Seven Churches Festival

//Seven Churches Festival

ROTS www.metalgigs.co.uk

Terrorizer sponsored Seven Churches Festival at The Fighting Cocks, Kingston.

Words: Antony Roberts

Photos: All “metalgigs” tagged photos by Antony Roberts, non tagged photos by Gemma Shaw of Gloomy Lights

So a few months ago my friend Matt turned around and said he was helping put on a mini festival with Josh who works at Fighting Cocks.  Sounds good I thought but little did I realise what an amazing lineup they would end up putting together.  There’s a serious amount of talent in the UK that is often overlooked and they wanted to put something together that showcased this.  Stressful seems to be the word i’d use to sum up the task that they had decided upon.  Bands got added, bands cancelled, bands moved up the bill, bands moved down the bill, bands had members leave.  Every week it seemed something was changing and i didn’t envy them one little bit.  You kind of forget about promoters when going to a gig, the only time they really get mentioned is when things go wrong.  The fact Seven Churches went ahead with all the band changes was really impressive in my view, big well done to organisers Josh and Matt and to all the bands that made it happen.

Dopefight opened proceedings and right now these guys need some serious props and respect.  They had already commited themselves to playing at Seven Churches festival and then got asked by Corleone Family to play at the Bristol Eyehategod gig.  Any band playing this kind of music would jump at the chance to play alongside the mighty combo of Eyehategod and Church Of Misery but rather than cancel on Seven Churches they asked the promoters if they could be moved down the bill.  This meant travelling Brighton to Kingston to hit up and open Seven Churches then pack up and hit the road to travel across to Bristol to play the Corleone Family gig.  Serious dedication and it really shows this band play alot live, they were tight as a nut.  Hell they are one of the hardest working bands in the UK underground scene right now, every other gig seems to have them supporting or headlining.  Their sludgy stoner vibes were the perfect start to the day and set the tone that this was going to live up to expectations.

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Next up were Rise Of The Simians and every time I see them they impress me more and more.  Earlier releases from the band had them sounding like they should have been from the deep south of America, rather than sunny ol’  Hastings on the south coast of England.  Their sound has expanded from the earlier slowed down sludge to wider influences and it’s this ever growing incorporation that has led to a much thicker epic sound.  Faster elements now mix in with the super slowed down sections and coming through were nods even to black metal style guitar lines.  The final song had bassist Mark trading strings for a floor Tom as he joined drummer Roger into creating a huge tribal backing to the guitarists onslaught.

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Rise of the simians ROTS metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk seven churches

ROTS rise of the simians seven churches metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk

Following on from Rise Of The Simians were Bast.  Unfortunately I was outside chatting and getting food.  From outside the venue it wasn’t obvious when bands were playing and time could very quickly vanish as friends both old and new were bumped into.  Matt Hopkins one of the organisers came out and said “guys you do realise Bast are on?”, “nope” I replied, and bugger i thought, as i speedily made my way into the Fighting Cocks backroom.  I was seriously gutted I didn’t catch more of their set, really enjoyed the last 2 songs I caught.

Bast seven churches festival www.metalgigs.co.uk metal gigs
bast seven churches festival metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk
Next up were Oxford’s Undersmile.  Having not seen these before I was looking forward to what they had to offer.  Having seen the band wander around the venue prior to taking the stage I was not prepared for what came out from the PA.  Dual vocals from the 2 female singers Hel and Taz created a vocal drone whilst riffs slower than a crawling grandma on heroin sucked you down into the very pits of hell.  I commented to a friend they were like L7 on crack, he turned around and said, nah L7 on ketamine, someone else turned around and said Babes In Toyland on Ketamine….you get the idea.

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undersmile seven churches festival www.metalgigs.co.uk metal gigs

undersmile www.metalgigs.co.uk metal gigs seven churches festival

Next up was the performance of the day for me in the shape of Newcastle’s Bong.  Having seen them before supporting Ufomammut I was not overly impressed on that occasion but this time around they floored everything.  Building up the sound gradually I was pulverised as a wall of ritualistic droning guitars entered in and shook every part of my body.  Ultra heavy Sleep-esque tones backed by some crazy off kilter drumming that skirted between tribal to jazz created the whole audience into a swarming mass like some crazy possessed cult.  The entire room lurched back and forth in unison completely in rhythm to the band producing a near religous experiences.  Go see this band, when they’re on form they kill everything you’ve ever witnessed.

Bong seven churches festival metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk
www.metalgigs.co.uk metal gigs seven churches festival bong

Bong seven churches festival metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk

Having popped out to the front of the pub to catch some breath and some much needed air I got back in and Winterfylleth had already taken to the stage.  It was pretty clear that this was the band most people had come to see, the back room of the Fighting Cocks was more rammed than it had been the entire day.  Little handwritten signs put up beside the doorway helpfully informed you “push your way in, plenty of room at the back!”.  The set was heavily sided towards second album The Mercian Sphere though “Mam Tor” made an appearance and sounded epic bouncing about within the small walls of the back room.  A storming rendition of “The Gates” by Hate Forest was met with endeared enthusiasm from the crowd and to finish the set it was put to the audiences vote which song they should end with.  “Defending the Realm” got put up against “A Valley Thick With Oaks” and despite me thinking Defending The Realm getting a larger roar “A Valley…” won and drew an end to an absolutely brilliant set.

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winterfylleth seven churches festival metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk

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Headliners Black Sun were due to take the stage and several things became apparent.  The location of the fighting cocks way out from the heart of London had meant some people had to leave early, it looked like around a quarter to a half of the crowd had left.  Secondly the day had taken it’s toll on a lot of the remaining patrons and the organisers alike.  By this point the Cocks had turned into a sweat drenched cubicle, the sheer tinyness of the venue meant it ended up turning into something resembling a party late in the wee hours in the basement of someone’s house.  Only the hardcore remained and the hardcore that were still there were very, very drunk.  Not violent drunk there was no violence of any sort, everyone was just metal drunk and wanted to headbang.  Black Sun came on and answered the call and proceeded to smash the ears of the hardcore going straight in with “Airstrike”.

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One of the organisers Josh throwing a claw

Black Sun then proceeding to offer out a set drawing heavily on their awesome “Twilight Of The Gods” album and damn does this album work live.  Songs came across heavier, thicker and more crushing as bassist Graeme threw  himself around the stage bending half backwards into pretzel shapes, whilst Kevin’s guitar and vocal assault smacked your ears.  Drums were heavy in the mix adding a thick pounding blitzkrieg that broke through every line of defense, invading every part of your body, forcing you to just headbang without control throwing claws, fists and shapes skyward.  Breaking up the sonic wall from the stage the band ended up covering an AC/DC song of the audience’s choice.  A yell of “Back in Black (Sun)” got met with f*** off from the band, and so it ended up with “Dirty Deeds” done Black Sun style with a brave member of the audience on vocals.  He either didn’t know the lyrics or was too drunk but soon got backing from other audience members, along with organisers Josh and Matt and Terrorizer’s Jose Santos.  Rock and Roll Karaoke sucks I’ve always hated Karaoke, but now i realise it can be one of the greatest things in the world, you’ve just got to be backed by one of the heaviest bands Scotland has produced in some years.  Finishing with the groove ridden “Code Black” to rapturous applause from the audience Black Sun left the stage and the first edition of Seven Churches Festival was over.  The day went by in what felt like minutes rather than hours and so much fun was had by all that attended.

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black sun seven churches festival metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk

black sun seven churches festival metal gigs www.metalgigs.co.uk

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One of the organisers Matt Hopkins

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Next year Josh and Matt have big plans for the return of Seven Churches somewhere more accessible in Central London.  They’ve also in talks with a big undisclosed name on the cards, better start saving your money now!

By |2011-06-29T00:00:00+00:00June 29th, 2011|Gig Reviews|0 Comments

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