The sounds got darker and louder than normal at Outpost tonight. Some old war-horse bands that in various guises have been around for a while turned up to give a lesson in how to be a band.
Love Not War comprise of members of the Vitriolic Response who are playing later and other bands such as Dissidents, Anti-System, Morbid Humour, Second Hand Shit, Petit-Mal and D.F.A. They immediately start hitting us with some doom sounding slower and totally magnificent. Waves of noise before upping the ante and getting a lot faster. Its a bit of an exhibition in howe to be a band do do your chosen stuff well. The sludge-ridden doom slower stuff had me right at the start and the fire in this band as things heated up was a joy to hear.
UNREST have done the odd show over the last few years but tonight see’s them unleashed fully. It is like watching a dog on a chain that wants to eat a cat it can’t reach (Editor: your best metaphor?). They have some kind of wildness and their hardcore metal/punk crossover also contains sharp time changes and a large amount of prog sounds. On one level its all fast almost D-Beat stuff then they break into ska and reggae sections (which let the quality of their drummer shine through). Expertly played with some real lead guitar rock star moments and crushing baselines.
Vitriolic Response hit it from the word go. Its fast and furious and exciting to watch and hear. They bring their anarcho flat out noise to an Outpost already hit by some of the loudest bands I’ve seen there and are a perfect end to this night of crust-core music. The dynamics are there in each song and its tighter than a D in a Beat (Editor: C’mon lad, do better…) fronted by a lunatic in the best Rock n Roll sense who adds more than a hint of possible musical violence the Outpost rock n rolls its way to the end of the night in a happy hardcore heaven.
Many thanks to Кал Инес for her hard work in getting this lineup down to Outpost.
Words: Richie Yates, Photos: Richie Yates/Adrian Wharton/Johnny Reay
Links:
Love Not War Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/LoveNotWar2021NWHC
Unrest Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnrestPunk
Vitriolic Response Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/VitriolicResponse