Spider Kitten

Is this day five or day six, then? It’s already the fourth time this month I’ve been to the Meze, and it’s getting to feel worryingly like a second home. If I start enjoying the Tetleys they’ll have to wheel me away for treatment. Until then, the small matter of five more turns, all ostensibly noise/metal but all distinctive enough to prove that even a supposedly genre-specific bill can have something awesome for everyone. Away we go…

Off to a rousing start with the combined talents of Atomçk and Cementimental. A marriage made in a serial killer’s dank basement. Cementimental stands at the bar with a wired-up ipod, er, waiting for me to get served before him. Whoops. Ricocheting around the venue, mic in hand, he creates harsh, textured electronic noise from customised electronic detritus before he’s joined by a guitarist, adding further piercing feedback, and then Atomçk’s vocalist. Thereafter it’s a straight-up grind attack, enlivened with scattershot blastbeats and noise bursts. As the vocalist wheels about, garotting himself with the mic lead, his gutteral screams mesh in with either hyperspeed noodling, slower, technical riffing or a mixture of both in one invigorating blur. In short, brutal bursts like this it’s thrilling stuff.

Every time I see Brown Wings I wonder why they don’t get more gigs. Can’t be the name, surely? They’re way more versatile than you’d first think; stoner grooves and almost bluesy riffs add variation, and mean the impact when they do cut loose with the Lightning Bolt-inspired tech attack, Gareth’s arms a dizzying blur, is all the greater. Their game would be raised if the mid-set discussions (a lack of match fitness, maybe) were cut, as they lose a little momentum. They’re getting there though.

My ex-housemate raved about Spider Kitten for ages. All I really knew of them was their use of a drum machine, so it’s a surprise to see Chris from Taint helping out on drums. You wouldn’t know it was a one-off. The guy hunched over a table full of electronic kit and pedals might not add a whole lot tonight, but there’s plenty in this besides. Nice doomy, sludged-out metal with some slyly tuneful Sabbath moments in there too, and the bassist’s unable to control his grin as they loosen their shoulders and rock the fuck out.

Speaking of which, on tonight’s form the new Death Of Her Money album should be bloody great. It’s easy to take them for granted – no theatrics, no flashiness, they don’t particularly look like a storming, intense heavy rock band.  Except they are.  Shuddering, sludgy basslines, huge washes of distorted guitar, Kaskie bent double and screaming as his pedals get an absolute hammering. They spin out slow-build, epic metal with an emotional whack without ever being overblown. Splendid.

Big Naturals

Bristol’s Big Naturals set their stall out from the start, constructing an elaborate crescent of amps on the floor; this is going to be punishingly loud, you sense.  And so it is.  It’s a bass and drum line up, but this time with a more considered heaviness that embeds titanic riffs deep in your sternum.  The fact that space dictates they’re practically on top of the crowd helps – it’s like being hermetically sealed within the Who’s PA.  The bassist’s nimble like Mike Watt, the oblivious drummer locks into his own world of rolling improvisation.   We have to leave for the train after two songs and 10 minutes, passing a worried looking Meze Fest promoter on the way.  It seems the neighbours aren’t keen on the street-shaking noise and a swift curfew is called.  It’s almost fitting it ends this way.

Big Naturals live up the name with one hell of a big bass wave. As many as four bass stacks, electricity and drums are carved into mesmorising, throbbing hooks that are enough to disturb any vital organs in the body. Influenced by bands such as Can, Minutemen, Boris, Black Flag and the Melvins.

Link: Official Site

THE DEATH OF HER MONEY

The Death of Her Money have spent the last five years finding their way to something that offer’s a unique take on heavy music, no more generic description need’s to be said other than it’s heavy, and it’s music. To explain what it sounds like is not a very easy thing.
Constructed from improv and a freeing of the mind process, TDOHM’s spacious, simplistic driving rhythms carrying blood clotted veins of sound flowing down to the dark pit via strange discordant melody, off-kilter chordal progression’s accompanied by intense screamed vocals and layers of feedback that crack through the battered beast that will go down fighting.
During the last 3 years they have released a 7” vinyl (Rat Patrol Records), an E.P. (Flood of Love e.p.) through they’re own Suntreader Recordings.
TDOHM’s current release is titled “Spirit Of The Stairwell” (Superfi Records / Rat Patrol records), they’re debut full length has had praise from the British rock press as well as rave review’s from various countries around the globe and was also voted number 44 in Rock sound magazines top 75 album’s of 2008.
Having just finished the recording of they’re 2nd album titled “You Are Loved” with plan’s to release it next year at some point, they are planning another UK tour in September and they’re first European tour in November.

Link: Official Website

Record Label: Rat Patrol / Super Fi / Sundtreader

SPIDER KITTEN

Formed in 2001 whilst founder members Chi (vocals, guitar) and Ptew (drums, synth) were at University the band, at that time, was an exercise in distorted noise and performance art, mostly playing around Campus and occasionally the odd club. From 2003 to 2004 Spider Kitten was predominantly performing eerie drone to confused emo kids in tight tight t shirts. But they did manage to turn some heads. As a two piece Spider Kitten enraged audiences and broke PAs with such bands as Taint, Suns Of Thunder and Necrocest. The band acquired a cult following from their live shows which utilised visual projections and on stage mixing to great, and sometimes nauseating, effect.

Then in 2005, as an experiment, the band wrote some songs. With words and solos and everything. These songs became “Things I Can’t Kill”, an EP that was given away and enjoyed only partially for it’s price. In order to play the more structured material they brought in two local noise merchants who, for the sake of decency we’ll call Nid (bass) and Twan (guitar). With more arms it was possible to have at least another two guitars playing at the same time. Big valve amps sure sound swell on those American records we all know and love so Kitten acquired a quantity and soon after they finished recording their first “real” album, “Ineffable”, which was released in December 2007 through their own Rugland Records.

Since then Spider Kitten have gigged in both England and Wales (including shows with Firebird and Gentlemen’s Pistols), sold all but a few copies of their debut CD and put out a free download only concept album via their website called “Future Echos”. Twan left the band in pursuit of rave drugs in the summer of 2008. In 2009 Spider Kitten will release a new EP entitled “Rats From A Sinking Ship” and have been working on an accompanying music video.

Do Spider Kitten have a message? Sure they do…I mean they’re bound to aren’t they?

Link: Official Website

BROWN WINGS

Brown Wings are a band made up of a guitarist and a drummer. They play music influenced by labels like Load Records and Skin Graft and like to play loud music with stupid titles. They have played with bands including Racebannon, The Death Of Her Money, Kling Klang and Action Beat.

Link: Official Website

ATOMCK/CEMENTIMENTAL

Atomck. Influenced by…Agoraphobic Nosebleed, Lightning Bolt, Pig Destroyer, Mastodon, Sunn0))), Gigantic Brain, Sparklehorse, King Crimson, Merzbow, Fantomas, Anal Cunt, Nile. 

“Atomck consequently reduced their performance to a stop start managerie of insanely deft and brutal guitar out-takes from a recently axed commercial for BBC Masterchef. No actually I don’t know what I’m saying anymore. Atomck essentially were the best heavy duty spaz grindcore to be seen, well…anywhere” – Hulk Dash

“A pair of fellows kicking out really quite badass future grind jams” - Noel Gardner

“Newport’s heaviest band! Fact. Super digital grindcore played by nerds.” - Mikeee

Link: Official Website

Listen/download all their releases to date (for free) : Bandcamp

Cementimental based in London, is the name under which I currently make all my experimental noises, using ‘circuit bent’ electronic sound-toys and basically whatever and whoever I can get my hands on. The project is becoming more of a ‘band’, as I team up with various other noisy types to produce and perform deranged music and noise of many genres. Cementimental is also part of/indistinguishable from other projects including Gymnastic Decomposition and Hypno-Bacon. For this Meze Festival show, I shall be playing alongside Atomck.

Link: Official Website

Co-promoted by Lesson#1 and Sharp Noodle. DJs from Lesson#1 and Torn.

for full into regarding the month festival in association with The Joy Collective, see http://www.mezefestival.co.uk

Swerving back on the intended guitar/drums attack duo theme, Brown Wings‘ set is tight, sparky and proves I’d be a rubbish soundman: their amp seizes up and I don’t even notice. Momentum built up via compressed riffing and clattering drums is lost slightly; awkward spiderlines dominate the next couple of songs. By the end though, full throttle power is restored, guitar noise crunches and shoots over manaical tub-thumbing, rocking like Lightning Bolt if played by simple mortals. A hefty dose of what feels right.

The fact that both members of Zail sit down to play works with them: you lean in, check the constant eye contact, get swamped. Zail have kept the glacial post rock element from previous band Mountain Men Anonymous, and bolted it to a streamlined delivery system, so that songs that build from simple repeated motifs and end with great crashing motifs come drenched with woozy waves of distortion. Their last song is a great rampage through unstable riffs, drums detonating at the end, fiery rock action. Of all the various ways to get devastated tonight, Zail are one of the best we’ve got.