Walking into Slay, Glasgow’s most accommodating mid-size venue for upcoming artists and old favourites, my hopes were high for what the evening promised. The mighty Asomvel, a band whose antics I have followed on social media for some time due to their consistently quality content – giving insight to their tour-lifestyle, on and off-stage escapades and the personality behind the band. Here’s a group that disregards the flash and pomp that modern music gravitates towards and instead establishes their old-school rock and roll sound with simplicity and vigour.
On a side-note!
The rows of Marshall stacks, an eccentric frontman/ bassist, old-school riffs and powerhouse drumming? It’s impossible not to infer a relation between Asomvel and the legendary Motörhead. Stylistically, aesthetically and musically the two are uncanny. However, Asomvel are unapologetic in this approach. Far from being a Motörhead tribute band they bring their own energy and aggression to the music, creating a show that entertains and captivates. It would be selfish to expect this unique embodiment of music to die out because it had ‘been done before’. Asomvel sell an experience that younger generations may not get to encounter otherwise – they keep the sound alive.
And now… back to the gig!
Fresh off a partial tour slot supporting Wolfmother in Europe and digging their heels into this first show in a line of dates around Blighty, Asomvel are eagerly awaited by the growing crowd of onlookers. Following a humorous walk on song in “Gonna Fly Now” (the Rocky theme to the layman), the crowd bristles with anticipation as Asomvel burst onto the stage – running to take their respective positions in a cacophony of denim and leather.
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The air turns heavy as the crowd is met with a blast of noise. Hard, fast and loud; what presents itself to the crowd of 300-strong leather-clad rockers was a low down and dirty heavy metal tune, akin to that of Phil Campbell and the Bastard Sons or Tailgunner. Opening their set with “Louder and Louder”, not a single set of eardrums in the venue disagree with this attestation. The vocals (supplied by Ralph Robinson) come rasping to life, filling the venue with a larger-than-life eccentricity that dominates and enthrals.
The set continues in this fashion throughout the night; beat-perfect and hammering drumming from Ryan Thackwray holds together the barely contained bite of the dual-guitar ensemble. Each member seems created for the stage: precision and aggression combine as Yin and Yang to administer a conclusive and believable assault of true and honest heavy rocking music.
Lenny Robinson, founding member and rock n’ roll veteran, avoids the tumultuous activity of preening and prancing around; preferring instead to carve out his own section of stage in which to deliver his solos – those of which lean towards the metric of feel-orientated rather than driven by technical precision. That being said, what was being laid down was being picked up eagerly by the crowd and complimented, rather than overpowered (a personal vexation), the feel of the song.
Technical issues arise somewhere around the fifth song of the set with the PA cutting out, leaving only the merest of testimonies to what the band are presenting. Asomvel, clearly no strangers to the odd fried wire or dodgy cable, continue on in unwavering fashion – and as the problem alleviates their signature barrage continues to storm through the venue. An issue that may have stumped a lesser band becomes the most meagre of trivialities to Asomvel – scarcely worth mentioning if not to salute the stoic and professional manner in which these hard-rockers lay their rhythm down.
Asomvel’s set hits hard from start to finish. Whilst the similarity between songs makes distinction challenging, the feeling that is transmuted through every note and rasp of vocals is another certification of the band’s dominating prowess. Asomvel prove that the bands we grew up listening to won’t die away anytime soon; that the world still needs rockers that are going to fly the flag and let you know: “If It’s Too Loud, You’re Too Old”.
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Header image by Gary Cooper Photography
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