First up, my apologies must go to Val Hull for missing pretty much all but the last half of the last song of their set; I was running a little late (and don't the bands always start on time when that happens?). This was a pity in more ways than one, for the last time I'd seen them play was way back in 1996 when they were one of the local support acts for Napalm Death (interestingly, they've apparently been gigging since 1983); it would have been nice to have seen them again.

Raven Black Night were up next and, as always, adorned the stage with an interesting array of Medieval-looking props for their set. They also had quite a few candles burning, some of them giving forth great clouds of heavily-scented smoke. Their songs tended to be fairly slow and a bit on the epic side, and their music had a real 'old school' feel to it, with lots of Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden influences evident. Quite an interesting act to see if you haven't done so already.

Things got a bit more manic with Omnium Gatherum's set. The first time I saw this death/grind act perform was almost four years ago, and they still seem to be going as strong now as they were back then. They appear to be always writing new material too, for many of the songs they played this time around were unfamiliar to me (although I must admit that it has been a while since I last saw them). As always, they were well-received by the crowd.

Things slowed down again with the arrival of Virgin Black whose songs, like those of Raven Black Night, tended to be on the slower and lengthier side. While their (very Gothic) music had me rocking my head away during those times when the tempo picked up a bit, they were, for the most part, an act that I preferred to close my eyes and simply listen to, letting their material transport me to bizarre realms of my imagination.

Visiting act Cryptal Darkness's music was in much the same vein as Virgin Black's although it had a lot of aggressive elements as well. Their songs were also very long, and they played a couple of covers by Candlemass and Anathema respectively as well. Unfortunately, the audience numbers had really dropped off by the time they took they stage, but those who stuck around were rewarded for their perseverance with a solid set that included an encore.

Overall, the above show was quite successful, attracting an impressive-sized crowd. Yet another dark triumph for the Black Dawn!

James Brazel

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