HAMMERS - 'Vardogr' (2012) : A Review

HAMMERS are a group of musicians hailing from Manchester with an original approach to creating brutal crust-laden hardcore. I wanted to include 'metal' in the synopsis, but as soon as I use the words hardcore and metal together my whole body cringes. It is crusty in that it projects gritty bass, low guttural voice and stampeding tempos.. all driven along in an adventurous early Dischord-era style where technical prowess and unpredictable structures aren't sneered upon.

The first track 'Casting Spells' oozes dark feedback(y) mess all over my ears, before spitting out a pristine sounding riff that instantly cuts through the layers of vicious feedback...From black metal to early Baroness in the flip of a switch. The titles of this album almost remind me of the chapter names of some prophetic book out of the middle ages; encouraging a bewildered sense of awe. A similar feeling most have experienced through attempting to read 'Dante's Inferno' when they were 17...intriguing nevertheless.

The kind of head-nodding (cause there are 'kinds') it gets out of me is a kind of blend between the focused jarring approach induced by math rock and the head-down-to-the-ground shake techniques regularly seen at your local thrash gig. Its easy to say Hammers envelop many styles in their music, it is hard to determine exactly how due to the fluency of it. A track that sticks out to me lasts a timely :23 secs named 'Endoteric'. Mainly because I have a great big mushy soft spot for grimy doom but secondly for that chord at the end of the riff; sounds like an orchestra of electric bass guitars all playing the same note in a massive expansive auditorium.

BS GIG 07/07/12: CANAYA // EL SCHLONG // BEARS KILLING BEARS // SEVEN HEADED COBRA

CANAYA

Leeds groove metallers Canaya return to the ship's helm for a night of pure, adrenaline fueled music. Steadily chipping away at the UK's metal scene, they have built a solid undercurrent of buzz with their self-produced EP 'Alignment of Dying Planets' including a melee of live shows, some of which are attainable online; check this feed out hosted by eccentric rockers HIMSELF in an undisclosed venue....
http://www.ustream.tv/channel/himselflive
The debut EP, 'Alignment Of Dying Planets' was released in 2010 to great reviews in Rocksound (8/10), Big Cheese (5/5) and received heavy rotation on Total Rock Radio.

'What the industry has it's sights on' - Metal Hammer

'Alignment Of Dying Planets' is twenty minutes of unremitting ferocity. It’s an aggressively potent EP, the kind of record that will have you smashing yourself across the temple with a hammer afterwards for relief.' - Szikora Press

'Combining a voice with the caustic power of Norma Jean with some seriously Mastodon-esque riffs, Canaya’s EP is a violent twenty-minute pole-axe to the temple.' - Heavy Blog Is Heavy

www.facebook.com/canayauk
www.myspace.com/canayauk
www.youtube.com/canayauk
www.twitter.com/canayauk
www.canaya.bandcamp.com

Wet Nuns release new video for 'Heavens Below'

 The insatiable blues thunder of WET NUNS has been depicted in a recent music video containing moments of anger, animosity and sexy-80s-jeans-cut-offs-nothing-but-a-black-bra dancing. Delightful. Wet Nuns have recently been named in the ones to watch list of 2012 in the NME, good on ya lads. Its good to hear NME have discovered music with some heavy balls. The video was done by Sheffield-based director Darren Topliss who has invented videos for such bands as Buoys, Horses and Algiers. His work has included some really cool use of projectors and nifty editing skills. Keep an eye out for him in the future.

A couple of Big Spaceship gigs coming up: run,WALK! & Wet Nuns

run,WALK! (Holy Roar)
http://runwalk.bandcamp.com/album/peekay
Noisey hardcore band run,WALK! have been soldiers of the riff for quite sometime and have maintained an experimental and brutal approach to their music since their formation. These guys are no strangers to Leeds but if you have yet to see them play then be sure to check them out.

ANTARES (Holy Roar)
http://www.facebook.com/enjoyantares?sk=app_178091127385
These monsters of physical technicality will warp your fragile mind with their chaotic battery of progressive hardcore from the unfathomable realms of confusion. One sentence. That is all.

WE'LL DIE SMILING
http://welldiesmiling.bandcamp.com/
Awesome Leeds based 3 piece of the progressive hardcore persuasion, We'll Die Smiling have been around for a while and every now and again releasing an absolute fuckin' gem, never failing to impress with a creative streak that is apparent in many aspects of their music.

NO COAST
http://www.facebook.com/nocoastband?sk=app_178091127385
No Coast are a relatively new band but have set their standard from the very start. Their music is a cocktail of brutal punk hardcore grind and aggressive as fuck. Only one song available on their facebook page but be sure to give it a listen and make sure you come and see them play.

Big Spaceship Presents: Slabdragger / Wizard's Beard / Seven Headed Cobra +1 TBC

Big Spaceship Presents:

A night of riff-worshiping, 70's soaked doom and weirdo rock.

SLABDRAGGER (Holy Roar)
A 3 piece beastly experimental stoner band from London. We've all been pining after a bit of these guys since the arrival of their monstrous album 'Regress'. These guys will tear off your balls, replacing the contents of your scrotum with swollen spheres of steel and like a dwarf afoot a mountain, you will stand in awe.
http://www.facebook.com/Slabdragger
http://www.myspace.com/slabdragger

Apple Cannon / Mother Destroyer / Fallen Colossus/ Two Trick Horse @ Royal Park Cellars, Leeds, Saturday 17th Sept

The Big Spaceship blasts off once again, inviting you to climb aboard her, as she weaves her way on an eclectic excursion, aiming only to appease her audiences. Attendees can surely expect auditory amusement aplenty...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

...BIG SPACESHIP PRESENTS:
A JOURNEY OF UNPARALLELED, GARGANTUAN GROOVE.

Introducing your crew for the voyage; effervescently educating audiences on all things astronomically audible via their Olfactory Organ Oscillators™:

We suggest you contact your Lieutenant ASAP and make him earn his wages. Order him to activate both primary and secondary deflector shields for the duration of this duo's set, because they have their phaser firmly set to 'kill'. A tight, compact unit that threatens to deliver the heat of a thousand suns and instantly vaporise. Frequently firing away on all cylinders, never letting up until the enemy is annihilated... The weapon of choice: the inescapable...
APPLE CANNON (http://on.fb.me/applecannon)

During a previous odyssey, upon passage through the Ursae Majoris system, we witnessed what resembled the violent scenes of a civilisation folding in on itself

Dopefight / Wiht / Dead Existence / Groan @ Royal Park Cellars, Leeds – Review 03/06/11

This write-up has come a little late due to a busy schedule on board Big Spaceship but nevertheless, here it is.

As I descended the dark staircase of The Royal Park Cellars on this hot Friday night I was cloaked with the mist and humidity of this gloomy venue even before I walk through the door. Upon entering this underground sweat-box, I was greeted with the twisted psychedelic meanderings of Groan (Doomanoid Records). Solid 70’s style riffs, catchy hooks and wailing solos, Groan are like a culmination of Sabbath, Deep Purple and Grand Funk Railroad with a little Kyuss thrown in there for good measure. It’s hard not to nod your head as these guys deliver a lively performance with an obvious love for what they do. Groan present a sound that has been heard before and yet it is impossible to not admire this infallible formula of concrete 'fists in the air' groove without donning a massive set of pendulous heavy balls. Yes, I went there.

http://www.myspace.com/groanuk

The mighty DEAD EXISTENCE were next to take the stage and fuck me balls swinging they were heavy as FUCK! In all honesty I wasn’t prepared for the bludgeoning barrage they had waiting behind the first 1, 2, 3, 4. Bone crunching, earth shattering, apocalyptic, these are all common ways of describing the various forms of heavy but I promise you, This is heavier. This is what you will hear resonating from the skies as the earth comes to a slow and bitter end. The dragging riffs of Dead Existence lure you into a state of sadistic hypnosis, so much so that when you are released from their thundering tidal wall of noise you will fall forward, realising that your body had been solely held up from the force emanating from DEAD EXISTENCE's demonic tones. Check their split with Dopefight here:

http://www.deadexistence.bigcartel.com/product/dead-existence-dopefight-split

http://www.deadexistence.net/

The penultimate segment of this doom laden musical theme park was an instrumental journey through unknown arcane wilderness in the form of WIHT. There is something about them that makes you shut the fuck up and pay attention. As you cross ambient plains with them you will discover mountainous riffs that erupt into colossal states of mind warping splendour. WIHT have the ability to create an overwhelming sense of tension and anticipation that holds you on the brink of insanity, before plummeting into a void of unrelenting power. Fantastical and progressive orchestration leaves the audience with seldom-opportune moments to congratulate the band on their talent and abilities. The aftermath of Wiht's performance sees a troop of bodies stood static in awe, gawping at the heavy load just released by Wiht's musical phallus. Wiht Are in the process of finishing an album with Ghosttown recordings (leeds) and hopefully shall be with us soon. In the meantime, check out their EP and also the sneak preview of their new album:



www.myspace.com/wihtleeds

Last on the bill was London-based DOPEFIGHT. The crowd waits patiently as levels are achieved on stage before the performance; sporadic bursts of powerchords and doom riffage are rife. The first thing I noticed was the insanely heavy tone of the bass guitarist's sound. Playing through just one distortion pedal, the sound that followed rips up the air like auditory shears, trimming the air molecules before tearing into your ear drums. The Dopefight commences and waves of nodding heads answer the call of the groove portrayed by this southern trio. The breakdowns that occur twixt stoned passages, ooze aggression and intensity usually attributed to more hardcore and punk rock realms. As though during an angst fueled punk gig in the past, someone had pulled the plug, offered up a monster bong to everyone in there and slapped some Sludge on the PA leaving everyone in a hazy, trance-like state worshiping every Sabbath riff pre-Sabotage. BOOM.
Check the new album out 'BUDS', it will put hairs not only on your chest but on your lungs, hands and your mothers face. Smoke. Listen. Mosh. Mong. In that order.

http://www.myspace.com/fightdopefight

Check out "Baby Goat Sick" put to a rather cool clip from Kill Baby Kill. Awesome.

Wiht to play with Dopefight @ Royal Park Cellars

A super heavy gig is in our midst at Leeds' very own Royal Park Cellars.
The beast in question is the Dopefight, Wiht, Dead Existence and Groan gig on 3rd June. Leeds-based psych doom outfit Wiht (Doomanoid records) play host to a variety of oppressively soaked doom bands including Dopefight (UK), a monstrous, bong worshiping, brutal offering that Dan (big spaceship) had come across one evening a month or so ago on Stonerobixxx (stonerobixxx.blogspot.com/). A few chunky spliffs later... and we were ostensibly hooked.. the riffafterriffafterriff mantra hanging in the smoke filled air like a curse on our ears. These guys kick serious ass, and for the modern day Weedian, a leafy heaven emerges as one delves deeper into the Dopefight. These guys are unsigned (strangely) and have had only one split release with Dead Existence (also on the bill) before the full length album "Buds" only recently became available. I've posted a video below of the aptly named "Baby Goat Sick" for your earballs.




Big Spaceship will be there to review this bad boy, so keep your hats on for now. If you're in Leeds on the night in question, this evening is not to be missed. Put your pipes down for a few hours and top up that stoner haze with some jars of ale and colossus riffage.

BS

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