Bat Sabbath & Margarita Witch Cult, Fleece, Bristol, 25.01.24
Black Sabbath are a timeless band. Despite being the first fully fledged heavy metal band (a topic which is debated daily but you’re wrong the first metal band was Black Sabbath) there are bands still trying to emulate or pay homage to that sound first unleashed on an unsuspecting public in February 1970. But the fact is those songs concocted by the dream team of Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward still sound just as incredible and essential today in 2024 and the demand is still there to hear these songs and worship at the altar of the mighty Sabbath.
One band that certainly worship at the altar are Cancer Bats who, after performing a Black Sabbath covers set at Sonisphere Festival in 2011, created an alter-ego Black Sabbath tribute act called Bat Sabbath performing shows across the globe and even recording an E.P. of Black Sabbath covers. Well the alter ego has been brought back and has embarked on a fairly extensive run of U.K. shows including a sold out stop in Bristol where this reviewer got to join the masses in worshipping the almighty Iommi riff.
Opening up the show were Birmingham stoner doom trio Margarita Witch Cult (8). These are a band whose name I have seen mentioned but had never heard up until this point. Made up of Screamin’ Scott Vincent on guitars, Jim Thing on bass and George Casual on drums, they all shared vocal duties between the three of them on a selection of fuzzed out stoner doom songs taken from their self-titled album which was released last year.
One band that certainly worship at the altar are Cancer Bats who, after performing a Black Sabbath covers set at Sonisphere Festival in 2011, created an alter-ego Black Sabbath tribute act called Bat Sabbath performing shows across the globe and even recording an E.P. of Black Sabbath covers. Well the alter ego has been brought back and has embarked on a fairly extensive run of U.K. shows including a sold out stop in Bristol where this reviewer got to join the masses in worshipping the almighty Iommi riff.
Opening up the show were Birmingham stoner doom trio Margarita Witch Cult (8). These are a band whose name I have seen mentioned but had never heard up until this point. Made up of Screamin’ Scott Vincent on guitars, Jim Thing on bass and George Casual on drums, they all shared vocal duties between the three of them on a selection of fuzzed out stoner doom songs taken from their self-titled album which was released last year.
Margarita Witch Cult don’t do anything that hasn’t been done by countless other bands but they do it incredibly well and have a bunch of really killer tunes in their arsenal with highlights being Annihilation, Death Lurks At Every Turn and The Witchfinder Comes. One thing I wasn’t expecting was a fuzzed out stoner doom rendition of the Billy Idol classic White Wedding but Margarita Witch Cult have put their own stamp on the song and it sounded fantastic. An impressive set from a band who are now very much on my radar.
And then it was time for worship. Bat Sabbath (8) walked out on stage to huge cheers and then even bigger cheers when frontman Liam Cormier walked out bedecked in a rather fetching cape and in full persona as an acolyte of the heavy metal masters and ready to judge if this was a crowd who were worthy worshippers or condemned to an existence as posers.
And then it was time for worship. Bat Sabbath (8) walked out on stage to huge cheers and then even bigger cheers when frontman Liam Cormier walked out bedecked in a rather fetching cape and in full persona as an acolyte of the heavy metal masters and ready to judge if this was a crowd who were worthy worshippers or condemned to an existence as posers.
I’m not the biggest fan of cover bands except when it is to a band who are no more and especially when done by an already successful recording and touring band like Cancer Bats. This was a pure love of the music and to hear those mighty Iommi riffs shaking the walls of a venue was a beautiful thing. This was not a direct imitation of Black Sabbath either with the band putting their own little spin on it being a more rough and ready rendition of Black Sabbath with Liam doing his own take on the vocals rather than trying to imitate the vocals of Ozzy.
This was Black Sabbath (Punk Sabbath? - Ed) through a bit of a punk lens but it worked beautifully. 11 songs from the classic Ozzy era of the band such as Children Of The Grave, Iron Man, Into The Void and War Pigs were smashed through as well as a few songs which I count as personal Black Sabbath favourites such as Supernaut, N.I.B. and Symptom Of The Universe which ensured that I was involuntarily headbanging away with a massive grin on my face. I could have quite happily stood there for 4 hours watching the band smash out Black Sabbath classics but all good things had to come to an end.
The band left the stage but then returned for an encore in their usual causal stage wear and treated the crowd to a solitary Cancer Bats song in the form of Pneumonia Hawk. It was a fantastic evening paying tribute to the eternal legacy of one of the greatest bands of all time.