Baroness / Royal Thunder - Cathouse, Glasgow

I've been a massive fan of Savannah's Royal Thunder's debut EP for a couple of years now, so I was almost looking forward to their set more than that of the headliner.

Photo by Juan Fernandez

Their sound in the live environment was just what I'd hoped for; warm, rich, and with plenty soul, heard in tracks like 'Mouth Of Fire' and 'Whispering World'. Mlny Parsonz' soulful wail is a force to be reckoned with, and when she really lets rip during the chorus of 'Sleeping Witch' you'd be hard-pressed to find another vocalist who can match her range or raw emotion.

Photo by Juan Fernandez

Enough has been written about the trials and tribulations that fellow Georgia residents Baroness have endured in the past, but the overwhelming display of sheer good will between the Glasgow crowd and the band had me near enough welling up. I don't think I've ever seen a band look so grateful just to be playing a show. It's testament to the spirit of the band that they chose to continue, and to pick up where they left off.

Photo by Juan Fernandez

Their set drew from all the colours of their catalogue, with fan favourites like 'A Horse Called Golgotha' and 'Swollen and Halo' from Blue dropped in among the new Yellow & Green tracks, as well as a completely storming 'Isak' from Red closing out the set.

When at some point frontman John Dyer Baizley says "It's good to be back", those simple words are imbued with more meaning than he perhaps even intended. This was more than just another gig, more than just another tour; this was the triumphant return of Baroness.

Read the full in-depth review over at Echoes & Dust...

Black Tusk / Fight Amp / Dune - Ivory Blacks, Glasgow

It's been a few weeks since I've had the funds to attend a gig, and there's been a bit of a drought of good shows of late, so when I heard Black Tusk were coming to town there was no fucking way I was gonna miss them.

It's been a couple of years since I last saw them play the same venue with Howl to a largely uninterested and static crowd, but having seen them inspire chaos in the jam-packed smallest room at Roadburn last year, and inspire my own drunken chaos when I saw them a few months later in Prague, I hoped that Glasgow's rowdy stoner contingent would give those shows a run for their money.

While it was a bit livelier than last time, the crowd still didn't seem to wake up until the last few songs of the night, apart from those old dicks that insist on push-moshing at every show you see them at. Gie it a rest guys, eh?

First on the bill were Edinburgh's Dune. Having previously seen them supporting no less than Eyehategod, I was looking forward to their complex but catchy progressive sludge. For such a recently formed band, they bang through their set with a confidence even many seasoned road dogs lack, guitarist Victor's fleet-fingered solos intertwining with the relentless rhythm laid down by the rest of the band.

With vocal duties split between everyone but drummer Dudley, set highlights like 'When Planets Die' and the tri-vocal attack of 'Red Giant' have a variety lacking in so much modern sludge, and in a live setting you don't know who to keep your eye on, but Dudley's unbridled enthusiasm for hitting things really hard is a lot of fun to watch.

With their forthcoming album Progenitor due out in a matter of weeks, Dune are ones to watch. Keep your eyes to the stars. Or just Edinburgh.

Unfortunately that gives fellow locals Aye-Aye a hard act to follow, and their set of languid stoner grooves fails to keep the momentum going. It's through no fault of their own, they're just up against some of the most energetic, adrenaline-fuelled bands going today. Though they did come "all the way from Madagascar" to play, complete with bringing along some eerily accurate jungle sounds and some extra bongo work courtesy of Q-Ball from Bacchus Baracus / Co-Exist / Every Other Bloody Band In Scotland, and I'm definitely looking forward to checking them out on a bill where they're not quite so conspicuous.

Someone put them on with Skeleton Gong and Isak and I'm there!

Philadelphia/New Jersey's Fight Amp ramp the energy level back up with a set of tightly-wound, noise-tinged hardcore, tracks like the frenetic 'Lungs' from their debut Hungry For Nothing and 'Bad Listener' from their second record, sitting alongside cuts from their latest album, Birth Control. Before seeing them play I wasn't too familiar with them, but their aggressive, abrasive twisting of various Karp-isms has got me trawling their discography. Lovely stuff.

I've already mentioned the frenzy-whipping capabilities of Savannah's Black Tusk, but it bears repeating; if you've never seen this band live, you're fucking up. As much as I like their recorded stuff, I never get the urge to just throw on some Taste The Sin at home, because I'd fear for my furniture if I got too into it. The live setting is where this band really proves their worth, tracks like 'Bring Me Darkness' and 'The Ride' demonstrating the band's sheer unabashed love of playing, as well as just how goddamn tight they are. Guitarist Andrew and bassist Jonathan throw their guitars (and themselves) around with reckless abandon, while drummer James cements his reputation as one of the hardest hitters I've ever seen play, and none of them ever miss a beat. Mental.

For my first foray back into gig-going that'll continue with fellow Savannah... Savannans... Savannah-ites...? Anyway, I'm seeing Baroness in a couple of weeks, so don't sleep Glasgow, get out to the gig, and make it worthwhile for touring bands to venture north of the border!

All photos by Steff Vogeler.

Dragged Into Sunlight / Bossk / Sunsmasher / Headless Kross - Audio, Glasgow

I was anxious to see openers Headless Kross as they'd just released a split 12" with Bradford's foulest, Lazarus Blackstar, and any band that keeps such company has got to be worth a watch. Their set was different to what I expected, their sound being closer to the stoner-doom of Sleep and Weedeater than the crusty, sludgy mess I had anticipated based on their choice of band to split a record with. Their meandering, psych-tinged stoner grooves shook the already loose ceiling panels of the venue, the harsh vocals threatening to bring them down entirely.

I'm so glad Glasgow is producing bands like this nowadays, and I'm definitely looking forward to giving their recorded material a spin.

I haven't seen Sunsmasher play for way over a year now, and when they open with Mujeres Libres from their Mammothian/Loud/Cult EP I'm happy to hear they're still as devastatingly heavy as ever.

Attacking his bass in between bursts of bile into the mic, bassist Phil is a sight to behold, coming across like a crazed street preacher with access to high-level amplification, while guitarist Neil strangles mangled blues out of his strings. Whenever they get another recording out, look out for it, your bleeding ears will thank you for it.

Recently reformed Kent post-metallers Bossk seem to have been just as big a draw tonight as the headliners, with a few people in the crowd barely able to contain their excitement at finally getting to see the band live for the first time in years.

As soon as they launch into their first song, the excitement is fully justified, as the band weave together achingly pretty instrumental passages, offset by harder-edged sections that put the 'metal' in post-metal. Personally I hate that term, but it does describe what Bossk do so very well, and if you're a fan of the genre and you don't have a copy of .01 and .02, what the hell are you doing?

At one point their own intricately woven melodies fade out to the sound of crashing waves, and... wait... is that a Fleetwood Mac cover?! Yeah, it is. The most unexpected place to hear 'Albatross' ever (well, second to its appearance in those Marks & Spencers ads years ago).

With new material being recorded this year, look out for the continuing triumphant return of Bossk.

I last saw Dragged Into Sunlight at the 2012 edition of Roadburn, where their set time was eaten into by the amount of stuff being set up on stage, and as much as I appreciate their aesthetic, if fannying about with skulls and candles cuts 2 songs out of your set, is it really worth it?

Luckily tonight there is minimal fannying, the candles are lit, the funeral fog (well, smoke machine...) drifting past the goat skull altar and enveloping the room, creating an appropriately suffocating atmosphere.

The anonymous members take the stage, the steady hum of that ominous Matamp backline builds, the samples lead into the familiar intonation of "...it pleases me...to serve you..." and Boiled Angel is unleashed.

This term is overused in descriptions of extreme music, but a Dragged Into Sunlight set truly is an assault on the senses; the near-constant strobe light rendering you unable to even glance in the direction of the stage, the sheer volume seeming to actually force the sound into your ears, the whole time your lungs filled with the acrid stench of more smoke than even the most ardent weedian can cope with.

You don't merely watch or listen to a Dragged Into Sunlight show; you survive it.

I, Aurora erupts from the howling, smoke-spewing thing on stage, and I can feel other victims of the show thrashing heads and limbs against my back. It's kind of hard to tell if they're enjoying themselves or if I might be feeling a few people's death throes. Either way I'm transfixed by the beast with five heads before me.

The set is culled entirely from Hatred For Mankind, with not even the similarly harsh Part II from their recent masterpiece Widowmaker given an airing, though its not like I expected DIS of all bands to conform to any expectations others may have of them.

The candles are snuffed out, the feedback howls, the smoke dissipates, the stage empties, and the crowd drags themselves out to sunless night.

This was one of the best shows I've seen in Scotland, the whole Dragged Into Sunlight set sounded incredible, as did every band tonight, so credit to the venue's soundman for being able to capture the aural assault that DIS unleashes without losing any of the sheer sonic force. I hope there are more shows like this in Scotland now that its beginning to foster a strong homegrown doom scene, as well as continuing to attract touring bands from all over the world.