LIVE REVIEW: Sugar Horse @ 229 The Venue, London
Tonight’s festivities at London’s 229 The Venue are nearly derailed by an errant van breakdown, with headliners SUGAR HORSE nearly having to miss their own headline show. Thankfully things can go ahead as planned for a night of post-metal riffs and revelry.
Openers VANDAMPIRE turn out far more racket than a three piece should be able to, their out-sized, doomy sound cascading in waves from the small stage. A mid-set drum malfunction doesn’t deter them, or at least doesn’t further add to their awkwardness on stage, and they push on despite the loss of momentum. They’re fond of using feedback between songs to stave off stage banter, their only real interaction being to introduce themselves, their last song and drily admit they’ve got no merch for sale, “but if anyone wants to pay our congestion charge…”. It feeds into their drone influenced sound neatly and their post-metal-by-numbers goes down reasonably well, though the on-stage awkwardness and lack of between song patter doesn’t overly endear them. That said, despite being a relatively standard take on the genre it’s well-written and performed, leading to a solid set.
Rating: 7/10
A more engaging proposition from the outset, DAWNWALKER open with a thunderous, trad doom-inflected post-metal sound. They’re afflicted by hitches too, with a snapped string shortly into their first song that’s swiftly rectified. Their sense of humour is undamaged though, with self-deprecating between song patter, with the aforementioned incident giving rise to “he thought I’d be silly to bring a spare guitar for the show. Look who’s silly now,” eliciting a good laugh from the crowd. Their humour extends to their songs too, with titles like Half The World Is On Fire And No One Seems To Give A Shit; the tongue in cheek name belying the serious topic they’re seemingly addressing. Serene passages collide with towering post-metal breakdowns in a stirring, captivating display with some real emotional heft behind it too. Make no mistake, DAWNWALKER are ones to watch and tonight is further proof of that.
Rating: 8/10
If someone tells you SUGAR HORSE are loud, believe them. Opening with I Am Not, Nor Have I Ever Been… before launching into a thunderous Shouting Judas At Bob Dylan, they’re simply a genre and an experience unto themselves. Quiet moments are serene and calming but the sheer decibel level they hit during the heaviest moments could crack continents. It’s so heavy, so dense that it feels like sinking into a quagmire of sound.
Phil Spector In Hell’s stunning, ethereal shoegaze sounds almost like a different band than the one that wrote songs like Shouting Judas… but their singular vision and identity shines throughout. The Live Long After builds throughout and the sheer volume as it reaches its peak is bowel-rattlingly heavy. Debut album The Live Long After is stellar on record but live it transcends, the loud-quiet dynamic getting the justice it more than deserves. Tar-thick riffs meld with moments of calming shoegaze and abrasive hardcore that shift and transform before your very eyes both within and between songs, such as on DRUGS or Richard Branson In The Sky With Diamonds. There simply isn’t anyone else like SUGAR HORSE out there.
Rating: 10/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in London from Karolina Janikunaite here:
