I saw Agent of The Morai, Red Stars Parade, Bendal Interlude, Executive Distraction Tasks, Among The Missing, Snowblood and Red Right Hand earlier. Agent of The Morai were solid stonery sludge with a definite Iron Monkey influence, good performance for a first gig. RSP I missed because I was talking to a couple of guys downstairs (and I've seen them a huge number of times, so missing an RSP set isn't a huge deal), and Bendal Interlude didn't do much for me so I popped back downstairs. EDT had to play without their bassist so sounded a little odd without the low-end, but their new material sounds great and Jamie's use of some pitch-shifted vocals worked out really well. He also threw himself into it more than I've ever seen him do before, crashing into the crowd and writhing on the floor. Among The Missing were easily the most fun band of the night, ripping out a mix of hardcore, sludge and metal with a damn good sense of humour.
Snowblood were where things got really interesting though. I don't think they played anything from their first album, it was all new material presumably from their upcoming new one. Intense, textured and very moving, shifting from quiet post-rock territory to crushing grooves and shredding screams, with Peet of Red Right Hand joining in on vocals for the last track. Very uplifting and exhilarating, but Red Right Hand put paid to all that. They battered the crowd with their brutal droning doom, it was like being slowly beaten with a lead pipe. Even with earplugs the noise was almost unbearable by the end. Draining in its power, and the perfect bleak accompaniment to Snowblood's more hopeful take on things.
Best gig I've seen in quite some time.
