Music / effigy
Preview: Effigy Weekender, Fleece/Stag and Hound
What sort of shape is underground metal in in 2017? Show up at an infamously lairy Effigy night and you’ll be swiftly brought up to speed. The noise-inclined showcase is gently marshalled by a small crew of local riff-savvy promoters who seriously have their hand-horns on the pulse of all things distorted.
These guys are responsible for some of the most rip-roaring live events in these parts, including the stonking post-rock greenfield extravaganza ArcTanGent. Not only that, it’s no understatement to say that these chaps are true saints of the underground scene. Last summer they saved Temples festival from certain doom after it went bankrupt, putting on last-minute shows around the city headlined by high-profile acts including Mayhem and Bongripper.
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A cursory glance at their events page will almost certainly get beanie-clad bros wearing Battles t-shirts posting about “real guitar music” on Facebook quicker than you can say “sniff glue, worship Satan”, with the furiously original likes of Future of the Left, Chelsea Wolfe, Oathbreaker, Akercocke, Yob, Ohhms and Sumac having previously graced their stages.
What better way to self-congratulate for doing such a good job than putting on a weekender (March 31 – April 1) spread across two of Bristol’s best-loved rock institutions? The Fleece and Stag and Hounds are priming the bill with a pack of outlandishly gnarly bands plucked from both Bristol (Memory of Elephants, Chiyoda Ku, Goram, Seven Colour Drive) and further afield (Brutus, Whores, Pijn). And just in case you missed some of Effigy’s legendary gigs, there’s a host of bands returning to the fray (Employed To Serve, The Hyena Kill, Conjurer).
The biggest draw of the weekend is likely to be sludgetastic headliners Big Business, who, as well as firing out their own superbly leftfield stoner albums, have of late moonlighted for grunge Godfathers The Melvins.
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