Sleep & A Storm Of Light - Live at the University of Leeds

Sleep, one of the progenitors of the stoner rock/metal genre in the early 90's, reunited a few years ago, much to the delight of large sections of the metal underground. This was the first time the band had visited this part of the country in a long while, and anticipation was high. A Storm Of Light did a good job warming the crowd up, even if their brand of post metal is a little generic and uninspiring. Sleep blew away all memories of them, however, with a memorising performance. The set began with some of the dirtiest guitar you'll hear courtesy of Matt Pike, droning on hypnotically for about five minutes unaccompanied, before Al Cisneros and Jason Roeder joined in, producing an unbelievable cacophony akin to the lumbering of great mammoths. Most of the gig consisted of songs flowing seamlessly into each other, but the highlight of the set was the epic title track from 1993's Holy Mountain, a gargantuan psychedelic journey with devastating dynamics and sludgy rhythms. Even though Matt and Al's bellies have expanded since the bands heyday, their musical talents have as well - both guys are masters of their instruments and it's a joy to watch and listen to, and although purists might be a bit put out by the presence of Neurosis sticksman Jason Roeder in place of original drummer Chris Haikus, it isn't to the detriment of the band whatsoever. Leeds Uni hadn't shook with this kind of subsonic energy since Electric Wizard graced Damnation Festival with their presence back in 2009 - it was a pleasure to witness these Californian legends in their element.

Nate Hall - A Great River

Psychedelic/doom/folk rockers US Christmas are hot property in the underground. Eat Of The Low Dogs and Run Thick In The Night are two of the most awe inspiring, innovative and heartfelt records released in the last five years. Alternating between Hawkwind-esque synth,huge spacy guitar freakouts and gorgeous acoustic songs that recall the beauty of artists such as Neil Young, they are incredible pieces of music. Nate Hall, leader of USX, decided to follow his contemporaries Scott Kelly, Steve Von Till and Scott 'Wino' Weinrich and go on a solo sojourn, with A Great River being released earlier this month.

 Despite the excellent opener The Earth In One Cell and the title track, this release seems somewhat lacking. The few acoustic tracks on Run Thick In The Night stand out ahead of anything on this record. Raw Chords sounds too much like Peaceful Valley Boulevard off Neil Young's latest release to be enjoyable. Often it feels like there's too much going on, too many layers when the music doesn't require them. Take the simple, aching chords of Mirror Glass and Fire Is Sleeping, with tasteful backing violin. This is what I was hoping A Great River would sound like. Nate's increasing penchant for instrumental interludes is noticeable here - unlike on RTITN it detracts from the flow and serves to highlight the paucity of actual songs.

Nevertheless, Nate Hall's own brand of music stands out on this release - it's unique and promising, but just not there in it's execution. I can't see myself returning to this record with the same fervour as If I Should Fall To The Field or The Wake, but any future releases by USX or it's mainman will still eagerly be anticipated.

 6.5/10