A review from the gig in London by by Dave Ling
MORGION/MOURNING BELOVETH/THE PROPHECY
UNDERWORLD, LONDON
A modest though
noisily enthusiastic crowd gather for the London stop-off of a trek billed
as the Doomination Of Europe tour. If trecking around Spain, France, Holland
and Belgium sounds glamorous, just try being one of three bands shoe-horned
into a 17-seater minibus. There’s also barely room on the tiny stage
for openers The Prophecy, a useful six-piece from Halifax. The gore-flecked,
progressive-tinged, heavy doom/death noise of ‘Ashes’ and
‘The Killing Fields’ get the event underway in style, though
for some they’re possibly just a little bit too gothic.
A more traditional doom metal band, Mourning Beloveth take things up another
few notches, fulfilling the enormous promise of new album ‘The Sullen
Sulcus’. The Irish quintet waste little time in revealing the full
contents of their locker, but because the Underworld likes what it hears
so much we happily allow them to keep on showing us over and over again.
‘The Words That Crawled’ sees riff after pummelling riff rain
down with slothful precision, guitarist Frank Brennan’s yearning
backing vocals adding an interesting thumbprint to a sound that’s
more inspired by Candlemass than My Dying Bride, but only just.
By contrast, headliners Morgion don’t quite cut it. Making their
debut on UK soil, and their first live appearances in two years, the Californians
are using this trek as an opportunity to to fine-tune material for their
next album and secure a new deal after parting ways with Relapse. Musically,
Morgion’s experimental blend of Paradise Lost and Morbid Angel is
great, but new singer – didn’t catch his name, but he looks
a bit like Phill Jupitus if that helps – doesn’t quite cut
through their thick, sludgy riffs. Tellingly, however, just about everyone
stays till gone 11.15pm on a Sunday night to witness the show’s
conclusion.
DAVE LING [7]