American metal titans Mastodon at Belfast’s Limelight and Dublin’s Academy. Photos by Sara Marsden and Pedro Giaquinto. Limelight, Belfast The Academy, Dublin
-
-
Treating tonight more like a pilgrimage into the dark heart of sludge-laden, conceptual metal than your typical jaunt to a gig, we’re joined giddily by the sizeable crowd of Mastodon T-shirt wearing fans as we enter the baroque surroundings of the Ulster Hall. The air, thick with beard and brew, seemingly creates its own atmospherics ahead of any performance so far, but, safe in the knowledge that we’ll be banging our heads soon we file in and stand our ground. It’s not exactly filled to the brim, but it’s not nearly empty either and the consensus thus far is that…
-
The night begins with a small clan of bemused faces. On the stage is Bad Breeding (frontman, Chris Dodd, below), throwing out fuzzy, mashed agro punk. Clever without being innovative it’s reminiscent of Black Flag, Crass and the noise-rock elements of bands like The Horrors. Not a bad thing, in and of itself, but elements of the crowd are as disinterested as the distortion is unrelenting. This simply seems to be a case of bad booking. So the majority of the crowd hole up in The Olympia’s wonderfully anachronistic bar. The black t-shirts are adorned with tonight’s headliner and the…
-
Mastodon brought their sludge metal mastery to The Academy in Dublin last week, with support from Big Business and Krokodil. Photos by Isabel Thomas.
-
Mastodon kicked off their Irish tour in Belfast at the Limelight last week. Photos by Liam Kielt.
-
Pigs of the bleak? Nope. Figs of the streak? Not a chance. Swigs of the geek? That doesn’t even make sense. What you were looking for – searching for, all these years – was this week’s installment of the ever-ingenuously titled Gigs of the Week. Inclined towards leaving the house and watching people perform music over the next few days? Read on and right on. Tim Hecker, Ellll @ Button Factory, Dublin – Thursday, November 20 Supported by Cork electronic noise artist Ellll (read about her in the November issue of our physical magazine here), Canadian ambient artist Tim Hecker (pictured)…
-
American metal quartet Mastodon have confirmed they will be playing show in Belfast and Dublin later on this year. The group will be performing in the Academy on Wednesday November 19 and Belfast’s Limelight 1 on Thursday, November 20 . The band will be touring with their sixth album Once More Around The Sun. Tickets go on sale this Friday July 11 at 9am. Check out the video for ‘Oblivion’ below
-
Thirteen. It’s an unlucky number for some, but certainly not for fans of metal. I say metal. Of course, what I really mean is METAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAL! This year sees some of the biggest and loudest bands in the history of metal descend upon Ireland like an eagle on a sleeping mouse. If you aren’t a big fan of heavy guitars, you might be safer indoors for most of this year. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. Bands such as Slayer, Mastadon, Nine Inch Nails, Lamb Of God and even the fathers of heavy metal (or should that be grandfathers) – Black…