KURNEL FIST, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, JULY 4 2026

Celebrating US Independence day with an evening of psych/stoner stuff from North of the river. Fortunately, no orange shitclowns involved.

Line-up:

THE UNDERNEATH: '3-Piece pineapplepizzapop extravaganza', apparently. Whatever THAT means. Judging from the rest of the bill, these lads come from Dundee. 

Reality: they're from West Lothian, there's only 2 of them (bass player absent for the evening - off seeing MCR apparently), and they play excitable fuzzy noisy rock. They're very good.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/-5K5okNY-ac   https://www.facebook.com/UnderneathFuzz

CRUISE ELROY: From Dundee, with a fondness for Lemon Fanta. Most of them used to be in SPEEDRUNNER, which tells me nothing at all. Fizzy, mathy alt-rock kinda thing

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/ON7M6jL8IvY   https://www.instagram.com/cruise_elroy_band

INDICA: Cosmic desert rock trio, also from Dundee. They don't get out much - this is their first Edinburgh gig in 6 years. (Henry's Cellar Bar, supporting UNDER. I was there, to nobody's great surprise.)Worth the wait, though, because they are dead good.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/_JotXpwLcWg   https://www.instagram.com/indica.dundee

KURNEL FIST: 3-piece alt/stoners from - you guessed it - Dundee. Tonight's hosts. Something of a belated album release show for 'Seat With A View' from which most of tonight's set is taken. Plus a cheeky wee ALL THEM WITCHES cover.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/oTeeF9usUlI   https://www.facebook.com/kurnelfist

Quality gig, poorly attended. The hazards of trying to run a DIY gig in Edinburgh when you're in Dundee. I had fun, though.

DARKNESS OVER EDINBURGH, BANSHEE LABYRINTH, EDINBURGH, JUNE 26, 2026

WULFHERE PRODUCTIONS black metal showcase in Edinburgh. Originally planned for two days, now trimmed to a single night. For reasons.

Line-up:

SOULGRIEF: Solid, unpretentious Black metal trio from Halifax (Yorkshire, not Nova Scotia) playing Scotland fpr the very first time

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/XiQI3biyX04   https://www.instagram.com/soulgrief_

ÚLFARR: Cumbrian black metal. I'm sure I've seen some of these lads before in other Cumbrian black metal bands. Hard to tell under the corpse paint. Hard and fast, bass-heavy, as if Motorhead were a BM band.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/Fxm5-O9B-YE   https://www.facebook.com/ulfarr666

RUADH: Rousing, atmospheric black metal from, I think, Falkirk. Songs of kings and battles and national pride. If they were more Scottish, they'd be painting themselves blue and getting pumped by Brazil. Not sure about the metalcore man-bun and indoor shades, though...

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/DSgt5WVn4Ik   https://www.facebook.com/ruadhofficial

CNOC AN TURSA: Granite-faced ultra-Scottish black metal. Similar themes to RUADH, but darker. Chatty drummer, though, with his bad back and that... Unlike Ruadh, they wouldn't need to paint themselves blue as they played under uniformly blue lights. Lots of black leather & black kilts.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/K7e70IBnD1I    https://www.facebook.com/cnocantursa

WULFHERE will be back in October with more BLACK METAL. See you there.

AGRICULTURE, STEREO, GLASGOW, JUNE 21 2026

I'm unreasonably excited about this one, despite the logistical difficulties I will face. Saw them before at the CORE festival and they were glorious, but I suffered a catastrophic camera failure and couldn't get any video. It'll be nice to get a second chance.

 Line-up:

HEALING WOUND: Metalcore/hardcore/sludge from Brighton. They're very good. Intense.  Drummer sounds like an artillery barrage, and bass that occasionally strays into post-punk, even Joy Division, territory, lifting them beyond standard hardcore fare..

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/p04rHk06o_s       https://www.instagram.com/healingwound_

AGRICULTURE: Euphoric black metal (with occasional gentle folky bits) from sunny California. As mentioned above, seen these before and was HUGELY impressed. Creators of one of the very best albums of 2025 in 'The Spiritual Sound'. And they are sublime. Mostly. There's a wee bit too much improv (?) noise making, and there's no need for the climactic set-closer 'Living is Easy' to go on soooo long. Minor quibbles. Also. it's VERY hot in here and it's rammed. Sweaty.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/VnttAbnyhdU   https://www.facebook.com/agriculturemusic

So, was it worth the sweat? The pummelling from the boisterous crowd? The nightmare of Glasgow roadworks? 

Yes. Yes it was.