_edited.jpg)
Each August, amongst the trees and rolling hills of the Mendip Hills in Somerset, there comes a great rumble from Fernhill Farm. That rumble would be the sound of all manner of band, from the glorious post-rock groups to the frenetic hardcore acts, detouring between melancholic math-rock and deranged djent. The tenth anniversary of this wonderful event took place between the 14th and 17th of August, and Out Of Rage went down to wish them a big happy birthday as well as to take a peek into the wild world of ArcTanGent Festival.
Arriving on the Wednesday led us to see a few extra bands, which is always a pleasure for any festival goer. The lineup on this first day was as good as ever, and so the opportunity to catch bands like Hidden Mothers, Din Of Celestial Birds, Curse These Metal Hands, And So I Watch You From Afar and more was too good to pass up. Each set was excellent, and the four mentioned in particular performed stellar sets that were all worthy of being in anybody's top five of the weekend.
Thursday was the beginning of the three days with all five stages in use, and we managed to get between all of them a number of times! There was quality up and down the bill, so we chose to start the day with Norwich's Kulk, whose massive sound belied the fact they're just a duo. Their latest album was a stunning listen, and is well worth a look for anyone into their sludgy, Godflesh-esque metal. Catching Pleiades and Oddism afterwards was a refreshing slap to the face of sound, especially with Oddism's vocalist looking so happy to be performing whilst smashing a microphone into his head.
Unpeople and Underdark shared a cruel clash spot but we made time for both, and the enormous, swaggering riffs of the former sounded as large as anyone else on the day which paired perfectly with the latter's icy riffs and bone-chilling sonics. Following up with a bit of Urne, it was all about bands beginning with U and none disappointed as the London trio captivated the crowd in a completely expected display of their musical brilliance. Following on from our U-band collection was sets from Doodseskader, Baroness and Kaonashi who each brought something completely different for the audience at ATG, however they were all received incredibly positively by everyone watching.
Towards the end of the day, we caught Spiritualised playing a breathtaking set of beautifully melancholic music to tee up the day's headliners, and then caught something that was totally the other end of the spectrum. Tokky Horror's final ever festival set was something to behold, with the Strictly Come Dancing theme leading into Insomnia and then one of the most high energy and chaotic sets that has ever been bookended by sad post-rock, Tokky Horror will be a sore loss to the live scene in the UK. However, the aforementioned headline act was Explosions In The Sky and the hour and a half they played was an exquisite display of musical craftsmanship and emotive power for a stunning finish to the day. The tracks off of The Earth Is Not A Cold Dead Place in particular were received with such an outpouring of emotion that it was impossible not to feel swept up in the set, and from beginning to end it was glorious.
Day two was the end of the working week, and to start on Friday we caught Bristol's best Haal for the first half of their set before catching the back half of i Häxa. Moving swiftly into Modern Technology, it was a lovely start to the day that bridged all of the sounds between prog, folk, doom, and noise. British weirdo-metallers El Moono stepped up to the plate to cover for Bipolar Architecture unfortunately being unable to make it, but put on a remarkable set and drew a very healthy crowd which was more than deserved.
Following on from them was the black metal band The Sun's Journey Through The Night, whose enigmatic necrotic frontman riled the crowd up for the most uncompromisingly 'trve metal' set of the day, filled with delightfully evil riffs and demonic howls. Our next stop was at Maruja's set of post-punky jazz, complete with wonderful saxophone moments and high energy throughout! It was then back to black (metal) as Ihsahn took to the main stage in a triumphant performance, followed swiftly by Sigh for yet more black metal in one afternoon, complete with fake blood and masses of fans.
As the evening went on, it was time for some fun in the shape of the Adidas-clad Norwegian/Australian band Blood Command. Their high energy mix of hardcore, black metal, pop and everything else you can think of is only made better by the violently enjoyable stage show they put on, and tracks like 'Forever Soldiers Of Esther' and 'A Villain's Monologue' were a treat in a live setting. But even they, after their fiery show, couldn't stand up to the Meshuggah juggernaut that rolled onto the main stage in terrifying fashion. Live classics like 'Demiurge' and 'Future Breed Machine' rocked the tent as they would anywhere else, but it was of course the oft-mentioned, rarely played ObZen brainmelter 'Bleed' that stole headlines and blew the roof of the tent right off, as well as plenty in the vicinity.
Alas, as it always does, Saturday came too soon, but brought with it plenty of worthwhile sets to catch! Torpor started off our day and gave us a much needed rush to the head in order to really get into the swing of things before Maebe showed off some excellent playing ability that belied their early billing. Thank were our next choice of act, and the Leeds punk quartet smashed their slot with a viscious set, packed with angst and vitriol, and also long song names such as their most recent single 'Writing Out A List Of All The Names Of God'.
KENMode took to the stage shortly afterwards, and with all the subtlety of a bull in a china shop they pulverised the ArcTanGent crowd in the most memorable of fashions. The main stage's big screen came into heavy use for the next set, Scaler, whose electronic show was amplified enormously by the mesmerising visuals behind them. Cork's own dance/mathcore blend band God Alone were our next stop and the incredible mixture of groove, bounce, riffs and growls was incredibly enjoyable in a way few bands could replicate. Clashing with them was the NY black metal jazz crew Imperial Triumphant, and whilst they may have been masked that didn't disguise the fun they were so obviously having onstage, ripping through chaotic, abrasive sections with utter aplomb and nuclear energy.
As we neared the end of our stay at Fernhill Farm, and we decided to get ourselves over to the second set of the weekend by And So I Watch You From Afar, which ended up being a full playthrough of their new album 'Megafauna' and was worth every second of time we spent there. Nottingham's Earthtone9 made our list too, and having released the album the festival is named after it would've been a veritable criminal act not to see them! The group chugged through an excellent half set before we rushed off to watch the Brontide reunion, which was also more than worth our time. A different end of music to the previous act but their beautiful sound was a wonderful way to round up almost our entire time at the festival, with but one act left on our list before rushing off.
Having to get away before final headline act Mogwai was a sad realisation, but it did mean that Electric Wizard would be the last act playing to us which was a very soothing piece of information. The kings of stoner metal retained their crown with a groove laden, weed toking, bong-rippingly good set that could have induced a second hand high off of the dopamine from their riffs for a good thirty miles. Leaving with that ringing in our ears kept the smiles plastered on for miles, and is just another example of the brilliance ArcTanGent always manages to provide. Fernhill Farm, we will be back.
Words: Jake Longhurst
Photos - Wed: Joe Singh
Photos - Thurs: Carl Battams
Photos - Fri + Cover: Derek Bremner
Photos - Sat: Johnathan Dadds
Comments