Rites of Hadda / Hermeticus live @ Café Kino, Bristol: plus Inevitable Machete album review

/ N. P. Ryan

I first caught Rites of Hadda at the Easton Punk Festival, 2024.

During the set singer Wasperella jumped into the crowd to embrace members of the audience; in the process, I was lucky enough to be recipient of a juicy smacker right on the lips!

The set had been mesmerising from start to finish, and when dropping a comment on Insta to say so the following day, I signed off with, “and thanks for the kiss” to which came the Rites of Hadda reply:

“Enjoy the disease!”

This exchange was on the Sunday of the festival, and by the end of the night I was feeling a bit off. By Thursday I was in hospital not too far from death thanks to an unknown infection.

Luckily the lovely people at the NHS worked it out in time and I’m still here to tell the tale; on which note, as it turned out, Wasperella was lucky not to catch something potentially deadly from me! (it had turned out to be E.coli)

Before the Easton Punk Fest, I’d never heard of Rites of Hadda. They were for me the top act of the weekend; there wasn’t a band there that wasn’t top-notch musically, but the visual performance was matched by none.

I’d hoped they were a local band not encountered yet, but alas no: like most good things in life Rites of Hadda hail from my hometown London; and it wasn’t until Saturday just gone—6th December, 2025—that the band returned to Bristol to play Café Kino in an event described as:

“Fabulous and filthy queer pagan-punk ritualism takes over the Kino basement as anarchogoth provocateurs Rites of Hadda bring their sax-fuelled psychedelia to town. Augmented by Hermeticus’ noise-rock + new wave, dub and punk from DJ Pete Webb on the decks to keep the punk spirit burning.”

I’d never visited Café Kino before and was not only intrigued by its concept, but the gig’s too; it elsewhere described as intimate, there was also mention of a projector showing old punk images, making it sound far more an artistic presentation than gig per se.

Kino—a “not-for-profit co-operative owned and operated by its workers, and run in part by volunteers”—only serves vegan food and some is sans gluten too. I’d eaten plentifully before leaving the house but couldn’t resist having a little something, even if just for a taste.

However, the slice of farinata I had was so good there wasn’t a chance of a bite being left on the plate; and those operating the place were so friendly and accommodating, Café Kino is definitely somewhere to revisit for the eats and hospitality alone!

The basement—in contrast to the open and bright upstairs café area—had been purposefully under-lit to create the perfect atmosphere. The event had sold out, and I did wonder how cramped things might get; if small place + too many people would turn out to be the definition of “intimate” being used here.

But no, absolutely true to its anti-capitalist word, BOD Promotions—run by Stephen Spencer-Fleet, also a member of support band Hermeticus along with Nigel Hopkins—ensured only enough tickets were sold so the space felt full while equally everyone had plenty of room; an incredible way to see any band live never mind Rites of Hadda (or, indeed, Hermeticus).

Things kicked off with the excellent DJ Pete Webb as a projector showed punk images—often zines—from back in the day, then Hermeticus, a band I’d never encountered before that describes itself as “Sonic excess. EMP waves. Noise attack. Thrash, rhythm, transgression.” took to the stage.

There was something about the evening that was very much punk in the politically-active-seventies sense of the word; and in the sound of Hermeticus, I found it too; it being akin to Hawkwind at its height with Robert Calvert at the lyrical/vocal helm.

Though the ‘Urban Guerrilla’ vibe is very much built on with aspects I’d associate with GNOD and White Hills, et al., to show Hermeticus are certainly no retro act; something confirmed in its contemporary message.

Rites of Hadda describes itself as “Sax n drag n rock’n’roll. Anarcho pagan gothic psychedelic queer witchpunk.”

Probably the most apt description a band’s ever given itself.

For me there’s a similar Hawkwind comparison as above to be made, perhaps because that’s the earliest reference I can think of for this earthy punk sound that underpins both bands. Though the differences are of course numerous: a simple one being that with Hermeticus there’s amazement for such a full sound coming from just a two piece; while with Rites of Hadda there’s utter joy at seeing a band live that contains all the original components.

And, of course, Rites of Hadda take the sound a completely different direction: one going the way of Roxy Music and X-Ray Spex. Though so dazzling is the tour de force performance of Wasperella—a mass of raw passionate energy that energises and uplifts all present—it’s impossible to become lost in the music alone; so good thing for me the band had copies of new album Inevitable Machete for sale.

An outstanding night in every respect; and yes: Wasperella was gracious enough to take time out to hear my story of near woe; though was thoroughly disappointed to hear it actually wasn’t because of the kiss!  

Café Kino hosts similar soon when Hermeticus support Virus on Saturday 14/02/26 (all links below); and Rites of Hadda are looking to take the concept of punk cabaret to new levels on the 9th May, 2025, at the New River Studios, London.

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Inevitable Machete (released by Grow Your Own Records) opens with ‘Is Ross Woodward A Faggot?’ a riotous track that’s impossible not to want to get up and move to; while ‘Racist Bassist’ prowls into action before revelling lazy and glorious in the Rites of Hadda sound; ‘Middle England, Mate’ struts to the content of its message; ‘Killer Profits (Tokitae)’ is fast paced and to the point.

The CD comes packaged in a special envelope containing a pull out with poster on one side and lyrics on the other:

‘Daemon of Hate’ really rips with pure punk adrenalin – stompy AF from start to finish!; ‘Fuck Them’ opens as though a parade through a medieval village before erupting into a powerfully driven mantra of defiance, no holds barred; ‘Lament’ takes Mother Nature by the hand to soar across the sky incandescent in commiseration of Her demise; and there follows a period of silent abyss in which to reflect humanity’s plight . . . before (spoiler alert!) a secret bonus dance track blazes into life to remind that in the meantime there’s always Rites of Hadda.

The beautifully constructed lyrics form start-to-finish tales that go deep both on personal and societal levels: from realising one doesn’t fit in with the ‘norms’, of standing up to homophobes, to letting loose on abusers; onto historical humour in modern times, the caustic aspects of English culture and even the plight of a female orca whale held in captivity from 1970 to her death in 2023—a stark reminder of how much zoos deserve to be despised—Rites of Hadda show no social injustice is beyond its scrutiny and deserving admonishment.

MISS THIS BAND AT YOUR PERIL!!!

Rites of Hadda:

  • Wasperella – vocals
  • Simon Clarke – sax and synths
  • Pinswine – guitar
  • Paul “Who’s Paul?” Maybin – bass
  • Matthias Winter – drums

Links:

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Thanks for reading 🙂

N. P. Ryan

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