When I arrived
Lutine were somewhere into their set, two girls singing about love, death and the maiden. Beautiful and mildly sad songs supported by their minimal use of a Korg and some ancient lookin harmonical instruments I have never seen or heard before.
Aluk Todolo plugged in. I saw those guys by a beautiful coincidence when they played Roadburn festival and was fascinated by their instrumental occult rock. Now they were more fierce and brutish, the bass and drums hammering strange rythms and the guitar improvising noise, at one point being played while standing against the amps and the guitar player actually communicating with his instruments through the tunings on the amps. Their set was possessive (the drummer is actually possessed!), the crowd swaying to their music and loving it.
Stephen O'Malley placed himself on the furthest right side of the stage with his guitar and pedals, acting as a servant to three stacks of amps. Drones started to flow, quite shy was my first thought, like a certain percentage of a
Sunn(((o))) drone was going to happen. Then
O'Malley saluted his guests and a film came on, cast on the while stage; experimental film works, possibly close-ups of the iris of an eye, flittering as when forced open. It worked perfectly as a soundtrack, the drone still going easy on the small crowd but slowly rising, no pain in my unprotected ears.
O'Malley keeps layering and steps on his pedals, I feel my trachea vibrating and my mind expands on this picture of the flickering eye cast on this stage. the three amp stacks are deistic icons and this is a ritual where we worship as
O'Malley interprets their voices. They are giant Daleks who's voices stream through us. My chest is now vibrating and my guts being softly punched. I close my eyes and am happy, I am one with the layers of drone. The gathering salutes Stephen
O'Malley, the "Don of Drone." Not until I come outside and walk towards my bus I feel the physical effect of this set.
- Sigurður Harðarson
All photographs by Agata Urbaniak (lifted off of Brighton Noise). Published here without permission. Visit Urbaniak's website here.
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