Extreme metal is as much about passion as it is about music. It’s part subculture, part cathartic fight-club, part family. That’s what makes events like Glasgow’s incredible Lords Of The Land festival more than just another gig to be checked off the calendar. They’re an occasion – for the likeminded from across the spectrum to come together, get cataclysmically wasted and bash heads in the front-row fray.
With a line-up boasting the returns of thrash titans Dark Angel and Demolition Hammer to Scotland for the first time in three decades, there’s no lack of excitement – just ask the heavyweight being stretchered out with a dislocated knee and a grin on his face. And with a supporting line-up packing in Bloodbath, Unleashed, Carpathian Forest, Cannabis Corpse, Vallenfyre and Lawnmower Deth, the aural beatdown simply won’t let up.
It’s rejuvenated crossover kings Discharge, though, who sum up the atmosphere most concisely in a brief break from spinning the pit.
“[People] came out today because this is something they believe in…” seethes vocalist Jeff 'J.J.' Janiak. “I don’t want no part of that outside world!”
Quite. And with that, let's find out who exactly those people are…