NEW TALENT: ALWAYS ROOM FOR MORE

All that new stuff is pish. It all sounds the same. Music peaked in (select decade of choice) and it's all gone downhill since then.

Fuck.

Off.

I'm nearly 64 years old. Should I live out the rest of my life listening to Iron Maiden and dribbling onto my battle jacket? Should I be 'that old guy' yelling at clouds and telling folks that those new bands ain't fit to wipe Ozzy's arse?

Well, no. Obviously. Some people - LOTS of people,actually - seem perfectly happy listening to the same thing forever, and that's fine for them, but it's my idea of Hell. We (I) need new bands. New bands doing new stuff, or old stuff in a new way. Sometimes it'll work, sometimes it won't, but nothing's ever going to happen if nobody tries. 

So. One of our little venues here in Edinburgh - The Banshee Labyrinth- is trying out new things.Once a month they are putting on 'new talent' nights which, as you might expect, give new bands a chance to show off what they've got, and give us a chance to find our 'new favourite band'.

This month they gave us MEDUNOM, AS ABOVE and CULT OF SOBEK, as wildly disparate a trio as you'd be likely to find anywhere.

MEDUNOM may sound like a black metal band and, indeed, they have a very black metal band logo, but they are very, very much NOT black metal. A duo - one dread-locked fellow with an acoustic guitar and a lady singer in a bright red basque - they play an unexpected choice of covers and a handful of originals all done in a folk/blues style. Imagine LINKIN PARK done by ALISON KRAUSS, if you can. They're a bit nervous and need to work on their banter, but that girl's voice could punch the tracks off a T-72 tank. Clearly, their roots are in metal - covers include IRON MAIDEN, THUNDER and MOTORHEAD - but credit to them for daring to do it different.

AS ABOVE don't do anything new, but they do their grunge/alt-rock/post-punk thing with some verve. They're a lot of fun, and sometimes that's all you need. 

CULT OF SOBEK, the only band of the night that I've seen before, are another violent change of direction.

Brutal, crushing doom, with an Egyptian crocodile deity obsession, they're an exciting addition to the extreme metal scene. If there's any justice, they'll go far. Maybe even Glasgow.

There you go. Three new bands, trying to keep 'the scene' fresh. Maybe they'll succeed, maybe they won't, but they never will if they're not given a chance. After all, it's not as if music is a finite space. We don't have to wait for somebody to drop out before there's a space for a new band. 

Go see a band you've never heard of. What's the worst that can happen? You might be surprised.You might be bored. You might be excited. You might be lucky enough to be the first to see the next Big Thing. Or the next Ed Sheerin but, y'know, you can't win 'em all.

MEDUNOM https://youtu.be/hOE9wfX5S24

AS ABOVE   https://youtu.be/qvljcr9xhBg

CULT OF SOBEK  https://youtu.be/tqxU-oL0vJQ