Wallowing<\/a> play a ferocious form of blackened sludge. They have a twin vocal attack and with both singers hidden beneath black hats and veils they look rather like black metal beekeepers and with a sound excavated from the very depths of hades a Wallowing show is not for the faint-hearted. They set about shaking The Victoria\u2019s foundations to their very core\u2026and they almost succeed. The introduction of samples provides a new and interesting texture to their sound and in a scene that can often be reductive and generic Wallowing are refreshingly original.<\/p>\nDescribing themselves as a \u201cTwo-piece comedy farce band\u201d London\u2019s own Black Shape<\/a> are certainly no joke and if you want to know just how heavy a duo can get then look no further than this pair of aggro merchants. Stomping like a 900lb gorilla the band offer little in the way of redemption as Andrew Cleaver seems intent on pulverising his drum kit to dust while guitarist and vocalist David Burdis eschews solos in favour of a riff-heavy punch. Tracks such as Eat Shit and Die<\/em>\u00a0and Human Hell<\/em>\u00a0are as volatile as their titles suggest and when delivered with hardcore fury, they land a series of knockout blows and Black Shape\u2019s energetic performance sets the bar extremely high for tonight\u2019s headliners.<\/p>\nFollowing their triumphant appearance at this year\u2019s Desertfest dark witch doom duo BlackLab play a more intimate show at The Victoria. These two gigs are the band\u2019s very first outside of Japan and they\u2019ve certainly cast a spell over the UK audience and many of those who witnessed their show at Camden\u2019s Underworld are here tonight. As the band appear wrapped inside a wall of glorious feedback, they ramp up the tension to a point where it almost hurts. Bathed in demonic red light there\u2019s something of a ritual about tonight\u2019s concert and that feeling is heightened by Chia Shiraishi\u2019s tribal drumming and when combined with Yuko Morino\u2019s heavy riffs a hypnotic air is created and a tangible magic electrifies the venue.<\/p>\n