumph of death/doom from the marching All That We Need Of Hell to the exorcising power of Blood Marks My Grave, this was a very strong showing The Drowning on a dreary Sunday evening.