Of all the various arms of the HRH empire, Doom Vs Stoner seems to have the most consistently excellent line ups. This, the festival’s third year, sees Sheffield’s O2 play host to just over twenty bands, each one bringing their own unique take on the doom / stoner / psyche genres, and with big names such as Elder and Crowbar onboard, there’s no question that the festival is continuing to push itself in the right direction
Slightly smaller than Birmingham’s O2, the Sheffield venue offers two stages with each band receiving around an hour of stage time. Aside from the various bars scattered around the building, facilities include food stalls (offering a variety of simple, but tasty snacks such as hot dogs) and merch. In all honesty, fans are probably better heading into Sheffield itself for a decent meal, if they can tear themselves away from the music that is, but there’s enough on hand to keep people in the venue if they wish. Seating does remain an issue, with only the VIP area featuring anywhere for weary rockers to rest their bones, but overall Doom Vs Stoner offers everything that one could reasonably expect from a two-day festival of this size and a little bit more.
Praise is once more due to the technical crew who run the stages with ruthless efficiency and who, remarkably, produce a mix that is clear and punchy across the entire event (with few, if any, issues of note); as well as to the security who keep things friendly and professional. It’s an important part of the festival experience and it’s something that the HRH crew always do well – adding to the friendly, familial atmosphere that we’ve come to expect.
Saturday
Opening up the main stage on the Saturday, we are greeted by the truly over-powering might of Sedulus. Quite honestly, we were lucky with transport, as we hadn’t hoped to make the first act, but I’m so, so glad that we did. Hailing from London, Sedulus’ key draw is that they temper their grueling stoner riffs with calmer passages, the latter serving to make the former all the heavier. Hitting the listener with near-physical force, Sedulus unfortunately don’t share their song titles, but a cursory glance at Bandcamp will give you a good idea of what this excellent band are about. They deserve to be much higher up the bill and, as songs extend into huge, throbbing, prog-doom slabs of unearthly beauty, I’m left in awe of their performance.
Not helped by a malfunctioning amp that seems to be electrocuting, not only the guitarist, but also the long-suffering stage crew (who eventually resort to utilising a glove to avoid the shocks), Ancestors take to the stage late, which is a shame because the band deal in atmospheric doom with harmony-laden vocals and their performance is impressive. However, we’re late for an interview and have to leave early into the foreshortened set, which is a great shame because the little we see is dark, elegant stuff.
Returning from our brief sojourn to the press area, we immediately walk into the flesh-rending malevolence of Desert Storm who, remarkably, make High on Fire seem like a choral recital. Waves of torrid, sand-blasted sludge and vocals torn from the mouth of hell could, in lesser hands, make for a one-dimensional outing, but scratch beneath the surface and you’ll find a dark romanticism that sees the band channelling Pink Floyd via Tom Waits. Airing tracks form the astounding Sentinels , Desert Storm are relentless, lit with a hellish glow that perfectly evokes their evil tones. In short, this is a band you have to see.
One of the absolute highlights of the weekend, OHHMS never disappoint and, armed with new material from forthcoming LP Exist, OHHMS set about demonstrating their mastery of a musical nexus that sits between Swans, Neurosis and prog. Paul Waller remains a Gira-esque figure, frantically beating himself in time to the music, and it’s hard to take your eyes away from the stage for even a moment as he tears into the songs. Intelligent, articulate and yet fiercely intense and emotional, OHHMS are an increasingly indispensable act and shouldn’t be missed when they tour the UK towards the end of the month.
Like Sabbath but even slower and heavier, Gevaudan are brutal but with a whiff of patchouli in the air; a promising up-and-coming act enacting a traditional yet original doom performance. Gevauden aren’t afraid to flex their musical muscles and showcase their versatility, flitting effortlessly between uncomfortable eerie dissonant passages to well placed guitar solos and crushing riffs accented by a fantastic, eccentric vocal performance. As proved by their packed out performance on the second stage, the band made quite the impression on the weekend’s show-goers.
Populating the bluesier end of the doom spectrum was London based Elephant Tree, with one foot firmly in Black Sabbath’s territory (although admittedly the majority of the weekend’s acts could be said to occupy the same turf) and another in that of Sleep. Hefty blues riffs and soporific dreamlike vocal overlays make for a somewhat more relaxed experience that some of the more upbeat acts of the weekend.
Sliding in at the top of the ‘best band names of the weekend’ list is Cornwall’s three piece second stage headliners Cybernetic Witchcult. Clashing with main stage crowd favourites Stoned Jesus must have been a daunting task but the band took it in their stride and unleashed quite the party upon all those in their presence; winning the crowd over with psychedelic spacey compositions layered with jazzy instrumentals, wah-laden guitar leads and rolling bass lines.
Attracting one of the largest crowds of the weekend, Stoned Jesus are clearly incredibly popular and they play to their strengths. Sensibly offering up light and shade across their hour-long set, their approach is quite alternative in a QOTSA-meets-Swans kind of way and the fact that the band take every opportunity to diversify from their recorded sound only adds to the adulation in the pit. With circle pits breaking out throughout the set and remarkable energy from the stage, they deliver one of the day’s highlights as they unleash songs such as distant light, excited and a truly monumental I’m the mountain. With the audience a heaving, sweating morass, Stoned Jesus leave chaos in their wake – always the mark of a good show!
Last, but not least, the legendary Elder bring the Saturday to a successful close, their darkly psychedelic doom riven with rich atmosphere. In some ways the band are victims of a superlative line-up that allowed little time for respite and, with many of the audience having been on site for some ten hours, it’s notable that a certain lethargy descends over the pit towards the end of the band’s set, although it is a testament to the band’s strengths that they manage to maintain energy levels right to the very end, leaving the audience to stream out into the night satisfied, and not a little exhausted. Tracks like Dead roots stirring (form 2011’s album of the same name and from which III is also drawn) as well as a healthy number of songs from the recent reflections of a floating world, are delivered with an air of psychedelic mystery and it’s hard not to get drawn into web the band weave. Well worth remaining vertical for, Elder more than lived up to the excitement that greeted their announcement as headliners.
Sunday
Unfortunately, due to unavoidable transport issues, we’re called away early on Sunday, before the mighty Crowbar can take the stage, but on the plus side, HRH have gone out of their way to find a stunning line up that runs throughout the day, and there’s plenty for us to admire from the hangover-challenging hour of One O’Clock.
The first band that we catch is the mighty Morass of Molasses, a band that I’ll always go out of my way to catch. Catchy, heavy and a whole heap of fun, Morass of molasses are one of those bands who consistently deliver and do so with almighty grins on their faces. Superlatives abound and, with songs like serpentine (from the outstanding these paths we tread) and perma-genial Bones the Beard licking the stage (“so many great bands have played here”), morass of molasses can do no wrong. The performance flies by, not least because the band are so obviously having the time of their lives, and, as a result, Morass of Molasses pretty much walk away with band of the day. If you don’t know them, head here and rectify the situation now. You can thank me later.
Although conjurer have always been a tight outfit, there’s no question that they’ve come on considerably since they took bloodstock’s New Blood Stage by storm a couple of years back. With a crushing new album, mire, receiving near ubiquitous acclaim, the band are far and away the heaviest band to grace the main stage and their performance reduces much of the assembled throng to a semi-catatonic state. Menacing, particularly when Brady takes to the front of the stage sans mic, Conjurer are the aural equivalent of mandrax, but even with prior experience, who would have thought their performance – caught somewhere between Neurosis and Raging Speedhorn – would be quite so devastating in its delivery?
The bastard child of Motorhead via Sepultura’s cover of Orgasmatron, Bong Cauldron are a no nonsense outfit who, despite their protestations that they’re on the wrong stage, go down a storm with the fiercely partisan audience. With a searing guest spot from Dave Rowlands of Pist adding yet further malevolence to the band’s thuggish punk metal explosion, Bong Cauldron turn more than a few heads when they’re not banging them into oblivion. It is arguable that the band could do with adding more light and shade into so lengthy a set, but there’s no question that Bong Cauldron have the riffs to get people moving when it counts.
Offering a nice change of pace Mammoth Weed Wizard bastard juxtapose monumental riffing with light touch vocals that, for the most part, add an ethereal quality to the music. The sound mix is not always the best, with the vocals occasionally lost under the band’s sturm und drang, but with dense, sludgy riffs and plenty of atmosphere, there’s no question that MWWB do an impressive job of sweeping all before them. With two releases under their arm (a split with Slomatics and a single-track, thirty-minute EP), MWWB are something special. Charismatic, spectral and quite unlike anything else on the bill, their set passes by in what feels like a fraction of its actual length.
Something of a revelation, the Italian Psychedelic Witchcraft recall Blues Pills with their powerful riffing often giving way to a darker, bluesier feel that allows some respite after the day’s heavier offerings. With singer Virginia Monti possessed of an impressive range and the band roaming across genres form psyche to blues with deft skill, Psychedelic Witchcraft deliver an incredibly impressive performance that has the audience in the palm of their hand. They are definitely ones to watch for the future.
And so, with regret, we find ourselves making our way to the unfeasibly early last train home. Festival-goers not constrained by public transport still have the mighty Conan (whose stunning new album is pretty much an essential purchase) and the unstoppable Crowbar to go. However, whilst we’re disappointed to leave, the festival was, once again, a resounding success. HRH is notable for allotting generous set lengths to all its acts and it’s one of the few festivals that goes out of its way to showcase new, independent acts. Not a single band over the course of the weekend was objectively bad, although a fair few did stand out, including OHHMS, Conjurer, Morass of Molasses and Sedulus…. and that’s where the joy of HRH truly lies – discovering your new favourite band in an environment that boasts one of the friendliest atmospheres and best sound systems going. An absolutely essential date in the festival calendar, HRH doom vs stoner have already announced next year’s line up and tickets are sure to fly – don’t miss out!
Words: Phil Stiles & Richard Allsopp
Photos: Phil Stiles
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