RIFFS'N'SPLIFFS, BANNERMAN'S, EDINBURGH, APRIL 20 2026

I will have just returned from StrangeForms in Leeds, only to head out again for this. I think that my wife will be questioning my sanity but It needs to be done.

Interesting choice of date, by the way. 4:20... Heh!

Line-up:

TELEOST: Glasgow based doom duo. Very, very loud. Guitarist driving 3 amps with one instrument. Showing off, really.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/oXcmWa05Lvc   https://www.facebook.com/teleostband

SKRAP: Thrash/punk combo from Falkirk, wherever THAT is. First broken string of the evening.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Eg4DExsL49w  https://www.instagram.com/pureskrap

HIGH NOON: Cowboy doom. Yes, really. Yee-haw. Also, the second string break of the evening. Same side of the stage, too.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Hh8Cas0zX1s  https://www.facebook.com/highnoondoom

ROBOT DEATH MONKEY: There's nothing I can say about RDM that you don't know already.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/noBVso9rrKk  https://www.facebook.com/RobotDeathMonkey

FROGLORD:  Swampy amphibious doom. With masks.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/hc43rNlUPOQ   https://www.facebook.com/Froglordband

STRANGEFORMS FESTIVAL, DAY 1, BRUDENELL SOCIAL CLUB, LEEDS, APRIL 18 2026

 We're back in Leeds for the 11th StrangeForms festival. Of course we are.

Line-up:

BIRDWITCH: Off to a grand start with these folks, Norwich based - but partly from Scotland - doomgazers. Rousing stuff, and a big voice from such a slight figure of a singer. Draw a good sized crowd, which is nice for an opening act.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/EqdaMY3n0Ww   https://www.facebook.com/Birdwitch

LAST OF EDEN(L.O.E.): Hefty post-rock. First band of the weekend to have a member join the crowd. There isn't a video for this, because I fucked up somehow. I have video, and I have audio, but they don't match. Which is annoying, because they were more than decent. But barely visible.

https://www.facebook.com/weareloemusic

AS LIVING ARROWS: The first band (of only 4) of the weekend that I've seen before, and happy to see them again. Chunky post-emo-screamo-metal

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/72Ia7XWHpyo   https://www.facebook.com/aslivingarrows.band

FORLORN: Self-described as 'Midsommar metal', stirring stuff with songs of paganism, mythology and folk horror. From that leafy green centre of mysticism, London.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/BHOogmZVIO8   https://www.facebook.com/weareallforlorn

GOD ALONE: Ridiculously skilful explosive dance-math from Cork, and the second of my previously-seen bands. I STILL have no idea how they do it. Inevitably, some of them end up in the crowd.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/ai3P4WSGELs   https://www.facebook.com/godalonecork

COLOSSAL SQUID: Drummer/producer Adam Betts in his squid costume. Gets off to a false start with his computer acting 'like a twat'. Sound cards don't like excessive vibration, apparently. Once sorted, he batters several shades of shit out of his kit and is enormously entertaining. Previously seen act #3.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/iH1pE40UyBI  https://www.facebook.com/colossalsquidmusic1

KNIVES: Blistering punk noise. With a saxophone. And a very turbulent crowd.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/moxXO_aiY9Y  https://www.facebook.com/knivesnoise

MERYL STREEK: Irish 'council house lad' raging against injustice and the cruelty of modern society with a soap-box, a laptop and a flashing torch. Entertainment or education? Why not both? Something to think about on the way home from the show.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Mf2wRaXPshA  https://www.facebook.com/merylstreek

HELLRAISER NIGHT, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, APRIL 10 2026

 Edinburgh's semi-regular metal night at the Banshee

Line-up:

OBSIDIAN SAND: Excellent instrumental sludgy post-metal from  relatively new locals. Keen-eyed observers will notice that their guitarist is Lukasz from sludge/noise terrorists A.V.L. Not that this is particularly relevant, it's just interesting. 

Some of the subtleties were lost on part of the audience, who chatted through a few of the more Pink-Floydy bits. Philistines.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/wT09gjLXURQ   https://www.facebook.com/ObsidianSand
 

RAZOR SHARP DEATH BLIZZARD: Grizzled veterans of the Edinburgh punk/metal scene. Featuring a new drummer. As sharp as ever, and as resolutely anti-fascist. Will not be voting Tory/Reform at the upcoming elections.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/R-Rgv4Y2mTY  https://www.facebook.com/razorsharpdeathblizzard

SOULS OF JACK KETCH: Death/thrash from Newcastle. This is their first gig of the year, apparently, and my first time seeing them ever. Also their bass player's last ever SoJK gig. Great fun, especially when their guitarist failed to remember the riff for the new song. They got there eventually. allegedly just doing it to build up the tension. Yeeesss...

For those who don't know, or who can't use a search function on their computer, Jack Ketch was the 17th century inventor of tomato ketchup. Or an English executioner. Perhaps both.

VIDEO:    https://youtu.be/QGloV3b52g4  https://www.facebook.com/SoulsofJackKetch 

PRIMITIVE VICES: Doom/sludge from that hotbed of Scottish metal, Penicuik. Featuring an uncertain number of new members, and playing an uncertain number of new songs. Chunky.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/qJCwHOFUw5Q  https://www.facebook.com/PrimitiveVices