Mind Noise Network
Black Moth
at The Asylum 2, Birmingham
by Daniel King - 2 October 2014
Opening the show to what I’ll politely call a smattering of people were psychedelic doomers Wicked Snakes. Knowing how hard it can be to be in such a small crowd without any form of railing or barrier between the band and the crowd, slightly awkward to put it lightly, it is a credit to these young chaps that they weren't fazed by it, or at least did a bloody good job of hiding it. On to the music though and from the first few notes it seems that these guys have just been trying their best to write a Sabbath riff, listen a bit closer and you hear that they aren't doing that bad a job. It’s no Tony Iommi, but there’s some good music on show here. The vocals seem to be a bit out of place though. They would probably fit in a bit better fronting a hardcore band, although they do provide a bit of anger and another element to the music. They have some really good songs and when they start to grow a bit more confident on stage they will be able to put on a solid, atmospheric performance. The most noticeable event in their set though, was about half way through their last song when the energy of the singer upped significantly. I figured it could be that he was going out with a bang, but after having a look round, it turned out Harriett Bevan from Black Moth had just walked in, coincidence? Who knows, and really, who cares? Wicked Snakes are good little band and one I'm interested in seeing and hearing again.
Limb were the main support for this tour and you can see why as they fit in pretty well with the Black Moth sound/style. In what seems like a difficult room to get the sound right, these guys absolutely nailed it. They got the perfect mix of guitar, bass, drums and, similar to Wicked Snakes, growly shouted vocals. The singer here had a few tricks up his sleeve though, one of which being every so often he would let out a high pitched squeal that sounded like someone was giving his balls a bloody good squeeze. A bit odd, but it was good to hear a bit of variation from the normal shouting. These guys settled into the set quickly and ploughed through a set of hard hitting, heavy doom-sludge tracks and those that had made it down seemed to enjoy them, with a fair few heads nodding about. Tim Mowforth on drums gets a special mention in here for, firstly, breaking his snare drum and, secondly, carrying on as if nothing had happened. A true professional.
Headliners on the night were Black Moth and they were a real step up in terms of quality. The other bands were good, but Black Moth have come together as a band really well. Performances at Reading/Leeds & Download Festival will help with that and after playing to hundreds of people at festivals, playing to around 100 people at a show of your own is no problem whatsoever. This was the first tour since the release of new album Condemned To Hope recently released, read our review of it here, and (as every band does after an album release) they ran the risk of introducing the wrong songs to the set or removing fan favourites, but these guys nailed their choice of tracks. Songs from the album that aren't necessarily the strongest, Undead King Of Rock N' Roll for example, sound fantastic live with Harriett's vocals coming across really strongly and her on stage performance showing signs of someone that really knows their trade. Surprise of the night was how good Tumbleweave sounds live. Without the overuse of effects on the vocals during the chorus it flows much better and was one of the highlights of the night. The other being Blackbirds Fall form their debut, a brilliant track brought to life by the atmosphere of the performance. One problem that some female fronted bands face and on that definitely occurred here was that, of the 70 odd in attendance, almost every single bloke was fixated on singer Harriett (in some cases mimicking her movements, much to the amusement of the rest of the crowd) which is a shame because the rest of the band are at least equally as talented. Overall, these guys are building up a good fanbase and with live performances like this their stock will continue to rise.
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1/20
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