... WITCH MOUNTAIN / COUGH / WO FAT : Paris 23th April 2013 (LIVE report)

First gig of the season -for your servant- yesterday evening and even more than expected, this killed everything !!!  Stoned Gatherings proposed again  a very consistent line-up for Stoner/Doom addicts (from Paris mainly but some people made hundred kms for the masters of Texas riffage' 1st venue in France) and it's about 200 people who have attended a rich and pretty memorable gig.

I can just regret not to have given a more attentive ear to WITCH MOUNTAIN before their excellent set, but gigs are also made for this : discover more in depth and be seduced by awesome bands who open for your longly loved headliner... Uta Plotkin is assuredly one of the most complete and original female vocalist within the actual scene and believe me, this opinion can only be reinforced after you see the band on stage !

She's incredibly bewitching and has definitely a unique tone, could it be in the expansive way of a slow, bluesy and majestic song like "Never Know" or in the more traditional heavy and  grimmy Metallic manner like in another highlight of the gig that was "Veil of the Forgotten" ! As I already deplored it, female vocals are often too weak on stage in front of loud and fuzzy volumes but with Uta this is absolutely not the case, she dominates her subject and her physical presence adds certainly to make the performance even more captivating than on album which is remarkable.

Rob Wrong's riffage is relentless and crushing; serene most of the time, the guy gloats amazingly during his swinging solos and seems at his peak, just like the whole band who alternates moods with lots of fluency and soul... A very very good surprise which definitely converted me as an attentive fan of the band now. Too bad I couldn't take any correct picture of them, being far too much in the back of this small venue !

Time for some bubbles and it's with great pleasure and honour that I share some fresh drinks with Kent Stump, Ewen Padovan from Totem Cat Rds and an american guy from San Fransisco who follows WO FAT during the tour, labeled by the fan as their biggest fan - which is certainly deserved judging by his enthusiasm proportional to the distance accomplished !!!

I hardly succeeded to find a closer place for the 2nd band COUGH, but sufficiently to take a couple of pictures this time... I'm not a huge fan of those type of crawling and monolithic sounds on LIVE conditions, especially in small venues like this - where the most intense and punishing parts can quickly lead me to relative trouble... The ritualistic and punishing textures are impressive; damn this is so crushing, is that the horrific tortured vocals of Parker Chandler or the hammering drums who produce secondary effects on me ? did I become a wimp ? hahaha ! I feel like some alien beast pervade my stomach, fortunately David Cisco knows how to introduce more distinctive and melodic parts and I resist longer than I did with Conan at last year's Roadburn (not the whole gig though), but definitely I prefer this type of stuff much more on album with headphones, it's then much deeper and incantatory... I will experience COUGH willingly again though - next week at HDDT in a bigger venue !

  

Kent is still present at the bar (no early conclusion please !) joined now by Tim and Michael, those guys are very accessible and friendly, sincere and interested by what you think and do about this or that... and this you enjoy even more when thinking just a second about the lesson you gonna take in a few minutes !!! It's time to pepare some drinks for the next hour, usual but absolutely essential presently - the temperature must not be far 40°c and will increase even more, to the point that a great part of the audience will end shirltess quickly after the beginning of WO FAT's set !

They could have choose a fair number of others, but what could have been better than "The Black Code" to start the gig ?! Awesome from the first notes, the sound is HUGE, incredibly dense and heavy, just Kent's vocals are too much in back at the beginning and in several brief instants but the band perfectly retranscribe the nebulous and spacey moods of the album with a special touch à la "Noche del Chupacabra" brought by the moist atmosphere and the sparing use of lights.

"Lost Highway" make things degenerating in the first ranks, furiously headbanging and sweating ! The crowd is incredibly boosted by such energy and each song make the temperature increase, the cauldron is boiling and we could drink of their soup all night along... Everybody seems to float, including our blazing trio, still concentrated though and relentlessly they carry on with "Hurt at Gone", "Enter the Riffian" and the more than ever aptly named "Descent Into the Maelstrom". Of course when you discuss with them after the gig, they will humbly regret a few impairs but everybody will just remember that this band is one of the most transcended on stage you could ever imagine... Despite a style that could let place to improvisation and redundancy, Kent is faithful to his original interpretation, just fuckin' heavier !!!

Tim and Michael form more than a simple rythmic complement to the master's riff machinery, introducing their own creative touch in subtle twists and turns, Tim's rumbling bass-lines are delightfully psych-infused and Michael's brings often a gnarly touch to his surgical hit... They are just 3 but so cohesive and dense that you never think a second about a need of a 2nd guitar for live considerations.

"Sleep of the Black Lotus" and his 10 minutes of high-flying fuzzy groove could have logically been the programmed highlight of the evening but each song was a definitive HIGHLIGHT, like a perpetual état de grace and there's even been an unexpected ice on the cake with "Nameless Cults" unreleased song soon to be released via a promising split 12'' with Egypt on Totem Cat rds.

  

Time to leave after a last collective picture with Witch Mountain and Wo Fat members (my camera battery was off but I'm sure I'll get it sent by Kent or Tim !)... and I can't help but remembering about that review of Broken Beard on The Black Code which concluded like this : « the truth about Kyuss Lives! is that they caught wind of The Back Code and decided that continuing with the reunion was completely pointless » ...

I've seen KYUSS in their golden days (1993) and have been marked during two decades, that was my most striking live reference within the Stoner genre, until yesterday evening :)

WO FAT have offered yesterday the most stunning MASS OF FUZZ I've ever had the luck to attend and I can humbly say there's been quite many on the list; something so crushing, grooving and infectious at the same time, brrrr.... simply memorable !

http:///www.wofat.net
https://www.facebook.com/wofatriffage
https://www.facebook.com/Cough666
https://www.facebook.com/witchmountain

The time has come for sacrifice : COUGH / WINDHAND – ‘Reflection of the Negative’

Richmond, Virginia’s brethren in doom, Cough and Windhand—two likeminded yet distinct edges of a sacrificial blade—have joined forces to release one of this year’s most anticipated splits. Both bands invoke the spirits of doom from the deepest, darkest chasms through their unique down-tuned machinations. While both bands cast spells upon the listener through their distinct, earth-quaking low end rumbles, Cough delves deeper into the grimy, ritualistic side of doom whereas Windhand relies heavily on a pulsating, narcotic groove to lull the unwitting into a stupor. The simple act of committing tracks to a release from these titans of the underground metal scene has resulted in one of the most potent doom splits to be pressed on wax.‘Reflection of the Negative’ solidifies Cough’s dominion over the realm of caustic, esoteric doom and at the same time affirms that Windhand’s excellent, self-titled debut was just an inkling of things to come.

“Athame”, the lone track contributed by Cough, begins innocuously enough with slug-like drumming before being joined by some seriously sinister sounding organ. This begins the spiraling descent into a pit of loathing and despair. “Athame” uncoils past the 18 minute mark and is easily some of the best material the band has put out. Despite the length, the track doesn’t overstay its welcome, though the listener must be prepared in full for a punishing education in the dark arts. Midway through the track the listener is rendered helpless and, in stasis, is subjected to ritual incantations, and an unholy assault of wah pedal abuse and feedback. The entire track is an unwavering battery of contempt that sways and staggers with a wounded gait.

 
Windhand’s first contribution to the split is “Amaranth”, a track that was first unveiled in demo form for Rue Morgue’s Hymns from the House of Horror. A culminating wave of feedback kicks off “Amaranth” before the band launches into their signature low-end groove. Dorthia Cottrell’s vocals, like on their debut, is mixed perfectly and complements the music by seemingly crying out amidst the din. “Shepherd’s Crook” is warmer, slower, has a more soulful feel compared to the first track and includes a more expressive vocal performance from Cottrell. While neither“Amaranth” or “Shepherd’s Crook” have made the progressive leap that Cough has achieved with “Athame”, they are still killer tracks that could have easily have been produced by the same sessions that birthed the band’s debut.

 
‘Reflection of the Negative’ is one damn fine split album and both bands, despite their own unique approaches to doom, perfectly complement each other. Cough manages to drag the listener through a foul bog of profane, ritualistic licentiousness while Windhand provides a warmer, enveloping sound due to the band’s oscillating grooves and Cottrell’s vocals. Both bands have succeeded by crafting tunes that are worthy successors to their previous releases and have definitely built up anticipation for their forthcoming full-lengths.

 
Words: Steve Miller

 https://www.facebook.com/Cough666/info

http://cough.bandcamp.com/

http://cough.bigcartel.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Windhand/115952841804204?fref=ts

http://windhandva.bandcamp.com/

http://windhand.bigcartel.com/

 

 

http://www.relapse.com/coughwind