[Bonesaw]
Jodi Mullen returns with the second installment of his introductory guide to the more extreme forms of rock music in Scotland, from folk/battle to drone/doom, with a few choice recommendations thrown in.
Warning: if you think Muse are too ‘rawk’, you may want to go away until normal indie-centric programming is resumed tomorrow. Feeling brave? Read on…
Somehow, in spite of all the apathy and adversity, metal in Scotland has not only survived and endured, it has thrived. Each of our major cities has a rich and vibrant metal underground, focused around a handful of venues and extremely dedicated fan communities. Glasgow is the undisputed jewel in Scottish metal’s spiked crown, being the home of perhaps our most successful metal act, Man Must Die (more below) and a regular stop-over for the metal world’s biggest touring acts. The city is also home to bands that span the full spectrum of subgenres: death metallers Madman is Absolute, folk/battle metal outfit Alba Gu Brath and black metal titans Daemonolith are just a few acts out of dozens.
Play: Madman is Absolute – Resolution
As well as a plethora of rock and metal bars, Glasgow plays host to a number of small to medium-sized venues that specialise in the most extreme forms of music. Ivory Blacks, The Cathouse, Captain’s Rest and Maggie May’s form the backbone of the city’s gigging circuit for metal acts, though many more venues feature prominently too.
The metal scene in Edinburgh perhaps isn’t quite as vibrant, particularly with the announcement last month that popular rock and metal club Studio 24 was set to lose its license. Bannerman’s remains a favourite for extreme acts and regularly hosts shows with some of the most interesting and varied lineups around. While the capital may not have quite the same number of metal bands as Glasgow, it is home to some of the more eclectic bands in the Scottish underground, including drone/doom instrumental act Jackal-Headed Guard of the Dead.
Proving perhaps that there is something about the frozen north that brings out the metal spirit, Aberdeen has one of Scotland’s longest established scenes, with venues like The Moorings becoming institutions in their own right alongside the likes of Moshulu and The Tunnels. Local favourites Black Atom seem to have been on the verge of becoming the next big thing for well over half a decade while death metal outfit Bonesaw are one of the country’s most brutal acts. Meanwhile, Ascension, one of Scotland’s finest power metal acts split their time between Aberdeen and Glasgow.
Play: Bonesaw – Necrosexual
Outside the big three cities, smaller scenes exist in Dundee – home to traditional metallers Swordmaster – Perth and Inverness with various other acts coming from small towns all over the country, including What The Blood Revealed, a post-metal act who call Irvine, Ayrshire their home.
Over the next few months, Under the Radar will be examining Scotland’s emerging metal scene in detail, starting out with a look at the country’s ferocious death metal community next month. In the meantime though, we introduce two of the very best homegrown acts who are currently flying the flag for Scottish metal around Europe…
With the release of their second album, Black Sails at Midnight, Perth’s Alestorm look set to become the latest Scottish act to make it big on the international metal scene. Branding themselves “True Scottish Pirate Metal”, the four-piece play upbeat, traditional heavy metal with strong influences from the worlds of power metal and folk music. Alestorm revel in their ludicrously over-the-top buccaneer image; band members take to the stage dressed as pirates and song titles like ‘Wenches and Mead’ and ‘Keelhauled’ are the order of the day, though a reworking of ‘Flower of Scotland’ has been known to creep onto live setlists every now and then. Signed to Austrian independent metal label Napalm Records, Alestorm will join legendary Finnish folk-metallers Korpiklaani on the Paganfest tour of Europe this autumn.
Four young men from Glasgow with a penchant for loud noise and violence? Who would have thought it? Man Must Die’s star has been in the ascendancy for several years now, during which time the band has landed much coveted support slots with the likes of Kataklysm and Aborted but forthcoming album No Tolerance For Imperfection will hopefully see them becoming one of death metal’s leading lights in their own right. Driven by crushing riffs, Man Must Die’s brand of death metal is unrelentingly brutal and aggressive and frequently delves into the kind of grisly lyrical subject matter for which the genre has become infamous. Matters of taste aside though, one can’t help but admire some of the virtuoso musicianship on display as the band push their instruments and themselves to new heights of extremity.
Words: Jodi Mullen
Metal: music to your ears or unbearable racket? Discuss…
