This winter Winter Assault was pushed back to the New Year and featured several Black Metal bands, featuring different aspects of the sub-genre. It was held in The Green Door Store in Brighton.
First up were the rough and ready Gorgonchrist, opening up with a blast of raw Black Metal played with skill and humour. A good act to start the ball rolling.
Volniir from Yorkshire were up next, with another powerful set, keeping the atmosphere going.
A slight change feel came from Austria’s Lichtblick, playing a solid set of DSBM. They were the only band on the bill that were new to me and I was suitably impressed.
Home favourites, and festival organisers, Vehement were the penultimate band of the evening. Their latest line-up has gelled together extremely well and each time that I see them something gets better with their set. They deserve to be headlining events themselves.
This doesn’t take anything from Necronautical who showed why they are worthy of the headline slot. Their set was solid BM, enhanced by the operatic vocals of Vickie Harley who has successfully collaborated with them recently.
I am looking forward to this year’s festivals from South Coast Extreme Metal, Doomsday on 26th and 27th May and the next edition of Winter Assault on December 2nd.