A special edition of ArcTanGent finds the festival celebrating its tenth anniversary. There’s a reason why people keep returning year after year (this is your humble scribes fifth visit) and why it is so highly regarded amongst both fans and performers. The compact site creates a real family feel whilst the laid back vibe is conducive to a good time and when you factor in some of the very best bands across the whole spectrum of heaviness, you have a recipe for success.
Wednesday 14th
Making the perfect gateway into ArcTanGent, Wednesday has the feel of an old school festival, and with all the action taking place on one stage it creates a shared experience that is often missing from a multi-stage event. Getting things off to an exceptionally heavy start are bruisers Host Body. They initiate plenty of headbanging action (always a good sign) but with a sound this vivacious that’s the least you’d expect. The vocal duties are shared out between band members and this results in a multi-pronged attack, while the keys add a touch of litheness to contrast the heavy. The main stage awaits.
It’s not our first time encountering Sheffield’s Hidden Mothers (having caught them at this years Portals festival) and I’m pleased to report that time has only increased their charms. Conjuring images of an angry Nordic sky that’s about to unleash a raging torrent, this bunch create a weighty sound that bears down upon the listener like an ocean upon a shipwreck. Hidden Mothers are self-assured and have great confidence in themselves and this gives them an authority which only adds to their power and makes for an arresting affair. Not bad for a Wednesday afternoon.
Instrumental music can often touch the listener in a way that vocalised music can’t and Din Of Celestial Birds have a sound that reverberates with the crowd on a deep, primordial level. Taking their name from the film of the same name, this quintet have a cinematic sound that plants strong images in the mind’s eye. The lack of lyrics allows the listener to infer their own meaning and this makes for a more collaborative experience and subsequently a bond is created between band and crowd. That’s a rare gift that few band have, but Leeds’ Din Of Celestial Birds are definitely in possession and their set is rewarded with the biggest cheer of the day.
Like a well honed machine Cobra The Impaler are a tightly wound ball of aggression, moving as a unified force to create maximum carnage. Riding on the back of their sophomore album, the band are full of confidence and that shows in their full-on, no-holds-barred set. Yet, there’s a great deal of restraint to ensure their set doesn’t descend into one long beatdown while the strong focus on melody makes them both heavy and lithe with songs such as ‘Scorched Earth’ doing exactly what they say on the tin. Those techy sections are brought to the fore, yet the strong focus on melody means that they hit the mark every time and leave the crowd battered and bruised, but in the best possible way.
If you want to know just how heavy three musicians can get then look no further than Psychonaut. Powerful and pugnacious, they create a sound that’s far bigger than their constituent parts, but they’re visually arresting too, and it feels as if there are more than just three people tearing around the stage kicking up dust. Delivering an earth-quaking, ground-shaking set, Psychonaut play heavy music how it should be played, and this is it at its bombastic best.
With their strong focus on the riff, Curse These Metal Hands never disappoint and as afternoon turns into evening, an excitement builds as we await their appearance. Right from the get-go they serve up skull-crushing riffs that attack the cranium like a sledgehammer and with in between song banter kept to a minimum means the songs land like a succession of heavy blows. Brutal riff follows brutal riff and like a shot of Novocaine they have a kind of numbing effect, but don’t mistake a visceral assault for lack of cerebral feeling because nothing could be further from the truth and they present a set that ebbs and flows very well and they’ve set the standard which others can only hope to obtain.
The cryptically-titled LLNN certainly know how to cook up a musical storm. Hitting the stage like a raging tempest, they place their collective foot on the crowd’s throat and keep it there over the course of forty furious minutes. No quarter is offered and none is taken as LLNN dish out the good stuff proffering a mechanical sound, and when those exacting beats are played by an organic drummer something very magical happens as the band deliver an abject lesson in brutality, and it has taught us a thing or two. A forty minute set is just long enough for the band to captivate us, but also leave us hungry for more, and that’s exactly what LLNN do.
Some bands radiate confidence, an unshakable faith in their own ability, they can’t help but own the stage and that’s exactly the vibe that Bossk radiate. Of course, having a bunch of solid tunes in their arsenal doesn’t hurt and their sound soon locks the crowd into their unique groove. Bossk are a difficult band to pigeonhole and they deftly defy easy categorisation, while there’s a definite Sabbath influence in their punch, along with a dose of desert rock, but the band’s power is in taking all these inspirations and turning them into something new. Such is their magnetic pull that it is standing room only inside the tent as the band deliver a caustic set of songs which threaten to strip paint. Future mayhem beckons.
With all of today’s action taking place under the canvas of the Yohkai Stage, there’s little to tempt the crowd away and in truth headliners And So I Watch You From Afar deserve a static crowd, not one that is milling around in the background. Anyhow, as the sun begins to set, this Belfast band are the perfect group to herald in the night; there’s a sense of transition to their music, a transmogrification and feeling of change, and as darkness descends they provide the perfect soundtrack with their atmospheric sound. They’re a band who don’t go big on fancy stage shows or productions and this has the benefit of bringing their songs to the fore, and when the songs are this good, that’s exactly where they should be. When taken as a collective whole, their set is very hypnotic and alters the very fabric of time as the guitars lift us up to soaring crescendos whilst the drums bring us back down to earth with a sonic boom. The band’s otherworldly quality is all encompassing and this means that their set is over far too soon, but they make the perfect conclusion to a perfect day. More please.
Thursday 15th
Thanks to ArcTanGent I’ve discovered that the best way to start a day is with a live podcast and over in the Elephant In The Bar Room I find the combo who comprise the Fan Grrrls. Discussing “fan girls” and the role of women in rock and metal and how they are perceived, this talk gives me many “light bulb” moments, such as the sobering statistic that 40% of women at music festivals have been subjected to some kind of sexual harassment which is something that needs to change (like now) so join the fight and subscribe to the Fan Grrrls podcast (it’s the least you can do).
Over on the PX3 Stage Seneca get the first full day at ArcTanGent off to a rather noisy start…although they initially through me into a hex by pouring some bossa nova jazz from the speakers. However, it means that when they do hit the stage, it is with the force of a nuclear reactor imploding. All over the stage like a rash, they are a band who deftly avoid genre tags and their sound can be confusing for the novice; there’s no easy “in”, but keep searching because once you get it, you really get it and it becomes quite addictive. Half an hour was enough to get me hooked and looking round it seems that I’m not the only one.
My first visit of the day to the Yohkai Stage and it is rewarded with a storming set by Pleiades. Hailing from Manchester, they’ve made their trip to the Mendips worthwhile and deliver a sound that’s full of unorthodox rhythms and a neat turn of phrase with lyrics sung by a vocalist who moves with a kind of savage grace. There’s a lot of love in the tent for this crew and they play like a band who know they are onto a good thing; they obviously have a hunger to fight their way up the bill and the way they are carrying on it really does feel that the sky’s the limit.
The magnetic pull of AVKRVST is really something to behold and they attract people from all over the site, that’s understandable because there’s a soothing quality to their music. Like a musical balm, it cures a lot of ills and is just what the doctor ordered on a Thursday at noontide. It’s a sound that sits easy on the ears, yet hark; take care because like a favourite dog they can turn and bite with unsettling sections. It’s a modus operandi that demands your full attention, but when the tunes are this good you’d be ill advised to turn your gaze elsewhere.
The compact nature of the ArctanGent site means that it’s easy to whizz between stages, thereby increasing your rock action exponentially and I am back to the Yohkai Stage to catch Underdark. They’re an intriguing proposition but they take a little while to grow into their set but once they’re in their groove, that’s exactly where they stay. The vocalist has an impressive range and you get the feeling that a concert is some kind of primal scream therapy. Making the first several sojourns to the barrier to face off the crowd and that certainly riles them up. A nice mixture of crushing metal and blistering hardcore, they are not a band for the faint-hearted but those hardy souls present know they’ve seen a very special set.
Imagine some parallel universe where Black Sabbath collaborated with Black Flag and you’d have something approaching the earth-splitting sound of 100 Year Old Man. If you could imagine being entombed under a ton of concrete or being caught in the midst of a rockfall, then you can imagine the power of 100 Year Old Man. It’s a truly awe-inspiring experience and I defy you to undertake any other activity while this bunch of musicians are on stage, it’s nigh on impossible. They demand your full attention with a crushing brutality that leaves few survivors.
Some technical difficulties at the start of their set aren’t enough to throw Blanket off kilter and once they are resolved they’re back on the horse to deliver a bunch of songs from their new(ish) album Ceremonia. As they power through their set, seemingly making up for lost time, they are still wise enough to use the brakes and throw ‘Blue Eyes’ into the mix to add some variety to their set and make it a more rounded, even affair. Brilliant.
Attesting to the buzz surrounding the band, there’s already a big crowd here for Bo Ningen’s soundcheck and it swells massively as showtime approaches. Having given the Yohkai Stage its name, it feels like ArcTanGent is the spiritual home for Bo Ningen and they are playing like a band who are at ease, but that’s not to say they are in the comfort zone, far from it. Like Can jamming with Hawkwind it’s all very hallucinogenic (but without the hallucinogens) as the band deliver a set that is rich in symbolism as the vocalist grimaces and gyrates while the band prove themselves aural sculptors and shape sound in new and exciting ways and proves Bo Ningen rather refreshing.
With a name that suggests all sorts of goodness, Julie Christmas brings all kinds of presents…but not the kind you’d expect. If it is dark and discombobulating music you are after then you’ve come to the right place. It’s a hard and heavy affair that threatens to shake the tent to its very core and when you factor in a hyperactive vocalist who is backed by an equally vivacious band then you have a set that’s made in rock n’ roll heaven (or a punk rock purgatory). Julie Christmas is kind of like Kate Bush of the gothic world as she rattles from stage left to stage right (and back again) all the while delivering songs with power and panache. Future headliner, me thinks.
A sudden and unexpected downpour (this is the Mendips, after all) has trapped me inside the Bixler Stage, but serendipity can work in strange ways and while Kalandra weren’t on my watch list, I’m sure glad I stumbled upon them. Hailing from Norway, they mix traditional folk music from their native shores with modern rock music, and it is a winning combination. It’s heavy music, the drums beat a neat tattoo upon your chest, yet it’s also lithe and weaves itself through the air like a friendly spirit. There’s the best use of a violin bow and guitar since Jimmy Page stood onstage with Zeppelin, and although the band draw heavily upon their own heritage, this music is not culture specific and it has a definite crossover appeal and with UK dates planned for later this year, you should definitely watch this space.
The choice of Spiritualized as last minute(ish) replacements certainly raised a few eyebrows, but it is testament to the open-minded nature of the ArcTanGent crowd that they were generally welcomed with open arms. The band have made the spot on the bill their own and are welcomed like returning heroes (even though it’s their first time here). The band are something of a shapeshifting beast; from drone to post-rock, each of their albums has a different feel (which is undeniably a good thing) as they’ve morphed throughout a wonderfully eclectic career, and this has undoubtedly helped them fit into tonight’s bill. This evening they are like a mixture of Brian Wilson’s Pet Sounds and Division Bell-era Pink Floyd, and with three backing vocalists providing sweet harmonies there’s a distinctly gospel, quasi-religious feel. The band have dropped the drone in favour of a more direct approach, and it’s a move of which I thoroughly approve, and looking round it seems that I’m not the only one. A triumphant set from a band reborn.
This year is special for a number of reasons, not only is it ArcTanGent’s tenth birthday, but tonight’s headliners Explosions In The Sky are currently celebrating their silver anniversary. Since hurtling out of Austin, Texas in 1999, they’ve been painting the world with vibrant colours and have illuminated many a night with their musical fireworks. Tonight is no exception and typical of the band’s attack, they waste little time on fancy introductions, preferring to make a beeline for your emotions with opening salvo ‘The Birth And The Death Of The Day’. With their intricately woven guitar parts and symphonic sound, Explosions In The Sky immediately tug at your heart strings, and if actions are louder than words, then the guitars on stage tonight positively scream. Each band member tends to shy away from the spotlight, Explosions In The Sky are a leaderless band, and while this could make for a strangely disconnected affair, the band’s songs are strong enough that they take centre stage and when the songs are as good as ‘Loved Ones’, front and centre is exactly where they should be. The cinematic nature of the band’s sound means that their songs have been used in countless films and TV dramas, but it also transfers well to the live environment and you can almost see the internal movies playing out in the minds of all present. A set that ululates and pulsates, Explosions In The Sky have certainly brightened our night.
Explosions In The Sky Set List:
- The Birth And Death Of The Day
- Catastrophe And The Cure
- Greet Death
- Loved Ones
- Magic Hours
- Your Hand In Mine
- With Tired Eyes. Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept
- The Fight
- The Only Moment We Were Alone
