GASGIANT, SNEAKY PETE'S, EDINBURGH, NOVEMBER 1 2026

 Back from the dead!

Line-up:

STUART HONEYMAN: A very nice young man with a guitar. Songs about relationships, good and bad. Nice to see a singer/songwriter who's not entirely miserable. I'm intrigued by the long song about an old lady that he didn't play, though...

No video this time, because the Sneaky Pete's air-con ruined my audio recording.

https://www.instagram.com/stuarthoneymanguitar/

LUCID LIARS: Rather fine robust indie from Inverness. Influences include, apparently, FRIGHTENED RABBIT, which I get, and JOY DIVIDSION, which I don't. Thanks to singer JO for handing me a CD after the set.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/n6T8vdtAv4w   https://www.facebook.com/LucidLiars

GASGIANT: I first discovered these post-rock/slo-core lads many, maybe 12, years ago, after they had ceased to be. Which made me sad, as I quite reasonably thought that I'd never get to see them play. And now they're back! And they're MUCH louder than I expected. Strangely, though, my audio recordings needed absolutely no tweaking, which pleased me immensely. Hard to photograph though, in the fog and murky lighting.

VIDEO HERE:   https://youtu.be/x6Cmd1vtgaI   https://www.instagram.com/gasgiant.band/

So. Worth the long wait? Absolutely.

DREICH, WEE RED BAR, EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 30 2026

It's nearly Hallowe'en, so what better than a night of black metal?

Tonight's headliners were originally supposed to be HORRENDA, but they can't make it, so...

Line-up:

FEINMHARU: Glaswegian duo, drums and guitar/vocals. Very raw. The sort of black metal you might expect from a demented raven. Also tonight's promoter.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/n1L35omVfgs  https://www.instagram.com/feinmharu666/

GRIEF INCARNATE: Late addition to the bill, after HORRENDA's pull-out. Not really 'black metal', more slam/death. Missing one guitarist tonight, due to the sickness. They seem a tad disappointed by the lack of 'throwdowns', but maybe it's not quite the right audience for that sort of thing.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/mLjY8dUI3Vw   https://www.instagram.com/grief_incarnateband/

DREICH: Aberdeen's kings of DSBM. Boosted up to headliners tonight. Sludgy and grim, the bleakest of metal. Fond of knotted ropes. Not, it seems, very fond of people.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/uJDWTOUbJak   https://www.facebook.com/dreichscotland

That's enough of the metal for now. Next post will feature something entirely different, and then it's a couple o' weeks off before the CORE fest. I've seen that hill in Glasgow, and I'm going to need the time to build up some strength...

COGAS, BANNERMAN'S. EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 23 2026

Back to Black(Metal)

If it achieves nothing else, this gig serves to remind me just how ridiculous black metal really is. Immense fun, of course, and occasionally quite disturbing, but basically just very daft.

Line-up:

NYCTOPIA: Local black metallers, featuring a bagpiper, a lady waving burning things around, a bass-player in a chain-mail balaclava and lots of corpse paint. And a moth-eaten deer head. None of which is necessarily a bad thing. Occasional glitches when the singer seems to forget to switch on his goat skull microphone, and when the guitarist realises that he has mislaid his spare instrument and has to run off to find it.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/9EwFUQIthdE   https://www.facebook.com/Oracleofdeception

OMINOUS COVENANT: London based non-Italians. Scary lady singer with a voice like knives. Very loud, very fast, very black. No dead animals, though.

  https://www.facebook.com/ominouscovenant

COGAS: London based Italians. Possibly the most convincingly nasty band of the night, they look like they would happily eat your children and pets. Raw.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/KhEr4VfZeZ8   https://www.facebook.com/Cogas.Black.Death

Now, see, I LIKE Black Metal. Live black metal, at least. Yes. it's nasty and brutal and ferocious but, at the same time, very, very silly. And - I hope - they know that.

RITUAL KING, THE HIVE, EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 22 2026

Heavy psych/stoners on tour, in an oddly lightless Hive. Not sure why it was so dark. Maybe somebody forgot to put 50p in the meter...

Line-up:

ARDUA: Local metalcore lads. Their first ever gig, it seems. Confident and clearly well-rehearsed. Singer sometimes seems unsure of what to do on stage when he's not singing. 

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/eKE7S3qcz6g   https://www.facebook.com/ArduaUK

KURNEL FIST: The first hefty psych/blues stoner power trio of the evening, this one from Dundee.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/7xrJi_qNatQ  https://www.facebook.com/kurnelfist

OBSIDIAN SAND: Sludgy post-metal trio, mostly very loud, occasionally less so. Fond of long songs.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/wlTbHqbLy98   https://www.facebook.com/ObsidianSand

RITUAL KING: Tonight's main feature, and the second hefty psych/blues stoner power trio of the evening. All the way from Manchester. Didn't let a couple of feedback gremlins spoil the fun.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/QHH6kLfjSTg   https://www.facebook.com/ritualking