Reviews

Down with Split Dogs at Dean Lane

/ N. P. Ryan

When first heading to punk gigs in Bristol and following the relevant social media, I fast became aware of a buzz around local band Split Dogs.

Such was that buzz my first attempt to see them live ended in failure when arriving at The Plough only to find a long line-up outside of people waiting for others to leave—which was unlikely—so they could get in.

It wasn’t until some time later that I managed to catch them at the Chelsea Inn. There they delivered a set of slick frenetic punk exploding with an energy knowing no bounds, producing so much joyous sweat the flood warning for Bristol seen earlier in the day online and making no sense at the time—the weather was fine—suddenly did in bounds. Continue reading →

SLOTH

/ N. P. Ryan

Into ‘Lucifer’s Doorway’ suggests Hell has frozen over in awe of the complexities that follow:

‘Evil Hand’ has a doom sound rooted in the 70s that equally sounds fresh as a daisy and sometimes surprisingly light as a feather to boot, elevated not only by the vocals sitting eerily perfect at the top of the music, but also the intricate solos that hedonistically wind through the epic and expansive melodies to create a compelling and contemplative swirl. Continue reading →

Gøren: Summon

/ N. P. Ryan

Gøren is a one person project by Derek Fisher that very much sounds the consequence of dredging all the bayous in Louisiana to pull out every Southern Comfort / Deliverance-esque incident ever to have taken place, despite Derek being from Flint, Michigan, way up in the North of the States.

The southern drool drips off every note of ‘Summon’ as it wades mammoth-like through the bayou, its weight ensuring each step sinks right in, so needs a heavy pull to get out again; a movement of monumental proportions. While on its back sits a lone rider of the Apocalypse passing judgement on those and the sins dredged up with far greater fear and consequence than anything dished out by the more famous four riding horseback. Continue reading →

Empress Piru: normalize yourself

/ N. P. Ryan

‘all man panel’ opens with a solitary guitar that initially sounds Spanish before the rest of the band come in and things take on a Persian flavour. The incredible sound is in part thanks to Empress Piru having two bassists, and puts in mind the likes of Kourosh Yaghmaei, Faramarz Aslani and Omar Khorshid; a vibe of the latter in particular permeating the album despite each track having a distinct character. The picture painted is one of night, heat and sand; real fires for light and the shadows they cast dancing large across the side of tents a cat moves stealthily next to. Continue reading →

BREATHE/RUST: A Sound of Things to Come

/ N. P. Ryan

Another night at the Chelsea Inn found me once again watching a band in awe of how accomplished.

BREATHE/RUST, a four piece from Bristol combining members of The Break Out, The Earth & Me, Nietzsche Trigger Finger and Crazy Arm, are tagged as hardcore on the flyer; the epithet is more than deserved, though I don’t envy whoever has to decide given the array of genres to be found across the four track self-titled debut EP. Continue reading →

Etran de L’Aïr: The Desert Blues Brothers

/ N. P. Ryan

To mark the commencement of a 2023 US Summer tour, Etran de L’Aïr—which translates to the Stars of the Aïr—have released two live tracks recorded in Seattle earlier in the year; available for digital download, they’re also NYP (name your price, which includes free if you need it to be).

Seattle is a long way—seven-thousand miles thereabouts—from Etran de L’Aïr’s hometown of Agadez, Niger; a city located in the Sahara desert and the country’s fifth largest.

Etran de L’Aïr’s sound is generally described as desert blues. It’s a genre description in much part originating from the epithet desert rock already being taken in the West by a bunch of stoners who liked recording while out of their trees while out in the deserts of the States—some groovy tunes coming from their endeavours, it should be said—while the sound coming from Africa has a vibe and undercurrent distinctive to musicians in the region. Continue reading →

Death Pill: the ferocious all-female face of Ukrainian Defiance

/ N. P. Ryan

353619397_716357817172717_7070565787862434601_nMonday the 12th saw a first visit to the Louisiana, Bristol. Knowing nothing of the headliner, it was another case of a flyer grabbing attention in the timeline and hitting interested on the event from there.

Then came a surprise a couple of days beforehand when finding an article on the BBC website singing the praises of Death Pill’s cause; this I didn’t know about.

Death Pill’s story is phenomenal; so much so, it’s humbling writing now to think I got to witness part of it. Continue reading →

Girls Like Us: Bitter ‘Til The Bitter End; a review

/ N. P. Ryan

343967369_256723436738244_6031534892293599719_nGirls Like Us (GLU) released Bitter ‘Til The Bitter End the same weekend I caught the band live at the Chelsea Inn, Bristol.

It was a blistering set, part of another top night there (In With the Inn Crowd), during which I was about to turn to a mate and say, ‘killer bass line’ only for him to beat me to it with the exact same words.

The debut album certainly lives up to its name with lyrics plenty raw enough to suggest lived experience fuelling its theme of two-timing, dickhead boyfriends/blokes more often than not from entitled backgrounds. Continue reading →

MOOR: Viper Kingdom; a review

/ N. P. Ryan

moorfullcvr_16MOOR’s first full length album Viper Kingdom opens strong and solid with track one ‘Lepers Among Us’ and only goes the direction of strength to strength from there.

Track 2 ‘Viper Kingdom’ would be a massive crowd pleaser live for sure and is my pick of the album; coming in at 7.02—the longest track by almost two minutes—it puts all aspects of MOOR’s talents on display, be it a straight-up demonstration of black metal credentials or showcase the unique aspects Halfdan Svarti brings. Continue reading →