Torpor @ Bloc+ (12th March 2020)

with: Still

WORDS: Joanne Gray

Having a look at the monthly listings for gigs in March, there was one that really stood out to me as the small heavy show I should really go along to. Over in Bloc, there was a bill which was stacked with some gloriously sludgy post-metal over the course of three bands. Unfortunately, the local band Dead Otters pulled out of the gig a few days before, but with another two blistering bands left to continue proceedings, this was to be hell of a night anyway...

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Starting things off in tremendously crushing fashion then, was the Hull four-piece Still, whose sound mixes together the intensity of post-hardcore, the dense layers of post-metal with the ominousness of blackened doom. Instantly making an impression, the dense pulses of the guitars when sound-checking alone could be heard and felt when standing outside. Fast forward to the beginning of their set standing next to the speakers, and the dense rumbles could be felt with every note. 

Joining the guitarist, the fuzzy rumble of the bass acted like a second guitar part- albeit one which had even more of an organ shakingly thunderous quality which you could feel in your gut. Awesome stuff. Completing the rhythm section, the drummer of the band was a tour de force. Putting every single ounce of his energy into pounding away at the kit, he would deliver furious black metal blast beats while throwing in intuitive fills and clever cymbal-work during the denser sections. The enthusiasm of which he played with was a joy to watch, and I found myself quite entranced by his playing all the way through their set. One of the most interesting and engaging drummers I have seen in my time of going to gigs. And that's not an exaggeration in the slightest. Wicked stuff. 

Of course, one couldn't talk about Still's engaging performance without mentioning their vocalist though. Immediately making an impression, the rather tall and slim singer started the set with his microphone facing the crowd and with himself facing away from the audience entirely. Gripping onto the stand like he needed it to keep himself on his feet, he contorted and swayed while screaming like he was exorcising Satan itself. True to the rest of the band's black metal tendencies, his vocals tended to sit in higher, shrieked territories and this only added to the sense of ice-cold foreboding conjured up from whatever pit they were pulling their sound from. Even when the vocalist turned to face the audience during several songs, the tortured demeanour of the man meant that there was always a sense of appropriate tension to his delivery which worked so well for the band. 

With all of this in mind, the band were extremely impressive to me and the other people who were watching them across the room. Rather than settling into one speed or sound for too long, the band's performance of songs from their two EPs kept everyone on their toes and engaged from the very first second to the last. I will definitely be checking these guys out again if I have the chance and would recommend them to anyone who is after some Cult of Luna-esque heaviness, with some black metal elements thrown in for some extra darkness. 

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If there were Cult of Luna influences to be found in the previous band though, this would pale in comparison to the main band of the evening. Scaling things down to three members, the Bristol/London-based Torpor could certainly still compete in terms of their heaviness... and their density...

Leaning even more into the sludgier and dirgier post-metal territories that bands like Cult of Luna and Old Man Gloom recall, the headline act created a slower, more hypnotic pace for the audience from the minute they began playing. The guitar tone from Jon Taylor was even more intense than what you hear on record, with the grimy low end thudding drones reverberating into waves from the speakers. Doubling down on this murky sound, Lauren Mason's bass tone was even more fuzzed up and nasty, in the best possible way. With these two aspects combined, the amplified sound at its heaviest reminded me of when I saw Bismuth earlier in the year (review here). All with the addition of some powerful and guttural low end growls from the vocalist, which added another layer of heaviness and intensity to their songs.

Although this was a less integral part of Torpor's heaviness, the drumming from Simon Mason was incredibly effective. The blasting beats of the previous band were replaced here with more methodical, but nonetheless, hard hitting smacks which helped the audience sink into the stupor that the band were already crafting. As some more spacious and slightly cleaner guitar parts made an appearance, the absence and then re-emergence of the drums was a key part of the band's ebbing and flowing dynamic. And as their set went on, it became clearer and clearer that they were really good at bringing an audience into a daze along with their sound.

Without a setlist, I can only assume that the band's set largely centred around last year's release Rhetoric of the Image, but it was hard to tell due to the fact I felt myself getting deeper and deeper into their sound with every passing moment. I can remember songs ending and beginning, but their slick performance ended up feeling like they were playing one long song that ended up sonically and physically moving you. And that it did for everyone who was watching them. 

Looking about me, I could see people going into a zombie-like state where heads started lolling slightly and bodies swayed in time to the pulsing waves of noise. I also remember the drummer (who we would find out later was celebrating his birthday that day) coming out to the front of the stage during a section of a song that he didn't play in and do the lead vocals for a bit. It's not often you see that, so it definitely stuck in my mind even if it only happened for a couple of minutes at most.

Due to this haze-like state the whole room seemed to be in, it felt like the hour-or-so long set was over in absolutely no time though as it built to a close with one final cathartic droning song. Once the amps were turned off and it became clear the set was over, the audience came out of their collective trance. It was almost jarring when the sound from the instruments dulled and bright lights came on once more behind the band after being trampled by such a sound so heavy for so long. But it helped solidify just how good Torpor had been. 

And oddly, in such uncertain times where there will probably not be any live shows to act as a distraction to the current pandemic, this gig was a great cathartic experience for what is to come. Even when this all hopefully blows over, I'll remember this event as being something special, for sure. Perfect music for long periods of self-isolation? It might just be... Check them out!

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Thanks to you for checking out this review of Torpor at Bloc! Feel free to leave a comment below or you can help support RWEI by giving us a like/follow on the socials. As always, we're open to submissions and/or contributions from bands and writers in Glasgow and beyond so give us an email or message if you're interested. 

Cheers!

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