Sunday, October 18, 2026

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR, GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART, OCTOBER 17 2026

A post-post. And the reason I couldn't go to the second night of that black metal thing in Edinburgh, as mentioned in the previous post.

Line-up:

OTAY:ONII: Solo performance project of Chinese artist LANE MINGYU SHI. Visceral, electro/industrial/cabaret/jazz/metal. Amongst other things. She plays what looks like the biggest keytar ever, or maybe it's a regular one and she's just very small. She also makes electronic noises by twisting a thing that looks like a flower on a coil of metal tubing. As you do.




VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/UFiYcCXAJHE   https://www.facebook.com/Laneshiotayonii

CASPIAN: Taking nothing away from the other artists on the bill, this is the real reason I am here tonight. It has been far too long since CASPIAN were here, and I was NOT going to miss them. And they are glorious. Post-rock of the highest order - delicate, beautiful and crushingly hefty. Thick smoke and hostile lighting only enhance the show, even whilst making it very hard to take photographs.




VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/GcKK3yk8bsw   https://www.facebook.com/CaspianTheBand

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR: Did I say CASPIAN were hard to photograph? ASIWYFA take it one step further. Smoke, lights, AND hyperactive musicians. Now can legitimately be called 'veteran' post/math rockers, they've been kicking the shit out of stages over the world for bloody ages. They rip through a set culled from the whole of their career. They've got nothing new to promote, so there are no great surprises. Until...
They come out for an encore and leave us with 'The Voiceless', a song from their very first record, one of my absolute favourites, and one that I believed I would never see played again. 
Somewhat unfortunately, I managed to fuck up the audio recording to some degree so the video below is not without its issues, but it is what it is and I'm happy that I got to get a record of that song.





VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/TuU6eAUjQrY   https://www.facebook.com/andsoiwatchyoufromafar

Saturday, October 17, 2026

DARKNESS OVER EDINBURGH, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, OCTOBER 16 2026

The latest black metal showcase from WULFHERE PRODUCTIONS.  Well, only half of it really, for reasons which will become clear later.

 Line-up:

MELYXYLEM: Visceral BM quartet from Aberdeen, apparently quite fond of Classical languages. Singer looks too slight/young to produce THAT voice





VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/XtdSbO5zoyA   https://www.facebook.com/melyxylem

ÚLFARR: WULFHERE 'house band' from Cumbria. Old school BM, complete with corpse paint, bullet belts and hoods.





VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/aZHmTBqEQVo   https://www.facebook.com/ulfarr666

BLASFEME: From Bristol, possibly the most 'tuneful' band of the night. Still hefty, though.





VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/gjo2OuUtdI0   https://www.facebook.com/blasfemeband

HEATHEN DEITY: Tonight's no-nonsense headliner, purveyors of 'true English Black Metal', from Derbyshire. Which is, indeed, in England. Bass player is also in SINNERS SERMON, whom you might have seen in a post from a couple of weeks ago. Extra credit to the singer for telling some chatty folks in the crowd to 'SHUT THE FUCK UP'





VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/QLYvoTHfmOM    https://www.facebook.com/heathendeityofficial

Another sold out gig for WULFHERE, and a packed BANSHEE. A big round of applause for the sound engineer  - whose name I still don't know - for doing a grand job. Have to miss the Saturday half of the event - for more details, see next post. Back in November for more of the Black stuff.

Tuesday, October 13, 2026

RIPCORD 2, NICE'N'SLEAZY, GLASGOW, OCTOBER 10 2026

 Back for another round of heaviness in Glasgow, It's RIPCORD FEST #2!


Line-up:

DUTCH ELM: Superior post-rock from Newcastle. A gentle start to the day. Except when they get LOUD.



VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/6S8sKamEK7k   https://www.facebook.com/dutchelmne

KOBA: Atmospheric post-metal all the way from Norwich, nice mash-up of gentle and crunchy. Mostly, to be fair, crunchy.



VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/_qvqIpY2qNw   https://www.facebook.com/KOBA.fb

KAKIHARA: Edinburgh's kings of big stupit beatdoons. Joined for a bit by Andy from THE GREY on guest vocals. Pure madness.




VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/0ozLSqTFqrs   https://www.facebook.com/kakihara.life

KUSANAGI: Post-rock again, from Liverpool. Pure, sweet loveliness.



VIDEO:  
https://youtu.be/iP4xw0Qa9Oo    https://www.facebook.com/KusanagiMusic

VOID OF LIGHT: Majestic post-metal. One, in my opinion, of the finest Post-metal bands in the country right now. Right up there with HUNDRED YEAR OLD MAN and CODESPEAKER. All of whom, coincidentally, are fond of hostile lighting and thick smoke.




VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/KlA_DZb9als   https://www.facebook.com/voidoflightband

PLEIADES:  Post-screamo from Manchester. Heftier than I remember them...





VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/k6yirbHpn38   https://www.facebook.com/pleiadesuk

THE GREY: Hefty post-metal trio from Cambridge. Guest spots for the singers of KAKIHARA and MASTIFF. Unusually, Andy stays on the stage for -nearly- the whole set. A new song - 'Bends' - is teased, promising great things in the future.





VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/ulNLpC1MvjM   https://www.facebook.com/TheGreyUK

HIDDEN MOTHERS: Post-hardcore/emotional post-black metal from Sheffield. Bass player Liam's second last gig with them. It'll be interesting to see where they go from here. Hopefully they'll be back.






VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/c7Uf_7Oe8qo   https://www.facebook.com/hiddenmothersukbm

MASTIFF: Angry sludgecore from Hull. Possibly the hardest band of the day. Definitely NOT post-rock.



VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/_IPjrjGjQjo   https://www.facebook.com/mastiffhchc

AND SO I WATCH YOU FROM AFAR, GLASGOW SCHOOL OF ART, OCTOBER 17 2026

A post-post. And the reason I couldn't go to the second night of that black metal thing in Edinburgh, as mentioned in the previous post....