FESTIVAL REVIEW: Uprising 2023 - a victory for post-Covid live music
There were plenty of bands I wanted to see again, a few I wanted to see for the first time and also a good few surprises in the pack.
Let's dive right in...
It's my first time seeing Feral State, the openers on the third stage. Their vocalist Joe is also a member of Bile Caster, who I've seen a few times and played the pre-party the night before. Feral State are on the opposite end of the musical spectrum - though they have some groovy moments, most of the set is relentlessly frantic and breakneck-paced. It's proper angry, old-school, fist-pumping D-beat hardcore, and the band bring a great energy with them. Pretty much every track cuts to the throat with a direct attack and the riffs are killer. Joe's brutal vocal pipes suit this style of music just as well as they do the sludge doom of his other band. The tunes turn a few at the front into crazed, moshing lunatics - you might say it brought them into a feral state.
The local MuddiBrooke are on next, whose grungy anthems bring a classic, timeless quality to them, sounding somewhat vintage but not dated. The lead vocal performance from Harriet is enchanting but with moments of real bite as the song dictates for it. This is matched with a warm and crisp guitar sound and a tasteful drum performance. I find their set really enjoyable, with excellent songwriting and hooks that stay in your head after they've played. It's easy to find a track such as Fake It or Liverpool Guy on streaming after the show and remember it from the performance.
MuddiBrooke - Fake It (live at Uprising 2023)
It's really unfortunate that they clash with Lowen, who I've wanted to see for a while. It's a complete change of mood, with sprawling doom metal emanating out of the PA. The quality is exceptional, and you can see why there was a bit of a buzz around Lowen's set prior to the event. Lowen take inspiration from Middle Eastern music in their songwriting, which can be heard in the drones and rhythms, giving their set a ritualistic quality. Singer Nina holds a firmly graceful stage presence in the centre throughout the set, even over the more extreme moments when her bandmates let loose and thrash around. It's certainly of note how inventive and comfortable the drummer is with very slow doom passages as well as frenetic blastbeats. It's a deeply powerful and hypnotic performance from a quartet with a bright future ahead.
The heavy-rocking, aggressive stoner sludge of Master Charger can be heard shaking the walls of the Green Room before you reach the door. With wonderfully dirty, throat-shredding vocals, pounding drum patterns and mountains of detuned riffs, Master Charger always put on a fun yet commanding performance and today is no different. Their long-established set classics such as Death Trails and Embers of the Sun deliver, but their hints towards the horizon are just as exciting. Introducing a snarling rendition of the brand new Social Witch Hunt as a 'song about when society really pisses you off', due out very soon, Master Charger show that there's plenty of heaviness still to come, and enough bullshit in the world to keep the riffs coming.
Master Charger - One for Sorrow (live at Uprising 2023)
Slightly different to the rest of the bands on the bill, but very deserving of their high slot on the main stage, are Palm Reader. Utilising an atmospheric, shoegazey take on post-hardcore, with shades of Deftones, they bring a fantastic energy with them and with seven on stage boast a mighty visual presence. It's cool to see a few of them take the weight on backing vocals - and it certainly helps to bring about a supremely powerful performance. The sung, melodic vocals are excellent and blend in really nicely with the harsher screams, while the frontman has a real knack of speaking to the crowd - telling people to buy merch from any band, not just Palm Reader, for example. As a unit they're watertight and the songs are killer.
As the first notes of Gentle Clovis ring out, the second room begins to fill out very quickly for Boss Keloid. Led by Alex Hurst's signature prance across the stage and mischievous facial expressions, Boss Keloid let their sublime stoner-prog wash over the crowd for half an hour. They play songs from four albums, most notably with the lysergic deep cut Skipper's Pipes from the almost 10-year-old The Calming Influence of Teeth and the closing Chronosiam, which rounds off proceedings with a rousing, crowd-participative singalong. The trippy vocal effects over Lung Mountain are also very cool. I'm always wowed by how seemingly easy they make grooving in some very spicy time signatures - the sea of nodding heads would agree. Are they ever anything less than spellbinding?
Boss Keloid - Smiling Thrush (live at Uprising 2023)
Saor provide what has to be one of the sets of the day. Opening with the majestic Origins, its major-key outro brings a pure rush of endorphins very early on. Their use of traditional pipes is a nice touch and I enjoy how their take on folk metal, traditionally implying Scandinavian folk, has a distinct Britishness or Celticness. It gives the music a distinctive ethereal quality, while the blackened parts are incredibly tight. Aura is another set highlight at the very end, home to some excellent grooves. Saor are adept at shifting from the minor key to the parallel major and giving the performance a real sense of emotivity. They are also highly skilled at sitting on a folky melody and switch it up without getting boring or stale. Wonderful musicianship all round.
The allure of an old-school Combichrist set is enough to fill out a lot of the second stage despite a very difficult decision having to be made regarding clashes. But Combichrist deliver, turning the room into a hyperactive, demented gothic rave with energy that just does not wane for the full hour. Starting the set with an explosive At the End of It All, the crowd go wild from the first second - equally, though, there's something about the set that just headlocks you in, maintaining its spell until the last notes die out. Celebrating a full twenty years of Combichrist, frontman Andy is a formidable energy, performing with the same vigour as you may expect from an act starting to climb the ladder, let alone headlining the second stage here today.
Paradise Lost - Faith Divides Us Death Unites Us (live at Uprising 2023)
Main stage headliners and today's undisputed focal point Paradise Lost play to a very full main room today. A set brimming with excellent stage presence and excellent songs, they draw from all eras of Paradise Lost to really treat the audience. Big-name tunes like Say Just Words or Faith Divides Us obviously go down a complete storm, rousing mega-singalongs, but it's easy to forget what a punch the super-vintage material has, such as Gothic or True Belief. It's certainly a heavy set, begrudged by no one.
It wouldn't be a Paradise Lost set without Nick Holmes' dry wit. 'Are you drinking?', he asks after one of their songs. 'Plenty of water, I hope...' he chuckles, after a fairly rowdy affirmation in response. It's Paradise Lost's first UK show with new drummer Guido in tow. With a tough act to follow after previous sticksman Waltteri departed for Opeth last year, he delivers a confident and powerhouse performance, signalling a new era for the band. With only two songs from 2020's Obsidian, are we already seeing hints of a seventeenth record to come?
Overall, a confident and commanding headline from one of the UK's finest ever.
A final shoutout to Simon for putting together a fantastic event and also to Dan for running the press area.
There are plenty more videos to come - check out my Uprising YouTube playlist, which at time of writing is far from complete, and please subscribe to my channel while you're there.
Catch you all at Desertfest London or Ruination Festival over the next couple of weekends. Peace out.
MN
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