Iron Maiden maybe be playing London this weekend but some metalheads have alternative plans for Saturday. It is yet another hot evening with metallers queuing outside Highbury's Relentless Garage, this time in search of a shot of sludge metal from NOLA (that's New Orleans, Louisiana for those not in the know) sludge metal act Eyehategod, who were last at this same venue a year ago. These soaring temperatures mimic the desert vibes captured in the AmericansÂ’ music perfectly but inside the venue, this event looks to be nothing short of an endurance test and the queues at the bar are eye-watering.
Support comes from the North London-based Dead Existence, formed in 2004. Their music centres around sludge-laden doom metal with woefully slow tempos and heavy guitar tuning. The temperatures in the venue cause the audience to slick the walls in sweat, which may explain the reserved attitude of the punters tonight. Vocalist Jake Harding vicariously lives the music through his stage performance, somewhere between anguished and angry. The quintet sound like a hybrid between Down and Black Sabbath, offering very little in the way of reinventing the wheel. Nonetheless, the stubbornly slow rhythms married with the infectious heavy guitar work make for some solid headbanging moments, which sadly are lost on the overheating audience.
Temperatures beat that of New Orleans surely, as Eyehategod take the stage and the audience thickens in size. Their possessed bluesy riffs snake through the audience while vocalist Mike Williams' caustic growl decimates the venue. Cycling through hardcore-style outbreaks of speed placed among typical doom metal dirges that shake the show up and illustrates the Americans' versatility. The atmosphere is like a druggie's haze, undoubtedly what the band want, and this is supported by the stench of weed filtering through the venue with more of a presence than the air conditioning.
The setlist showcases Eyehategod at their finest, with selections from across their catalogue. With dehydrating fan favourites such as 'Sister Fucker (Part I)', '30$ Bag', 'Run it into the Ground', 'Dixie Whiskey' and 'Lack of Almost Everything' the crowd's gratitude is as immeasurable as their heat endurance. New-ish track 'New Orleans is the New Vietnam' shares the same relentlessly oppressive sound that can be found in all of Eyehategod's repertoire Williams' declaration that the sludge-meisters will finally record a follow up to 2000's 'Confederacy of Ruined Lives'.
Williams' thanks the audience for attending before the entirety of Eyehategod vacates the stage a solid twenty minutes before the imposed curfew. Some attendees desperately head to the exit towards cool air but the vast majority remain rooted in their place, awaiting more from the legendary act. Surely enough, the New Orleans folk return for one final hurrah, caked in chunky sludge-festering musicianship. As the final note rings through the venue, a thoroughly sweat-stained audience let out a loud ovation, worthy for the performance. Undoubtedly, the NOLA kings will return to our nation's capital, perhaps with a fresh new album to their name.
FUTURE GIGS
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