SATHAMEL, LEGENDS, EDINBURGH, FEBRUARY 22 2025

 Another RED CRUST death metal evening in Edinburgh

LINE-UP:

TRILL: New local trio, doing some kind of blackened stoner-death thing. Randomly selected song for video turns out to be an ELECTRIC WIZARD cover, which was news to me... Also, they don't seem to do Facebook, but you could probably find them on Instagram, or whatever it is that the young people use these days.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/oS8XKOJE7T4

SACRIFICIAL BURIAL: The first of tonight's Glaswegians, describing themselves as 'ancient Egyptian death-thrash'. And who are we to argue?

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/6rA902WWA0E   https://www.facebook.com/sacrificialburial

ARTIFICIAL PATHOGEN: More Glaswegians, 'Scottish deathcore' this time. No video, because there were 'technical difficulties' with the one song that I recorded. Bugger. Nice dinosaur jumper, though.

https://www.facebook.com/Artificialpathogenuk

SATHAMEL: Progressive blackened death metal from, rather vaguely, England. Intensive research suggests Yorkshire.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/fpHcrmwPdlE   https://www.facebook.com/sathamelofficial

KAKIHARA, LEGENDS, EDINBURGH, FEBRUARY 21 2025

 Beatdoons. And shouty people. And a bit of post-metal for variety.

Line-up:

BLDSPORT: Youthful local hardcore kids

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/jvOEATFQBgo   

WITNESS: Melodic emo-hardcore - if such a thing exists - from that there Glasgow.

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/6yx4_vquRKs   https://www.facebook.com/Witness.uk1

THE GREY: Sludgy post-metal from Cambridge. Which is far away. Up here in Scotland for the first time but, hopefully, not the last.

VDEO:  https://youtu.be/M5uXFz-Tc7Y  https://www.facebook.com/TheGreyUK

KAKIHARA: Seasoned scene veterans doing what they do, and doing it very well indeed.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/6jBtOyKoFjA    https://www.facebook.com/kakihara.life

RED CRUST WINTER WARMER, EDINBURGH, FEBRUARY 1 2025

Red Crust's annual winter metal feast takes over SEVEN venues in Edinburgh. I didn't get to all of them, and I didn't see all the bands. I am not a magician.

I was at: LA BELLE ANGELE, LEGENDS, MASH HOUSE 1, 2 & 3

I saw: 

POLYJAMORY: Regular readers might recall my less-than-favourable opinion of cover bands. POLYJAMORY are no exception. Normally can be relied to pull in a fair crowd of students early on, but not this time. Played to a mostly empty Mash House. To their credit, they played a somewhat more adventurous selection of covers, but still... Not for me.

TUSK:  Up now to the top of a very narrow and twisty staircase to Room 3, where we find Glasgow metal trio TUSK. Unfussy and straightforward metal. It's bloody cold up here, and the sound is a bit murky. 

VIDEO:     https://youtu.be/R91cMFtw4gU   https://www.facebook.com/tusksco

SWARMS: The first of today's foreigners. Riffs, slams and beatdowns from Co Durham's SWARMS, out on tour with HAMMER and VERMINTHRONE, both of whom will be along shortly.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/nlplSdHNl7U    https://www.facebook.com/swarmsnortheast

LO RAYS: Glaswegian apocalyptic electro-punks. A bit breathless, because they just got here from Inverness ten minutes before their set was due to start. The floor in Room 2 is disconcertingly bouncy, and it's just as cold as Room 3 upstairs.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/9-hvXfS2cfI   https://www.facebook.com/loraysmusic

VERMINTHRONE: Sludge/hardcore crossover - Sludge-core? - from exotic Milton Keynes. I was expecting black metal, judging solely by the name. Didn't get it. Clearly.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/CrAptPnFVgA   https://www.facebook.com/Verminthrone

ELD VARG: Unashamed heavy metal, songs about Vikings and wolves and fists of steel. No video for this one, because I fucked it up.

https://www.facebook.com/eldvargofficial

KURO: Electro-industrial alt-metal from Glasgow. No video for this one either, because the sound was terrible.

https://www.facebook.com/KUROMUSICOFFICIAL/

HAMMER: Appropriately named death-tinged extreme metal. Local lads.

VIDEO:    https://youtu.be/xiRpYPjGFc4           https://www.facebook.com/HammerScotland

THE GALLOWGATE MURDERS: Immensely entertaining Glaswegian Celtic folk-punks. Instigated a 'wall of ceilidh' in the crowd, wherein violence is replaced by linked arms and reels. Which is nice.

VIDEO: https://youtu.be/LC3UjZYD-i8    https://www.facebook.com/thegallowgatemrdrs

SCORDATURA: Glaswegian death-metal. Violent, but fun.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/xQT0c5Jt3Bs   https://www.facebook.com/Scordaturaofficial

CODESPEAKER: Bruisingly hefty sludgy post-metal from Edinburgh's finest. Photographer in the pit beside me said they were the worst band ever to get pics of. Hard to disagree...

VIDEO:   https://youtu.be/lrlZAhCtat0      https://www.facebook.com/codespeakertheband

TIBERIUS: Local 'anthemic progressive metal'. They get the award for the most flowery mic stand of the day.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/iQ11sK5RIFI    https://www.facebook.com/TiberiusUK

BENEATH A STEEL SKY: Off to LEGENDS for one last band, and more of that post-metal. Another band nigh on impossible to photograph. I blame the singer, Greg - he's also in CODESPEAKER.

VIDEO:  https://youtu.be/tCZIVQHP8rI     https://www.facebook.com/beneathasteelskyband