CONAN, CHAINED TO THE BOTTOM OF THE OCEAN & KULK

In the last seven years, I have been lucky enough to witness Kulk’s development into the fearsome unit they have become. They have always made a ferocious noise but by all the hells they have become something incredible. Thom is a superb guitarist who combines the brutal riffing of prime Tony Iommi with the skronk of Greg Ginn, the experimentation of Thurston Moore and Lee Renaldo and the feedback wrangling of the Reid brothers to create something that is now wholly his own. Jade is a force of nature, hammering the kit with savage intensity. Tonight is the third time I have seen Kulk in just over a month. This set may not have been the best but it was the most feral, atonal and raging of the three and earns them an enthusiastic response from the (admittedly sparse) audience.

Hailing from Springfield, Massachusetts, Chained to the Bottom of the Ocean take to the stage with a similar level of intensity to Kulk. The four-piece wish to remain anonymous to allow the music to do the talking, with the name being taken from a song by experimental doom band Thou (well, that is what the interweb tells me). I dunno about the Thou influence but their sound is full of filthy distortion, with drumming that verging on blast-beats and d-beat. It takes me back to that period in the 80s when UK crust and hardcore were taking in doom and thrash to morph into grindcore. I’m reminded of Amebix, Deviated Instinct, Rudimentary Peni and Bolt Thrower. There are also elements of Shellac in the squalls of feedback and Slayer in at least one squealing solo. This is a band that have found their sound and the sonic attack does not let up for a moment, with next to no between song chat. Personally, I’d like to a bit of variety and some memorable songs but I can’t fault the single-minded intensity.

If anything, self-proclaimed exponents of caveman battle doom, Conan up the intensity. Although the current line-up has only been together for a couple of years, the trio play like they have been together for the entirety of the two decades Conan has been active. Sole original member Jon Davis riffs and screams like his life depends on it, although the vocals are too low in the mix. Eight-year veteran Johnny King hammers away at the kit but also throws in virtuoso fills and flourishes without ever getting flash. New but David Ryley (formerly of underground legends Fudge Tunnel) is superb on bass, whilst adding death grunt backing vox. The lighting is best described as atmospheric with the band being half-visible silhouettes for a good portion of the hour or so that they play. In terms of sound, the best comparisons I can come up with are Crowbar and PigsX7 (although Conan have been around for longer than the latter).

I knew next to nothing about either Chained or Conan before tonight. I had low expectations. I was mainly here for Kulk. Of course Kulk delivered as they always do but Conan and Chained were pretty darned impressive too. ‘Tis just a shame that a bill this strong didn’t attract a bigger audience.