FLYBLOWN, GIVE UP ALL HOPE
THE GROSVENOR, LONDON
21.02.06
Apathy and disinterest are reactions that most support bands have to get used to very quickly. Every now and then, however, the roles are reversed and the supposed main attraction gets an unexpected kicking from the lower end of the bill.
Doom. Misery. Despair. Doesn’t sound like a whole lot of fun does it? Wallowing in depression has never been so much fun when it comes to local crusty punks Give Up All Hope. Regular fixtures at DIY punk gigs, they’ve come a long way in the last few months and sound harder, heavier and more overwhelmingly bleak than they ever have before, taking their obvious influences (Discharge, Tragedy, Black Sabbath etc) and moulding them into their own epic doom-laden take on punk.
Flyblown are equally hard-hitting tonight. Featuring Pete Giles, formally of grindcore merchants Scalplock, they pummel the audience with rapid-fire, stomach-churning blasts of intense noise that at times sounds like a hover jammed into a chainsaw. Nice.
Skitsystem originally formed in 1994 as a punk side project for death metal legends At The Gates yet despite such pedigree, something’s seriously amiss with their ultra-distorted, high-speed hardcore tonight. While it’s not clear if they’re drunk, tired, emotional, or just don’t give a shit, nothing quite seems to gel. On record their savagely raw noise can’t be beaten, but the shambolic wall of noise they create tonight leaves you wondering if this is the same band at all.
A disappointing end to an evening that got off to a great start.