The dust was only just settling after our recent trip to Rebellion to see Orden Ogan (and indeed, a few of the paper streamers from that show were still dangling from the rafters!) but there was no rest for the wicked as we were once again back in the venue to see the French breakcore/death metal outfit Igorrr, by recommendation from my writer Dave after he loved their recent album Savage Sinusoid.
First up was last-minute addition Grave Pleasures, who joined the lineup in the eleventh hour after their Wolverhampton show got cancelled. As a fan of the band since their Beastmilk days, but having never seen them live, this was fantastic news for me and I loved every minute. It was an energetic and empowering performance, with the band really giving it their all, and although musically they didn’t really match Igorrr, it ultimately didn’t matter. A definite highlight was the inclusion of Be My Hiroshima, a serious earworm that really packed a punch live.
Up next was main attraction Igorrr and it was one of those shows that needed to be seen to be believed. Utterly bizarre and seriously intense, it’s impossible to actually put the performance into words (as I said at the time, that was great – but I’m not entirely sure what THAT was! and I stand by it!) but it was still a fantastic set! The atmosphere in the room was top-notch, with so many people completely into the ethereal performance and it was easy just to get lost in the beats and the music, and the well-contrasting clean female and harsh male approaches on the vocals added that extra sparkle, no matter whether they were singing in a duet or as a solo.
As a whole, a great night – certainly a unique one, but that was by no means a bad thing!
8/10
