Report

Desertfest London 2024: Day 1 Featuring Mantar, Mondo Generator, Raging Speedhorn And Wake

London, one of the most famous cities in the world, as well as one of the busiest. It has a rich history of everything from engineering to finance, language and of course, music. It may be the furthest thing from a desert one can get without going to Scandinavia or the South Pole, but the Desertfest event has become an essential trip for fans of doom, sludge and stoner metal, as well as heavy blues and naturally, desert rock. It attracts some of the biggest and best names in these fields and makes the busy streets of Camden bearable for a few days. This year, the festival was celebrating its eleventh edition and raised a few eyebrows for hosting some bands that may not spring to mind when one thinks of Desertfest, but nonetheless promised to bang some heads after turning them.

Those lucky enough to attend the first day had some special treats in store for them. Just down the road from Camden tube station lies Raven Records, a small but very cool store dedicated to metal music and today they had none other than Orange Goblin visiting, who were giving fans a first listen of their brand new album, "Science, Not Fiction" (spoiler alert: it rules!) as well as taking photos and signing posters. While not officially part of the Desertfest schedule, the band has played at the event three times, including the very first in 2012, so it was right up attendees' street.

Speaking of which, Desertfest welcomed a very special guest for a Q&A session on Denmark Street, in the Black Heart, one of several venues in use over the weekend; former Black Sabbath singer Tony Martin. Promoting the remasters of the Sabbath records he sang on (with the exception of "The Eternal Idol,") the singer was warm and humble, explaining to eager fans how he joined the band, the surrealism of the band's first show in Moscow and the confusion caused by the involvement of Body Count's Ernie C on the "Forbidden" album. After a thoroughly entertaining talk, he hung around to sign autographs and take pictures with fans, making time for everyone who wanted to speak with him. A phenomenal voice and a lovely person, let's hope he's finally going to get the recognition he deserves with the re-release of these albums.

Now, with all the pre-show fun done, it's time for some music! Obviously at every festival there's going to be some clashes, so I'll warn those of you who have seen the lineup that I may not have seen your favourites and there will be some bands who I only caught a little of, but I did the best I could to get through the crowded streets, amateur boxing demonstrations and shouting preachers to get to as many bands as possible. We start this year's report in The Underworld, where a good chunk of these reports take place, with the venue's hosting duties beginning with Norwegian outfit Grand Atomic. It's always wonderful to hear those first notes kick off a festival and Grand Atomic has some decent tunes in them, but if I'm being totally honest, they felt a little bland overall. The last thing I wanted to do was start the review on a negative note but the Fredrikstad trio weren't particularly engaging once the excitement of the festival's opening wore off. Die hard fans of stoner rock/metal will no doubt find something to enjoy and as noted, they're not bad at all, just a little middle of the road. Though they've been going for a while, their debut full length album, "Beyond The Realm Of Common Sense" was only released last year and I would love it if they can develop both musically and in terms of stage presence and make me eat my words in the future.

Time then for our first trip to the Electric Ballroom. Of the three biggest venues (the Ballroom, the Underworld and the Roundhouse) in use at Desertfest, this is the one you want if you need to have a drink, giving you the best value for money. Never mind finances though, we're here to rock and that's exactly what we did when the legendary Nick Oliveri and his group Mondo Generator took to the stage. Blending his desert rock past with his punk roots, Oliveri did everything but literally set the place on fire with his brand of exciting music. This was an absolute thrill from beginning to end, with songs like, "Fuck You, I'm Free" and "Fuck It" tearing through the ears of everyone in attendance and getting them all moving. Knowing that practically everyone who attends Desertfest is a Kyuss fan, the three piece covered the staple, "Supa Scoopa And Mighty Scoop," with Oliveri describing it as his "favourite Kyuss song from an album that I didn't play on," much to the delight of fans. Mondo Generator works so well not just because of the quality of the music, or even the fierceness that they exhibit, but because they're a celebration and embodiment of the spirit of rock and roll, which permeates through the room when they charge on stage.

Returning to the Underworld, the capital city of Britain welcomed a band representing the Mexican capital city, as Weedsnake entered the fray, ready to cave some heads in. Checking out "Ritual" from their new album, "Grimorium Cannabinarum," on YouTube was enough to entice me to the downstairs stage and the quartet certainly did not disappoint. Displaying a harder, more aggressive edge than the previous bands, the band mixes doom and sludge metal to give themselves a savage sound and the Underworld is a perfect setting for it. The aforementioned "Ritual" was brought out, while fans and curious onlookers alike enjoyed pummeling songs from across their catalogue. Frontman Jack Amsler has a very natural stage presence which boosts their performance all the more and those who came for the heavier stuff certainly left satisfied with this show. I don't know if this was Weedsnake's first time in the UK, but I really hope it's not the last.

With a short break in between sets, there was enough to run back around the corner and catch the start of Nick Oliveri's Stoner and former Kyuss/Vista Chino bandmate Brant Bjork and his eponymous trio. This set definitely catered more towards the fans who prefer it slow and chilled, with his solo material tapping much more into the blues element of desert rock than the heavier tones. This was fine, though after the excitement of Mondo Generator and Weedsnake, it definitely felt like something of a comedown. Bjork is an excellent musician, as his resume will attest to that and he makes good use of his talent, crafting spacey tunes that are good to vibe to. How much one will want to stand and watch this though will vary from person to person, but this is the ideal festival for the Brant Bjork Trio to perform at and I'm sure there were many happy fans by the end.

I say I'm sure because I wasn't able to catch the end of their set, given that over in the Underworld, Calgary's Wake were about to perform, and who am I to ignore representatives of the city that gave us Bret and Owen Hart? They're a fascinating band, beginning in the crust and grind vein and utilising other genres as they progressed. Indeed, listening to "Pareidolia," one may be surprised that a band capable of writing luscious melody could create music so vicious, but they demonstrated this side of themselves monstrously with this set. Despite their various influences, Wake definitely aren't for everyone and I later heard a few people mention that they "didn't get it," but absolutely no one can argue with their energy and passion when it comes to the live setting. This is a hungry band out to prove their worth and plenty of attendees, myself included, will say that they did just that, with a blistering show that rocked the boat tremendously.

With apologies to Colour Haze fans, this reporter does need to eat from time to time and I had a feeling I'd need some energy for what was to come later in The Underworld. How right I was. Up next was Raging Speedhorn and Jesus Christ do they live up to that first word. Raging Speedhorn are one of those bands that I'd always heard of but never really listened to, but decided to in the run up to Desertfest. One listen of "Hard To Kill" gave me a strong clue about the sheer chaos that I was getting into, but from the moment they stormed the stage, all Hell broke loose. The pit never seemed to stop and the band wanted more and more.

This is all well and good, though I did notice a few people getting hurt and trying to escape the area, which they could only do with help from other attendees and it's not easy when some dick is throwing elbows at anything that moves. I'm sure the band couldn't see this happening because it's not like the audience is illuminated, but as mentioned in my coverage of Incineration Fest, it does seem like pit etiquette is going out the window which is worrying, as people shouldn't have to worry about being injured when they go to a show. This didn't stop the bedlam though and it wasn't long before the stage was absolutely soaked by beer and god knows what else (this is a rock show, not the bleedin' splish splash show but still.) Raging Speedhorn are an absolute force live and if you can handle the madness then I strongly recommend that you check them out if given the opportunity. I'm looking forward to seeing them again at Swindon's Depravation Festival this September.

As much as I wanted to see Masters Of Reality, it would have been a case of only catching fifteen minutes at most, because the headliners at The Underworld this evening, Mantar, were about to perform their first UK show in six years and there was no way I was missing out on being at the front. As longtime readers of our end of year lists will have noticed, I can't contain my love of Mantar. The Bremen born duo are one of the bands that got me really excited about new metal after a long time and there's something about their music that really speaks to me (or more appropriately, shouts at me.) Clearly I wasn't the only one excited about this performance, as there were several people adorned in their merchandise and it was clear after only a few minutes that there were some other die hard fans in the room, singing along to every word of earlier tracks such as "Spit" and "Astral Kannibal," as well as newer songs like "Hang 'em Low (So The Rats Can Get 'Em)" and "Egoisto."

Mantar has always been extremely intense and tonight was no exception, tearing through their set with pure primal rage. Frontman Hanno Klänhardt is like a grenade, going off and affecting all within his radius, while Erinc Sakarya seems to move like an octopus across his drum kit, causing shotgun blasts with just his sticks. Klänhardt joked about day drinking and discussed the problems the two have faced over the past few years, from his health issues to the excruciating process of making their latest album, "Pain Is Forever And This Is The End," with the crowd giving the duo warm receptions in return, appreciative that sometimes life just wants to fight you but that they didn't give up. More favourites followed such as "Age Of The Absurd," "Era Borealis" and "Cross The Cross," all to ecstatic responses. The set did seem to end earlier than expected however, ceasing before 10pm despite the schedule advertising a 22:15 finish, which apparently happened with the Masters Of Reality set too. Whatever the case, this was incredible, with fans left overjoyed by the set. It may have been worth the six year wait, but please don't leave it so long next time lads!

Ordinarily, the finale of the Underworld or the Ballroom is where I would call it a night, but being as this was my first time attending the festival with a friend, we decided to meet at Dingwalls, just outside Camden market for a drink and to check out Cloakroom. Despite my many visits to Camden, this was my first time setting foot inside Dingwalls and overall I found it to be quite a cool place, with more space than one would expect, including benches at the side and an elevated standing area. As for Cloakroom, I honestly had no idea what to expect but found them quite enjoyable, providing heavy music that also serves as good tunes to space out to. I can't give a full, in-depth review of their set unfortunately, as thanks largely to tiredness after a morning of travel, seeing seven other bands and not being familiar with their music, I don't have much to go on, but I would really like to catch them again when I'm more alert. This was definitely an interesting way to finish the first day of Desertfest and tomorrow it would be another day of great music and a great atmosphere.

Want to know what happened next? Click the links below!

Desertfest London 2024 Day Two

Desertfest London 2024 Day Three