New Cross Inn, New Cross, London, UK9th August 2022
Stormborn & Support: Yavenirie Amok, Heathen Kings and Ravenhym
Tonight’s entertainment was to be had in the other country that is sarf Lunnen (South London) in the New Cross Inn. This is a venue that has been putting on musical events for years and is situated between New Cross and New Cross Gate train stations. So, whether you are travelling from London Bridge Station or travelling on the London Overground the venue is easy to get to albeit far from the bright lights of the West End. The train stations are also convenient for evacuation purposes because apart from attending a gig at the New Cross Inn I don’t know why anyone would want to come to New Cross. It’s an awful, dirty and graffiti ridden place that reminds me of areas of Berlin and Leipzig. The indiscriminate tagging and gaudy use of spray paint does nothing for the area apart from demeaning it and exuding an attitude of “Fuck You!” and “I’ve given up!”
Anyway, the bands on the roster tonight are YAVENIRIE AMOK, HEATHEN KINGS, RAVENHYM and STORMBORN. I’ve never seen or heard these artists before and to see them you had to pay £10 on your bankcard, no cash was accepted. That’s a red flag to me, duly noted! I am a die-hard cash enthusiast so denying me the choice to use cash will severely impact on my attendance at future events, no matter who plays. This deep dive into the cashless society since the beginning of Covid sticks in my craw. What’s more inconvenient than privacy and a few grams of notes in your pocket? It’s hard work lifting all that paper out of your wallet and purse and those coins must weigh you down, eh? I must stop myself going down this avenue for a rant and stick to the matter at hand, which is the bands, so here goes...
Yavenirie Amok
First on the bill tonight are a female fronted 3-piece “Pagan fronted psych infused art folk” band with undertones of Goth who hail from Poland. They are called YAVENIRIE AMOK and are London based. https://www.facebook.com/yaveniriemusic
Music & Performance
Yeah, they were alright, the set was around 30 minutes long, the sound wasn’t quite right for me, it was a bit flat and sparse but the guitarist / vocalist Zuza Tehanu had an interesting aura about her and a Janis Joplin / Mary Hopkins tone to her voice. Being the first band on the crowd was thin on the ground and mainly people who already know who the band are and of course you’d expect appreciative support. I was quietly interested. I’ll keep my eye on these guys!
Rating
Music: 6.5
Performance: 7
Light: 6
Sound: 6
Total: 6.5 / 10
Heathen Kings
It’s 8:40pm and next on were HEATHEN KINGS who are old school metal and IRON MAIDEN / DIO inspired. They hail from Suffolk and have been in existence since 2020. To date they’ve released three singles, ‘In The Hall Of The Kings’, ‘A Song For Denethor’ and ‘The Heart Of The Mountain Horde’ all released in 2021. The subject matter that inspires them comes from History, Fantasy literature and art and Tolkien. More info can be found here: https://heathenkings.bandcamp.com/
Music & Performance
The riffs were tight and melodic and they went down well with the crowd but none let go and headbanged, everyone just stood foot tapping and arms folded. As the set went on, the band got more into what they were doing and even left the stage to noodle their guitars in the sparsity of the crowd gathered in front of them. I’ve got nothing really negative to say really other than the sound mix which was a bit tinny in places. Other than that, if you like NWOBHM / Old School Metal you can’t go far wrong with this.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance:7
Light: 6
Sound: 6
Total: 7 / 10
Ravenhym
Next up were London / Kent based RAVENHYM who are fronted by the bag piped wind of Vaughn Grandin who also blows the bags for HUGINN AND MUNINN and SERPENTYNE. He’s been on the gig circuit for years and is comfortable on small pub stages like this or on larger grandiose platforms like the Karlin Forum in Prague. The band is another 3-piece consisting of the aforementioned bagpipes along bass and drums. I say 3-piece, tonight they are a 4-piece because flautist Jess Bentley. More info can be gleaned by following this link: https://www.facebook.com/Ravenhymnmusic
Music & Performance
Their sound is Neo Medieval, frenetic and hypnotic, the ideal accompaniment to a session of beer drinking in a forest whilst naked and dancing with wild abandon. Again, the sound mix was a bit off for me, nothing to do with the band but the vibe still got across with no bother at all. The set included a Skudrinka (a Macedonian Oro folk dance), a Finnish Levan Polka, a Swedish folk song about a female mountain troll and all this topped off with some medieval dance, I think it was a Carola. So, good wholesome music with a bit of substance to it, not sugary mercantile shyte like an Oxford Street Sweet shop.
Setlist
01. Skudrinka
02. Reels
03. Levan Polka
04. The Gael
05. Herr Mannelig
06. FWTBT
07. Brian Boro
08. Totus Floreo
Rating
Music:7
Performance: 8
Light: 6
Sound:6
Total: 7 / 10
Stormborn
At around 10:20pm headliners STORMBORN took up their positions on the stage to entertain with their brand of metal inspired by the sounds IRON MAIDEN. STORMBORN are based in London and have been active since around 2007. They’ve played all over the UK in that time including at the Maryland Metalfest and Metal To The Masses Gravesend and released numerous singles and a self-titled album. More information can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialStormborn
Music & Performance
STORMBORN were inspired but with the vibe turned up to an emphatic 12. You could not help but notice the vocalist, his body expanded to fill up the stage, “I am here” it exclaimed. The sides of the stage were dressed with large STORMBORN banners just in case you did not know who you were watching. The crowd thickened out for this band and actually started to loosen up a bit and dance. Whilst the singer wailed and warbled and accented a phrase with a strategically placed arm this weirdo in a tracksuit started dancing and annoying a woman in front of me who then pushed him away. He kept hassling her throughout the set and I was expecting at some point that the band would stop playing and call this arsehole out for his behaviour.
No one said a thing until later on when security tried to evict him from the venue. Quite clearly drunk and belligerent he would not play ball. But finally, he got the message and left. What a plank! But why didn’t the band stop? Because they were in that zone, enjoying their performance so that space right in front of them was probably all of a haze? How they performed and the vibe coming from the stage made up for the minor irritations in the sound mix and by the final bars of the final song all were satisfied with a job well done. The only other thing that was annoying and that affected all the bands playing was the ceiling pillar stage right obscured anyone on that side of the stage. If you were stage shy that pillar would have been useful, no one was. For a photographer though it was a minor annoyance.
Rating
Music: 8
Performance:8
Light: 6
Sound: 6
Total: 7 / 10
All pictures by Claudia Black
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