Thou + Altar of Plagues + This Weary Hour + Female Orphan Asylum | Live - Eamonn Dorans, Dublin

Dorans has a well deserved reputation for low quality pints and even worse tribute bands, but over the years it has occasionally served as fine venue for quietly successful underground gigs, such as last Sunday’s.

Arguably Louisiana’s finest sludge export since Eyehategod, Thou headlined a varied Sunday evening line-up that seemed to have a theme of experimentation and left-field DIY values lying underneath it - one that worked nicely as a build-up to the Americans’ deadly serious brand of seething music.

With Temple Bar quiet and a humid dusk closing in, Female Orphan Asylum kicked things off as the first arrivals and the other bands flit around the venue. The duo make for an arresting sight. The balding yet dreadlocked male member pages through a huge leather-bound tome as his female companion manipulates into a fuzzy roar the lub-dub of her heartbeat through a contact mic and a maze of pedals.

Occasional intonations lead into a deafening roar as a fucking almighty drone takes off, deafening those who’d ventured to the front and quickly clearing a sizable portion of the venue. The strength of the sudden blast is pummelling, with the contact mic now being frantically blown into and various outbursts resembling Whitehouse’s sex obsessed lyrics being screamed out.

The moves being thrown onstage make it clear that volume worshipping is the order of the brief set. With the cacophony climaxing, a scattering of tribal drumming samples break the drone, and slowly lead up to the end of the set. It’s an interesting if totally unsettling start to the night, and a quite a wake-up call. 

Even judging from the look of them, This Weary Hour seem to have completely shifted their style from what was displayed on last year’s ‘The Shadow of Time’ demo. The transition from the nascent My Dying Bride-isms of that first release to a fully fledged band, packing a much heftier and abrasive sound, is striking.

They kick things off with ‘Frozen’, a prime cut from their forthcoming demo and immediately have everyone’s attention. It’s a fine track, the trio of vocalists lending an almost Old Man Gloom level of vocal grit to a crushing central section. They’re not long at the live game, but a gifted drummer and some nifty guitar playing makes a strong impression. 

Things overall aren’t far from resembling a Doom infected ISIS, sounding a bit unresolved in its style but certainly not lacking in riffs. Vocalist Eamonn is the first of the night to find the stage too confined, hopping down to deliver lines amidst the nodding multitude.

It’s good to see a vocalist getting into it and delivering his lines with passion, but this reviewer would be lying if he said that quite a few eyebrows weren’t cocked at some of the face-clawing and despairing sweeps of the arm on offer. Regardless, it’s a promising set from a young band, and a hell of a step up from what they were doing beforehand. 

And so to the main draw for many. Altar of Plagues, this their first Dublin gig since the release of their acclaimed ‘White Tomb’ full-length, have undeniably made their mark on the Irish underground and beyond already. A steadfast reclusion and focus on quietly generating that mercurial brand of evocative, blackened metal has granted them an aura that no other band in the country can boast of. Crucially, they now have that second guitar back in the arsenal for this tour, allowing them to push out the subtleties and layers that make their sound so enveloping.

Tonight however the God of Live Sound is against them, a dense mix  initially results in a solid wall of blackened, metallic aggression that sets hairs on end and strips paint. It’s a blast fest, with hints of expansion and tugging melody just pulling at the edges of audibility rather than a full exposition of what they’re capable of. Nonetheless, a hungry crowd isn’t disappointed with the assault, as the jagged vocals still cut through the mix like a knife, and band members throwing themselves into the songs.

It’s a highlight when ‘Twisted Structures Against The Sun’ arrives with its clean breaks, leading up to that euphoric high point before the sonic artillery starts again. The set ends abruptly; keyboard pushed over and band members departing under red lights.

The confidence and power displayed point to a group already well seasoned and more than at home in the live arena. Gone are the slightly awkward transitions of their early shows - this was a powerhouse that knew exactly what they were doing. Refreshing, as always. 

Thou were always going to be up against it considering the proceeding set, but the group quickly arrests the situation by shunning the stage and setting up on the floor. This itself prove to be a bit of a tricky visual problem for many punters, as the group happen to be one of the most diminutive out there; with only the bassist looking like he pushes the 5 feet mark. Regardless, they know exactly what they’re doing; with a brief introduction confirming they are in fact AC/DC and you’ve come to the right gig tonight, a pummeling is unleashed. 

Special mention has to go to that vocalist. Rarely do groups that scream about the type of mental trauma that Thou’s lyrics dwell upon carry the requisite presence, but the stare-into-your-eyes fury of this man was palpable. He served as a dynamo, centralized amongst the guitars and glaring at the front row, only offering a brief patter of remarks between songs  and utilizing a truly scraping howl. Their style is a simple but effective one; loud, warm chords with the slightest hints of melody blasting out over that constant backdrop of vocal torment. 

They decide to keep it brief, only four tracks of hammering sludge topped by a completely scuzzed-up version of ‘Into the Void’ from their recent EP of Black Sabbath covers. Then they’re up and gone, just before curfew hits. The crowd seem almost universally happy with it, and can run for the last bus safe in the knowledge that a few gazillion decibels of fine music have been unleashed and used with style. 

Review by Lorcan Archer ::: 28/06/09
Photogaphy by John Kealy - http://www.flickr.com/photos/kealyj