Apocalyptic riffs in Control Club. Bison / LLNN / Ropeburn /13.05.2018 gig review.

Bison [CA] / LLNN [DK] / Ropeburn [RO] / 13.05.2018|Control Club review

It was a windy evening on May 13 and yet there I was outside Control Club in Bucharest waiting for the show to start.

Ropeburn kicked off the night with neck-snapping guitar riffs . The band was touring with BISON and LLNN in Romania in other two cities (Cluj-Napoca and Craiova)  It was a fine, hot start, and it gave me the opportunity to appreciate one of the best things about Control Club: the quality of its sound engineering, systems and mixing. From the punk influences that popped up throughout their songs, to the more atmospheric and sludge sections of the EP  ”Boundaries of Self Indulgence”, to the final moment of the show, the audience was fully engaged and into it. Born in 2014, Ropeburn approach a sum of contemporary subjects such as control, religion, trauma. There were moments which reminded me of Amenra.

LLNN were the second band who took the stage. The Danish band overflow a wave of raw, vile, cold and crushingly destructive energy from the first guitar riffs. After a split EP with LA’s WOVOKA in the summer of 2017, LLNN now return with their second album, „Deads“. „Deads“ is an erosive, abrasive, dystopian, apocalyptic monolith of monstrous dimensions. „Some of the synth sounds on the album consists of recordings from everyday sounds transformed into eerie soundscapes, for instance the sounds of boiling water“, drummer Rasmus G. Sejersen comments.

 

LLNN‘s sound is so dense and overwhelming that I was surprised to learn that they are a fairly new band, formed in Copenhagen in 2014 – but the members are veterans in the local hardcore and metal scene, and have played in internationally touring bands like THE PSYCHE PROJECT.

The show was stopped for a moment by the presence of a dog in the crowd. The guitarist stopped the show and informed the owner of the dog that the sound level was too high for the poor four-footed creature which seemed frightened. I was impressed by his gesture of genuine care.

Not much else to say except that LLNN made some atypical shows at ROADBURN and DESERT FEST (London)  supporting Vancouver’s BISON .

The time has come for this band which is about one third crust, one third sludge and one third metal to hit the stage. And I am talking about BISON.

One of the great things about a group of such skilled gentlemen is that there is a sense of control of just about all aspects of a show; the sound was good from the first note, there were no slips and everyone knows their place on stage and in the overall sound. The band was so good and their performance was so joyous it’s hard for such gig not to feel like an elevating experience.

BISON maintained this fast-paced, high-energy performance throughout their set, playing new songs and classics such as “Kenopsia” and “Tantrum”. Many songs could have been added to the setlist and everyone would have stuck around! It’s addictive!

 

 

 

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