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| date | venue | source |
| 11.05.03 | the monarch, camden | dot:alt |
the last time miocene played a show was when all the suckers left to ozzfest last year, allowing them to stage a secret pub gig which was all leftfield jazz improv. outside of miocene's direct community, the popular opinion seems to be that they've released an unsuccessful experimental EP, and... well, fucked off. this couldn't be further from the truth - for the past twelve months, they've been reclusively growing, developing, creating.
tonight, in response to the increasing pressure on them to provide something - anything - to follow up cellular memory, they have welled-up for a one-off showcase of new material. You could cut the tension with a big fat fucking chainsaw.
the quartet rush onto the stage. they are fidgety, and obviously not a little bit nervous about the impending reaction to their new material. they open with a nocturnal jazz instrumental, leo brushing his cymbals softly and ben playing beautiful vibraphone keyboards. the mood is so set. the moody buildup doesn't take long to explode into some of the most ferocious metal i've ever had the pleasure to hear. miocene are heavy as fuck tonight, but they're not screaming with their lungs about horribly overused satanic imagery, and they don't sound ridiculous. Instead, they are sheer, brutal poignancy.
ben has developed a vocal style that shifts between roaring, quick-fire and rhythmic singing, occasionally stretching out longer notes into a mournful soar, and blistering spoken-word, ringing with immediacy, as if to scream SOMETHING HAS TO BE DONE NOW!
"at this point, you're probably thinking 'what the FUCK have i let myself in for'", says ben in the first of the longer breaks between songs. it's all been fairly metal thus far, and i'm wondering if anyone really is thinking that. it seems the band's anxiousness has left them a little stand-offish...
it takes a couple of songs but eventually, the pit goes off, and all I can see is four people on stage, writhing in slow motion, soundtracked by some of the most textured guitar music I can imagine. suddenly, as graham's metallic guitar noise at what seems to be the end of a song begin to fade out , Leo slips into a double-time breaky beat on the cymbals, eventually picking it up on the snare as well. what he is playing is a pure jungle-beat drop, straight off a goldie track. there isn't a drum machine in
sight. when the whole beat is finally unleashed and alex picks up the bass, it's unbelievable. it takes over me, while some of the people around me just stop and stare.
tonight, miocene are creating music with just voice, guitars, drums and keyboards. this is only half of the impending experience, and already all of our jaws are on the floor as we are ushered out of london's premier toilet venue. lets make this clear - miocene have NOT fucked off. they're still very much here, and soon they're going to put out something very special.
XvS
(c) & (p) 2005 www.miocene.org & www.danielemile.co.uk