Live: DESERTFEST 2017, London 30/04/2017

DESERTFEST 
London, UK
30/04/2017

Your humble correspondent set off to the capital once again for day three of Desertfest 2017, one of the premier doom and stoner festivals in the world, and travelled light for maximum impact. Desertfest has made a real niche for itself over the past few years due to it's fantastic atmosphere, unfussy professionalism and great lineups, with this year being no exception.

Camden strikes a more subdued note these days under the current regime, with several of the regular bars and shops being closed and a rather downbeat atmosphere prevailing. Yes, the Dev remains a grittily dark outpost of alternative culture where the shadows of it's goth heritage still lay dormant. Although it will likely survive the current thrust to gentrification (the barman told me that he'd have to be 'taken out in a coffin') it remains one of the few remaining authentic places in Camden, which is increasingly becoming a dystopian vision of itself.

The Roundhouse, however, is more translucent than ever and is still one of the better largest venues in London. And so it was that Wolves in the Throne Room conjured up a storm, the dimmed lights and stage fires forming the perfect backdrop to a viscerally emotive and atmospheric performance. Wolves are the almost-perfect encapsulation of black metal, the chords hitting you physically on an emotional level even before you hear them, and the dissonance creating it's own pagan poetry, and leaving the crowd as stunned as they were euphoric.

Candlemass, grandmasters of epic doom ham, were up next for what was a note-perfect parade through their greatest hits – 'Well of Souls', 'Bewitched', 'Darl Reflections', 'Crystal Ball', 'At the Gallows End' and ending with a peerless 'Solitude', the band have probably never sounded better and the doomheads at the Roundhouse lapped it up. All it was missing was Messiah's trademark 'doom dancing'...

And last up were Sleep, kicking off with a heavy-as-fuck 'Holy Mountain' and 'Sonic Titan' which set the stage for a rampantly scuzzy hour which ended in a pulverising 'Cultivator/Improved Morris' that sent the capacity crowd at the Roundhouse go home satisfied, and another Desertfest sealed as a complete victory.

Posted in: candlemass,Desertfest,Live,sleep,wolves in the throne room