[full sets of pics from this gig: Norderobring / Arceye / Skiltron]
After a bit of confusion as to where to buy tickets in advance (you couldn’t), I turned up and forked over my £8 on the door to see Argentina’s best export since corned beef was made available in tins. This was, I believe, Skiltron‘s first proper European tour after their virgin visit to Scottish shores in August last year where they took part in the Wallace Day celebrations with Martin Walkier on guest vocals.
This time round they have a big Stockton lad called Tony Thurlow belting out the words (when the cable from his microphone would stay plugged in) while the core of the band – Matias Pena on drums, Emilio Souto on guitar, Ignatio Lopez on bass – hammered out the metal sounds. Callum Kirk (yes, him from Achren) has taken over live duties on the bagpipes.
They played an excellent set covering all of their albums from what I recall. Highlights were probably the wonderfully anthemic “Bagpipes of War” and self-titled “Skiltron” towards the end. The encore of “It’s A Long Way To The Top (If You Wanna Rock ‘n’ Roll)” was an inspired choice and genuinely had the hairs on the back of my neck standing up.
After all, the original song was noted for its use of bagpipes. The band playing it (come on… if you don’t know it’s an AC/DC track, you should be browsing NME instead of on here) have roots in Scotland and their lead singer’s from the north east of England. As such, the song could not be a more perfect fit for Skiltron to end their set.
Barring the microphone cable playing silly buggers, the show was excellent. The sound wasn’t perfect, but I have a feeling this was to do with me being right at the front to get photos. A little further back, it seemed to be much better. Having said that – and you might as well bronze this next sentence for posterity as I will likely never say it again – the bagpipes weren’t quite loud enough.
That’s right folks. For once in my life I’m whinging that I couldn’t hear bagpipes. This never happens.
Aiding in the vocals for a couple of the tracks was John Clark Paterson, also of Achren. I don’t think he was invited – just excited!
It was also great to see the opening band up against the barricade singing along and raising their clawed hands in the air to every track. Not trying to be cool at the bar, not off the side of the stage, but right at the front giving their to the band who’s given them a half-hour slot.
This opening band are a bunch of locals (well, local if you live in Glasgow) called Norderobring (link there to their fb page). They’re a six-piece playing Pictish folk/black metal and they’re damn good, especially given that I’m probably older than their combined ages… OK, I’m not quite that doddery, but you get my point.
They played the Edinburgh show as well as tonight’s and they are definitely worth seeing if you get the chance. At present they have 566 likes on facebook so I demand that 100 more of you click that upwards pointing thumb today!
The other are up-and-comers Arceye who were also damned good. Hell, for eight quid I was very happy with all three bands!
Arceye are on the cusp of releasing their first album, At First Light, towards the end of this week. Their set consisted of songs from it and if the recorded version is as good as the live then it sounds very good indeed. If you want to sample it, check the links at the bottom of this article because Terrorizer are streaming it.
A top-notch blend of crushing, heavy, breakneck-speed thrash/death with a smattering of slower, more instrumental-based prog sounds.
Again, another band worth keeping an eye on and seeing live.
Overall, a great night at a great venue. Three top notch bands and a nice, if intimate, crowd. With luck I’ll catch Skiltron again towards the end of the month in Elderslie. I just need to find out what the situation is with tickets, etc!
Related articles
- I hate bagpipes, but… (moshville.co.uk)
- Arceye Stream At First Light In Full With Terrorizer (hangout.altsounds.com)
