Turn away. Turn inward.
My second time at Moor Beers Vaults was on the 12th October for an evening of grimy, atmospheric metal. It’s a loud-as-hell venue in a nook beneath London Bridge’s train tracks. The bunker-like shape seemingly amplifies the sound beyond your expectations for a small venue. It was packed out from the first note, making me realise I had really been sleeping on these bands. It was truly a Human Worth music night: all three bands are represented on the label with recent releases, but that didn’t mean the bill wasn’t varied.
Remote Viewing
Bathed in panic-red light, Remote Viewing were impenetrably sludgy and heavy. Except for a few times when sound waves broke to let a cruel lick in, the experience was fully crushing and disorienting. John Atkins (bass) communed with his amp the whole time whilst their vocalist (Ed Dudley) stood in the audience to face down the band. All this was foreboding, but the band kept a casual stage presence. The irony of such a titanic sound pausing to encourage merch purchases was not lost on Dudley, prompting a chuckle before the set finished with another belter.
Modern Technology
This performance was the release show for Conditions of Worth, a uniquely bass-driven record. With just two members, they weren’t going to make the same ruckus as Remote Viewing, but their intent toward noise was a close match. Chris Clarke‘s vocals and crackling bass were perfect, reproducing what you hear in studio, and more. It’s clear that they recorded the record like this, adding only a few of the background synths. These synth samples did make it into tuning breaks and at some pivotal moments, like the outro of “Salvation“. The drums (Owen Gildersleeve) were thunderous – next time, give him a microphone because he clearly knows all the words. Their doom influence really sunk in, but their punk simplicity was strong too.
Torpor
Torpor swept the stage with a smoke machine and bespoke lights to intensifiy the ‘trapped in a filling grain silo’ atmosphere. Their heft was enough to match the previous bands, though the delicate, quiet moments they brought to the night were new. Harsh vocals were a large part of their weave, but it was the poetic spoken word segments that were the most emotionally gripping. “Interior Gestures” got an extended drone outro thanks to a tech issue, a bummer for the band but the volume was still all there. Due to the realities of British public transport, I had to split early, so I can’t count this as a proper Torpor viewing and will have to check them out again on their next run.
If you’d like to hear the latter two bands and more from the label’s roster and beyond, get to their Leeds all-dayer on Saturday 11th November.