Archive for the 'Photography' Category

22
May
12

Baptized in Alcohol

By Itihas Shetty Leave a Comment
Categories: Photography and Uncategorized
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This is just a small proportion of the total amount of alcohol that was consumed at this year’s BoltFest at HMV Forum, London. Attendees can try looking for everything that kept their hands busy before, during and after the gig. Your time starts now.

No luck? No worries. Alright, now all of y’all, raise your whiskey glasses, beer mugs and vodka shots high up in the air and get a glimpse of what is going to flow down your throat. You don’t really need a reason to drink, do you? So let’s get wasted this one time. Cheers!

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Bolt Thrower live at BoltFest, 2012

Autopsy live at BoltFest, 2012

Benediction live at BoltFest, 2012

Vallenfyre’s second ever live appearance of their career at this year’s BoltFest

Reviews of latest metal releases. Read and stay updated.

09
May
12

Duck Off

By Itihas Shetty Leave a Comment
Categories: Photography and Uncategorized
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07
May
12

Bolt Thrower live at Boltfest, London 2012 : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty 2 Comments
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
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Interested death metal heads already know what Boltfest was all about. The event happened on 7th of April, 2012. Boltfest was, simply put, a charity event organized by Bolt Thrower. Keeping the entry fee at a mere seven pounds and ninety nine pence and in return breaking every tried and tested formula of bringing together a line-up of top notch bands. There was Vallenfyre providing their shoulders to cry on, Benediction to get scared of, Discharge to let yourself go, Autopsy to shake your head in disbelief and Bolt Thrower to weep in agreement. All collections were sent to the Teenage Charity Trust.

Being the last band of the day, Bolt Thrower opened to a packed audience. The scene during Bolt Thrower‘s set looked straight out of their song Entrenched from the band’s last full-length album Those Once Loyal, which contained the following words - In a world of compromise….Some don’t. Bodies were flying from one end of the venue to another, foreheads were perspiring with no time to stop and wipe the salty sweat, heads were banging without caring about whether they hit something hard in the process and horns were raised higher and higher. Sloshed metal heads, from different countries, lived their dream of getting to watch Bolt Thrower at such a gala occasion.

I lost count of the number of times vocalist Karl Willetts said that Bolt Thrower has now completed twenty six of playing ‘perfect’ death metal. We all agree with you, Karl. How did I feel being a part of Boltfest? I felt like I was in a battleground, braving ahead after having joined hands with everyone around me, stomping all those outside who try to curb the basic birthright of humanity, which is freedom. Guess what, we won!

Bolt Thrower‘s set-list at BoltFest, 2012 -

Intro (Battle for Britain Theme)
In Battle There Is No Law
All That Remains
World Eater
Rebirth of Humanity
Warmaster
The IVth Crusade
Ritual
War
Remembrance
…For Victory
No Guts, No Glory
Powder Burns
Inside The Wire
At First Light
The Killchain
When Cannons Fade

Pictures from Bolt Thrower‘s set -

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Vallenfyre live at Boltfest, 2012

Benediction live at Boltfest, 2012

Autopsy live at Boltfest, 2012

Album reviews

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24
Apr
12

Autopsy live at Boltfest, London 2012 : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty 6 Comments
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
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It was the reign of old school death on this particular evening at Boltfest when Sir Chris Reifert came in with his team of surgeons for a postmortem examination of every head that was to bang along to the music of Autopsy. Seeing is believing. Just to rephrase this a bit, seeing and hearing is believing.

At the count of four given by Sir Reifert on his well-tuned cymbals, Autopsy broke into a frenzy and the music was seen spreading like wildfire across the venue. Sounding exactly like how they do on record, it was amazing to watch Sir Reifert give vocals and smash the drums at the same time. Truly a sight to behold, and this also resulted in the size of mosh-pit growing bigger and bigger with every passing song. Some were seen hitting the next person blindly as they couldn’t believe they were watching Autopsy live. I did not hit anyone though. When a legendary figure in the death metal scene is seen growling with so much passion that his nerves begin to become visible then you just close your eyes and thank your stars for the sight. One cannot review a gig by bands of the likes of Autopsy, one can only share the experience. The band was outright crushing, with all members delivering their absolute best. And I pretty much know that I won’t get to see them again. Alright, have a look at this…

The tracks played by Autopsy at Boltest, London 2012 -

Intro
Hand of Darkness
Twisted Mass of Burnt Decay
In the Grip of Winter
Severed Survival
Gasping for Air
Slaughterday
Dead
Mauled to Death
Voices
Charred Remains
Ridden With Disease

I believe Chris Reifert should be knighted. Fuck that shit, I’m still going to address him as ‘Sir’.

This is how it looked when Autopsy struck HMV Forum with their mighty death metal sledgehammer -

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ALSO READ -

Benediction live at Boltfest, 2012

Vallenfyre live at Boltfest, 2012

The DesertFest day 1 at The Purple Turtle, London

The DesertFest day 2 at The Black Heart, London

The DesertFest day 3 at The Underworld

22
Apr
12

Benediction live at Boltfest, London 2012 : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty 6 Comments
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The second slot at this year’s metal mania Boltfest went to death metal stalwarts Benediction, who haven’t released a new album for quite a while now. On 7th April, 2012, Benediction erupted like a dormant volcano wanting to tear your ass with its intensity, smoldering every part of you along its way. The performance by them need not be written about, as I have only good things to say about them. They got it all right. Be it uniting metalheads from different parts of the globe who had come to see them, or maintaining a level of musicianship that is hard to attain in the first place. Vocalist Dave Hunt was seen repeating how cancer fucks up one’s life, and we all should support the cause anywhere in every way possible. The entire venue nodded in unison, as this concert was not just about coming, chilling and watching some badass death metal bands but also about joining hands in favor of the Teenage Cancer Trust. Benediction, and the other bands on the line-up did their bit by organizing a gig, lending their names to it and providing all the possible strength to fight the ongoing battle with the demon that is cancer.

Benediction played the following tracks at Boltfest -

Intro
Unfound Mortality
Nothing on the Inside
Nervebomb
Nightfear
They Must Die Screaming
Jumping at Shadows
Subconscious Terror
The Dreams You Dread
Suffering Feeds Me

Horns up to Benediction for being themselves. It turned out to be a wonderful meet-and-greet evening for lovers of one of the most extreme genres out there.

A few pictures from Benediction‘s set -

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Review of Vallenfyre’s performance at Boltfest 2012

18
Apr
12

Vallenfyre live at Boltfest, London 2012 : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty 5 Comments
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Making the metal-heads go bonkers like a dynamite is up their arse, Boltfest‘s line-up was the most excellent in a longtime and I don’t think it is going to be easy to beat such a lethal line-up. Dedicated entirely to the cause that was driving this entire festival, Boltfest was organized so that us metal-heads can go there, pay a menial amount – the proceeds of which were being sent to the Teenage Cancer Trust – and then witness five of the most definitive death metal artists out there. Bolt Thrower had announced that the show was sold out within a matter of minutes and all this happened, quiet silently, when I was back in India. Buzz started doing the rounds when Bolt Thrower started adding support bands to the line-up one-by-one. The final line-up, take a look -

Vallenfyre
Benediction
Discharge
Autopsy
Bolt Thrower

Once here in UK, the moment this gigantic piece of news reached my ears I instantly knew that I had to be there, even if I had sell my own self. That wasn’t really required as I got in touch with the management, and they were kind enough to offer me a guest entry to the gig. Boltfest was clashing with day 2 of The DesertFest, but I was left with no choice. You already read the names up there. I fucking had to go!

Band number one was Vallenfyre. Formed by members of My Dying Bride, Paradise Lost, At The Gates and Brujeria (actually the list is never-ending), Vallenfyre is relatively newer only in terms of its formation because the experience in the band’s musical ingredients makes it one of the most sought after bands today. I back up my words by a mere mention of The Fragile King. The debut blew my nuts away. 6 p.m. and the band was on-stage. When discipline and death metal go together you get a pinch, exactly what I needed to make myself believe that the gig has begun. This was Vallenfyre‘s second show ever, after their live debut in Finland which happened on February 2nd, 2012.

Gregor and co. began churning out tracks from The Fragile King, and the sound was echoing from all corners of the indoor venue – HMV Forum, Kentish Town, London – hitting each death head inside like a stone drenched in doom metal. Vallenfyre surpassed my expectations by not only sounding super tight, but they also had an eerie feeling surrounding them which went well with the groovy death metal. Almost no bright lights during their performance, they demolished the stage and left. There was very little interaction between the band and the audience, but I remember Gregor talking about the cause this festival was supporting.

In fact the doom quality of Vallenfyre‘s music becomes more evident during their live show. From the entire Vallenfyre set it was the last few moments of the song Desecration which really stuck with me. Those minutes were grand and the lights were completely off. I couldn’t have asked for more.

Vallenfyre‘s set-list for the night -

All Will Suffer
The Divine Have Fled
Ravenous Whore
Cathedrals of Dread
The Grim Irony
Humanity Wept
Seeds
As the World Collapses
Desecration

Vallenfyre‘s performance in pictures -

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15
Apr
12

Day 3 of The DesertFest, London 2012 at The Purple Turtle : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty Leave a Comment
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
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The Purple Turtle is where the festival finale happened. Read on…

One band that, according to me, had a lot of fans waiting for them was Dead Existence. They were the opening band for the last day of The DesertFest at The Purple Turtle. I had noticed a lot of metal heads (both posers and real ones) wearing t-shirts that carried the logo of the band. I knew they were going to kick ass, but then I had to watch them to decide. Hence I rushed to the venue which is a ten minute walk from the main venue – The Underground. At 4 p.m., exactly how I had predicted, hordes of people had come to The Purple Turtle with beers in their hands (both hands, in some cases) ready to drink some and spill some on the floor.

even Roddy Stone (vocalist, Viking Skull) knows how important it is wear the right t-shirt!

At 4:10 p.m, Dead Existence took the stage. It seemed like a lot of people on stage. There were five members, who slowly started spreading out, getting comfortable with their positions and adjusting themselves since the stage at The Purple Turtle was not-so-big. Now this one here was a metal band so they obviously needed a bigger space lest they hit each other while losing control over themselves. Luckily that did not happen. Dead Existence were from London itself, so it was a home gig for them. They were a straight out sludge metal band with a lot of doom riffing. A lively act who only had to be themselves to be heard. One could see a lot of heads bobbing along to their brand of metal, and I don’t think there is anything else a metal band would want to see when they are looking at the audiences from where they are standing. Well done, Dead Existence!

Wrapping up the entire DesertFest was Viking Skull from Northamptonshire, UK. When I say wrapping up means Viking Skull were the last band playing and the other two venues had already brought the curtains down for this year’s DesertFest. Even the after party was held here at The Purple Turtle. Coming back to Viking Skull, they are very much a band that every heavy metal lover would kill to watch. After watching them live, I can safely say that Viking Skull deserved to headline day 3 at The Purple Turtle, of a festival that payed tribute to the stoner sludge genre because this band drugged the entire venue with right amounts of melody, heaviness and metal. Everybody present during Viking Skull‘s set would vouch for the fact that everything at the venue was in motion when the band performed. Viking Skull was easily one of the festival favorites, and I’d ask you all go check them out if they are playing at a venue near you!

DesertFest Day 3  lineup for The Purple Turtle -

Dead Existence
Sedulus
Widows
Cultura Tres
Iron Claw
Samsara Blues Experiment
Viking Skull
Monster Energy / Dalikfodda Party

The slideshow has pictures from Dead Existence and Viking Skull‘s set :

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And, this was how the opening season The DesertFest came to an end. I don’t know about the day tickets but the weekend ticket were sold out, and the worshipers of southern riffs, rock n’ roll and stoner/sludge/doom metal went back from where they came with shitloads of satisfaction. As for me, my ears are still buzzing due to all the different kinds orgasmic music I took myself through. Here’s wishing the organizers of DesertFest all the best so they can come back with an even more rocking second edition. There are not many of us who love this shit, but I think we are fine this way.

Cheers!

15
Apr
12

Day 3 of The DesertFest, London 2012 at The Black Heart : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty Leave a Comment
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
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desert storm

The Black Heart was the only venue where they did not have a board outside that carried the venue’s name. So kvlt. I realized this on the last day of the fest. Guess the only way one can reach here is by following everyone who is wearing black, because that is how I entered this venue on day 1. Unkempt metal heads who looked exactly like I did, and that is where I belonged.

Off the five bands that were to play on Day 3 at The Black Heart, I managed to catch four of them. Pretty cool. I’m not trying to sound hurried here but here is the line-up for day 3. I will get to them individually.

Ellie Mathews
Undersmile acoustic
The Death Letter acoustic
Desert Storm
Undersmile
Gorilla

undersmile

The Death Letter acoustic were a two-piece, with both members from Dead Existence. What set them apart was the melancholic songs that were tied down with genres like blues and slow folk rock. It also helped that the band did an acoustic, since their sound and words needed to be heard closely. It wasn’t a pleasant afternoon, since the The Death Letter liked to keep it bleak.

Considering they had ‘desert’ in their name itself, UK-based rockers Desert Storm stole the show by bringing back the golden old melodies filtering it with spaced out grooves, with vocals that were meant for the microphone. Gathering together a lot of front row dancers, Desert Storm taught us how a party should be continued.

gorilla

Undersmile, from Oxford, was a female fronted band. Fronted by, not one but, two of them. They were completely new to me and I had never heard of them. Trust me, when they began playing I thought of it as a joke since the intro was not appealing. Now they were hellbent on taking things at a snails pace, and within moments they gripped me with haunting vocals done by these two pretty ladies accompanied by a drummer and a bassist. So basically they were two couples who had come together to ruin your honeymoon with slabs of sludge and drone. I wouldn’t mind watching them again because I’m sure they have a lot more tales to tell.

Another one of the festival favorites and veteran musicians Gorilla (from UK) ended the festival at The Black Heart. Three members with Johnny Gorilla on vocals, Sarah Jane on bass and Sammy Forway on drums. It was all about heavy metal for Gorilla, taking each listener back in time with not just playing the instruments but feeling the parts intimately and churning out solos like fresh slices of butter. It was a win-win situation on both sides of the The Black Heart stage.

Slideshow covering The Death Letter acoustic, Desert Storm, Undersmile, Gorilla -

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15
Apr
12

Day 3 of The DesertFest, London 2012 at The Underworld : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty 1 Comment
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
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The last day of The Desertfest was looking the heaviest at The Underworld. The first half of the day had a lot of awesome rock n’ roll and experimental stoner bands on the lineup, and the second half saw some weighty metal bands that wasn’t for the weak. To sum it all up this was the lineup for day 3 at The Underworld -

throne

Wiht
Throne
Crystal Head
Leaf Hound
Gentlemans Pistols
Zoroaster
Black Cobra
Corrosion of Conformity

For me the day started with the three-piece band Throne (from London). This was the first time, in three days, where I saw a female member in a band. But as the day passed by there were a lot of female musicians that showed their prowess in bands like Gorilla and Undersmile. Throne‘s versatility was very evident in their dark approach towards the doom genre. They took things slowly and that is where their strength lies. Throne has a long way to go, and if they continue to have a consistent approach then things look bright for them, even though the genre they choose to play condemns brightness…

Next up were Crystal Head (from UK). Psychedelic influences woven together with a lot of rock, and projected to defy the rules of gravity. Your head will spin to this three-piece package that is Crystal Head. Post Crystal Head suddenly there was a surge in the number of people wanting to get inside the venue. The reason being two crowd favorites were about to drown the place with loads of music of the highest class – Leaf Hound (from England) and Gentlemans Pistols (British band). Leaf Hound belted out classics, blowing air into the sweating crowd, who in return blew kisses and shouted on top of their voices in support. These mushroom growers were mesmerizing. Gentlemans Pistols took the route of solos and animated stage presence to make it a memorable gig. As is the case with any of their shows, even this one had the band pushing the envelope in terms of giving the audiences several reasons to be present at their gig than anywhere else. I got shot, by Gentlemans Pistols!

gentlemans pistols

Now was the time for some metal to scare the attendees. Three metal bands back-to-back were going to stir up a hurricane, and the only way to escape was to leave the venue. Quietly.

It all began with American band Zoroaster who came and scattered the masses from one end to the other. In the process, drummer Dan broke the drum-kit, of course it had to break since he was pounding it so fucking hard. Good times. Ferocious sludge doom came from this three-piece which obviously could not last forever. Wish it had.

Following up from where Zoroaster left, Black Cobra (again from the US) made it hard for the photographers to just stand and click. The fans ran helter skelter all over the venue, moshing and banging their heads like there is no tomorrow. The band was louder, faster and angrier than ever. Unique sludge sound. Loved them.

The last band for the day was Corrosion of Conformity from America again. They’ve been playing southern riffs since 1981, have gigged like no other band at the festival, but still they took this one as seriously as they would take any other. The venue was cramped during their performance, as the band opened bottles of sludge wine and it was raining cheers and whistles from all over. Corrosion of Conformity put up a great show, and guess what they all looked younger too.

Shots from the performances of all the bands that you’ve read about on this article -

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14
Apr
12

Day 2 of The DesertFest, London 2012 at The Black Heart : A review in pictures

By Itihas Shetty 2 Comments
Categories: Gig / Concert / Festival Reviews, Photography and Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

I was  not well versed with the music of the bands that were to be hosted by The Black Heart on day 2. It had to be like taking-a-chance since I went there only when I had time to kill. Off the seven bands that were readying themselves to play at the debut edition of The DesertFest, the ones I had the pleasure of watching were Deville Acoustic and Steak. Due to lack of time, and bigger names at the other two venues, the remaining five had to be skipped. These are the times when I ask myself why does the day have only twenty four hours.

steak

This is how the second day at The Black Heart looked -

Deville Acoustic
Steak
Ashes of Iron
Alunah
The Bendal Interlude
Diesel King
Grifter
Into the Void Party

It was 2:10 in the afternoon (which wasn’t felt inside the venue) when this one man band Deville took the stage all by himself with an acoustic guitar. I reached there close to 2:25 p.m. The mood was already in place, the admirers had gathered and I had to make my way through the crowd to reach the front. Deville had only a mike, his vocals, the guitar and his fingers to gather all the claps and respect. Fresh twisted tunes played on an acoustic, clean singing with vocals that gave a perfect platform for his lyrics, and a heart that had the zeal to perform stoner material had the listeners being slapped with chilled water. Deville‘s performance was a divine effort.

London-based band Steak even describe their music as desert rock. Erupting like a dormant volcano, Steak‘s set was full of music with spirit personified, complete with boulders of sludge and stoner rock coming towards you. Getting fuzzier and fuzzier with each song, Steak rotated my head, and had ample grip on melody as well. The performance was straight-forward and laid back, providing foolproof entertainment on a Saturday afternoon. Were we asking for anything more when we left our houses for The DesertFest. Fuck no!

Deville Acoustic and Steak in action on day 2 of The DesertFest at The Black Heart -

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