Black Sun became a Glasgow institution long ago, perhaps because, rather than despite of, their steadfastly uncompromising musical stance. Kicking proceedings off tonight, they are as true to form as ever, with an unrelenting ferocious intensity, expressed through crushing riffs, feedback howls, pummelling slow drum salvoes, monolithically heavy bass and rabid vocal screams.Ramesses, especially with such illustrious Electric Wizard pedigree and some fine releases behind them, are an unfortunate disappointment. Despite some tight drumming, on a kit featuring what must be the largest cymbal known to man, with the near inaudible vocals lost behind buzzsaw 7-string guitar and grumbling bass, they are left lacking anything like the monstrous punch on either side of their set and fail to show enough life to transcend their classic doom blueprint.
Thankfully, when Unearthly Trance come crashing through a howling wall of feedback into their sludgy doom metal riffing, we are back in the land of physically pulverising heaviosity. With a technical deftness that could easily be lost beneath the dark distorted extremes of their sound, they shift seamlessly from their sludge beginnings to heavy-as-hell crust punk scorchers and then back all the way to full-on epic doom, showered with slow slow riffs and funereally paced stick-shattering drum crashes. This expert combination of dynamics, progressive experimentation and sheer brutal heaviness leaves the crowd stumbling from the Notecave's sweaty depths with suitably ringing ears and clawing fists.
Photos of this gig available here.
Unearthly Trance
Ramesses
Black Sun
