25th March 2018
at The Musician
with Orpheum, Sertraline, Evyltyde, The River Chickens, Kroh and Serpentyne
Darker Days festival was organised by Lilith Promotions.
Introduction by Kevin Gaughan
Reviewed by Martin Baker and David Tuckwell
After a rammed Saturday at The Musician, Sunday started a little quieter, but I was looking forward to seeing Orpheum, who played last year, The River Chickens, from Leicester as well as seeing what the other bands had to offer.
Orpheum came to the stage at 2.15 and had a nice melodic feel with some operatic style vocals which were a bit screechy in places but a solid tone overall nonetheless. A bit more engaging with audience and these guys will really take off.
Watch this video, by Kevin Gaughan, of Orpheum, performing at today’s festival.
Next up were Sertraline at 3.15 and straight away their upbeat riffs and some HUGE vocals got me interested, some nice vocal layering aswell. Some wonderful transitions between clean riffs and the more upbeat ones gave a nice contrast to their music.
Watch this video, by Kevin Gaughan, of Sertraline, performing at today’s festival.
After that we had Evyltyde at 4.15 and their great chemistry and on-stage antics were great to see, alongside that their catchy riffs done fantastically showed they have some serious music talent but can deliver it with a bit of a humorous side so everyone could enjoy their music.
Watch this video, by Kevin Gaughan, of Evyltyde, performing at today’s festival.
At 5.15 we had Leicester’s own The River Chickens who showed up with some powerful tones and some superb vocals which were delivered confidently in a high energy performance. It looked like the band were having a great time and there was a very worthy cover Black Sabbath’s War Pigs, which went down a treat and the crowd didn’t want to let them go!
Watch this video, by Kevin Gaughan, of The River Chickens, performing at today’s festival.
Birmingham doomsters Kroh take to the stage at a little after 8pm with a pummelling set, combining the sonic despair of My Dying Bride with slabs of riffage so crunchy; most of those attending will need emergency dental work. The ethereal vocals of frontwoman Oliwia Sobieszek contrasts well with the bands bludgeoning rhythm section on tracks like the haunting Stone into Flesh, one of a couple of gems plucked from an impressive 45 minutes.
Watch this video, by Kevin Gaughan, of Kroh, performing at today’s festival.
Headliners Serpentyne offer a folky alternative to the punishingly heavy, opting instead for a more theatrical approach. Musically, the band combine classic rock overtones with traditional folk instruments including a hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes, whilst lyrically the band draw from everything from Norse Mythology to Medieval folk tales. In full flow, the six-piece are a jaunty affair, with singer Maggiebeth Sand’s classically styled vocals offering plenty of musical drama, as displayed in the epic Dark Queen. However, the additional onstage antics seem a little too over-the-top, marring what is otherwise a solid performance.
Watch this video, by Kevin Gaughan, of Serpentyne, performing at today’s festival.