The Weekend Scotland Went Metal Mad

WORDS: SAM LAW, PHOTO: JULIAN BAILEY

Metal festivals, eh? They’re just like buses. You wait an age for one to arrive then, all of a sudden, two come along at once. That was the predicament facing Scottish metalheads this weekend past. When Glasgow’s Lords Of The Land and Edinburgh’s Heavy Scotland separately announced their world-beating line-ups for the weekend of April 1st, one had to wonder was someone playing a pre-emptive April Fools’ prank on the country’s central-belt headbangers. The bookings were, ultimately, no laughing matter, mind. So, with battle-jackets securely fastened to our backs, we dove headlong into the heaviest weekend Scotland’s ever seen.

First stop: Glasgow. The legendary Barrowlands’ neon frontage mightn’t be lit at midday, but the atmosphere inside’s already electric. A venue whose original aesthetic – all crowded stairwells, wood-panelling, sprung dancefloor and frayed posters evoking the ghosts of concerts-past – has been stubbornly preserved, it’s a perfect habitat for the assembled mixture of local mosheratti and shipped-in fanatics wearing their own rough-edges with beery pride.

Underground Finnish grindcore heroes Rotten Sound are a little severe for some of the lunchtime lot, but their opening onslaught nicely tenderises the beefy gathering for ex-Bolt Thrower general Karl Willetts to roll through alongside ex-Benediction members with heavy-armoured new outfit Memoriam. Their death metal rumble mightn’t have quite the iconic grandeur of Willetts’ previous band, but there’s a surfeit of bone-crushing purpose. It’s not until the arrival of legendary British thrashers Acid Reign, however, that the Barras really cut loose. Proving they’ve still got it in bloodstained spades with hyperdriven classics spilling into skull-smashing new tracks like The Man Who Became Himself, it doesn’t take long for the crowd to grab singer Howard Smith and start racing him on shoulders beerily about the hall.

A shadow descends with the nihilistic severity of Dragged Into Sunlight. A little of the hooded mystery of old might’ve diminished (nicked by Ghost’s nameless ghouls, presumably), but performing largely by candlelight with their backs to the audience and snuff films looping on screens to the side of the stage, there’s still plenty to get the punters talking. Venom Inc, by comparison, inspire more actions than words. Roaring through an hour of epochal, acidic heavy f*cking metal – and laying claim genre-starting anthem Black Metal along the way – they mightn’t be able to count iconic figurehead Cronos among their ranks, but they pack miles more alcohol-fuelled horsepower than his regular-strength outfit.

Swedish demons Marduk segue us into the evening’s blackened three-band plateau, but their one-dimensional extremity doesn’t make half the impact of Primordial’s Celtic-tinged attack. Under the irresistibly compelling command of frontman AA Nemtheanga, anthems like Where Greater Men Have Fallen, As Rome Burns and The Coffin Ships surge and shift, overflowing with history and emotion. Rounding-out the frostbitten set, Norwegian icons Mayhem can’t match up to the Irishmen in terms of finesse, but unfurling seminal 1994 LP De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas in all its charred glory, with the grim-faced theatrics cranked up to eleven, they still draw the biggest crowd of the day.

All that’s left is for Californian death-metal kings Autopsy to bludgeon proceedings to a close. Taking to a Scottish stage for the first time in twenty-seven years, there’s a sense of pent-up madness released on and off the stage – the festering aggression of Twisted Mass Of Burnt Decay, Torn From The Womb and Gasping For Air reducing the pit to a bloody mess before pushing the clock well past midnight, and anyone left standing completely over the edge.

The Glaswegian gathering might have the cream of English metal – in Stoneghost, Conan and the mighty Akercocke – lined up for their afterparty/blowout on Sunday night, too, but we’re up bright and early to head to the capital. Unfortunately, the relatively leviathan effort required to overcome road and rail delays (not to mention the crippling bangover) make the fifty-odd mile journey seem a hundred longer than that. Still, despite many of the Glaswegian masses subsequently failing to make the cross-country traverse, it proves utterly worthwhile.

A modern conference and events complex well outside Edinburgh’s city centre, the Corn Exchange might lack the boot-stomping history and rugged charm of the Barrowlands, but there’s a slickness to its experience. From the drum-kit demos and complimentary energy drinks being handed out in the main foyer, to the extensive Eyesore Merch stall and signing section, to the comprehensively-stocked bar and thoroughly bedecked outdoor eating area (Offering haggis ‘n’ hog-roast and a top-notch burrito van!), there’s not much imaginable – in terms of creature comforts – that hasn’t been laid-on.

That wouldn’t matter one jot, of course, if the bands were rubbish. Fortunately, as much effort seems to have been put in to assembling a lineup that combines modern cutting-edge with populist bombast. A titanic, UK-exclusive headline from Polish giants Behemoth and more-than-ample support from Swedish death-metal heroes Grave, Italian symphonic heavyweights Fleshgod Apocalypse, fast-rising Denver thrashers Havok and L.A. speedsters Warbringer on Saturday have Edinburgh’s Sunday luchtime crew excitedly throwing about phrases like “astonishing,” “groundbreaking” and “once in a lifetime.”

Safe to say, this second day is keeping pace nicely. Even by the time bodies make it through the doors, of course, there’s still some serious waking-up to be done. Thankfully, Finnish cock-rockers Shiraz Lane look and sound like they’ve not been to sleep – their massive sound all strut and sleaze. By comparison, oddball Belgian thrashers Evil Invaders look and sound exactly like an outfit beamed-in from another planet. Their goal? To melt your f*cking face!

Ex-Iron Maiden and occasional-Wolfsbane vocalist Blaze Bayley delivers the first star-power of the day. And, even if this indoor stage and moderate crowd can’t quite match-up to his past glories (or even last summer’s Download mainstage cameo with Disturbed), there’s no stopping him storming through solo-cuts like Endure And Survive via Wolfsbane classic Man Hunt and into Iron Maiden anthem The Clansman. After that, Manchester slam crew Ingested come on like a battery-acid palette-cleanser; their sheer concussive force landing a sonic gut-punch right before teatime. Ooooft.

Teutonic thrash pugilists Destruction might be regular visitors to Scottish shores these days, but neck-rending repetition only seems to emphasise their point. There’s absolutely zero subtlety to songs like Curse The Gods, Nailed To The Cross, The Butcher Strikes Back and Bestial Invasion, but with the pit churning at an alarming rate, no-one’s got time to give a sh*t. Upping the fun-factor, Finnish, er, trolls Finntroll deliver all the pointy ears and bouncily blackened folk the heart could desire. And, even if there is a feeling of utter inevitability when the climactic Trollhammaren arrives, it’s at least doled-out with maximum silliness.

Dropping curtain in style, there’s absolutely nowt silly about headliners Arch Enemy. Unless, of course, you’re counting singer Alissa White-Gluz’s combination oddly James Hetfield-esque stage presence and the sort of shredded-bodystocking stage getup the Metallica man just couldn’t get away with. Speaking of shred, their six-stringers are on spectacular for tonight. Taking full advantage of a pitch-perfect PA, ex-Carcass man Michael Amott and his esteemed ex-Nevermore colleague Jeff Loomis deliver an absolute masterclass in speed and tone. Metal purists might continue to scoff at the growling accessibility of tracks like War Eternal and Revolution Begins, but by the time an uber-atmospheric Snowbound combusts into the climactic Nemesis there’s not one set of horns left unraised.

The Scottish metal scene has been resurgent for some time now – a growing number of UK-exclusives from genre heavyweights taking place north of The Wall – but that didn’t stop this weekend seeming like a watershed moment. Across both sites, the crowds were swollen by visitors from throughout the UK, with a good few from further afield turning up for good-measure. There were a few early-days jitters, sure, and turnouts – particularly in Edinburgh – were reflective of scheduling conflicts and organisations still finding their feet. But heaviosity has found an ever-heartier welcome amongst the heather and haggis. Scotland’s stall is now well and truly laid-out. The north is rising.