Turbowolf at The Relentless Garage, London

The loudest gig of the year, my ears were ringing for at least two days after this one! Also published on Grapevinelive.co.uk

Wednesday 10th October 2012, The Relentless Garage, London
Review by Ryan Whitwell


As I write this I'm sitting on the train home from seeing Turbowolf at The Relentless Garage, London (10-10-2012). I'm writing it now because I have an amazing memory that is amazing in that it forgets almost everything in record time.

I (and the rest of the crowd) were lucky enough to have 3 support acts tonight; Throne, Wet Nuns and the tour regulars Black Moth, so I’ll write a bit about those three before going on about Turbowolf.

So, first up was Throne. I missed the beginning of their set but as soon as I walked in I felt the jaw shattering bass macerate my teeth. Really good heavy metal, loads of dark and weighty bass-lines, musically reminiscent of the best parts of Black Sabbath. There were hints at other possible influences like Black Label Society and maybe a touch of Grand Magus. All together some really solid, steady, dark and heavy music, a great way to start the night!

A short while later it was Wet Nuns’ turn to continue the onslaught of dirty heavy metal. Standing at the back near the bar and the merch, the two piece came on to give our internal organs a good mashing. With a two piece band many think Death From Above 1979 and yes, they did remind me of them a bit at times but they seemed a bit more, well, mental! Lots of energy, sweat, loudness and loads of interesting stuff (even with only a drum kit and a guitar). The first number wasn't my thing, a bit too distorted and a more a cacophony of noise than a song, but then they continued and displayed a range of songs that I didn't expect, some stoner rock and punk styles with a few sections sounding almost bluesy. This resulted in the converting of myself along with a few of my mates to consider listening to them at home, of course it's important to mention they are a band when suggesting you 'like Wet Nuns' and as they started the set with a murmur of applause they to finished with a whole room full of new fans, because there's nothing quite like the sound of Wet Nuns on stage... Ok moving on.

Black moth have been the support for the duration of Turbowolf’s current tour. A friend told me that he had listened to some of their stuff online and they were good so we headed towards the front (although mixing with the ‘real’ fans at the front can feel a bit odd, like you're the only one that doesn't know the words). The group came out to rapturous cheers and applause from the front rows and as soon as the first chord was struck the heads banged and I could tell I was going to like this band.

Black Moth have a real classic metal feel drifting from thrash to something darker and a touch of punk to create a really rich and varied set list that I really enjoyed and the thoughts of other . Lots of great vocal sections with a few guitar solos and tempo/rhythm changes that were almost akin to the likes of Iron Maiden, which I liked a lot. It all added up to a great band that I will be sure to keep an ear on (which is why I put my email address on their mailing list).

Here we go folks. Turbowolf were the only reason I got the ticket, but on the minuscule chance they didn't deliver I could still say this night was a fantastic night, that was how much I enjoyed the support acts.

And Turbowolf delivered, in fact I'd say they brought along a lot more than I was expecting. I barely remember the last time I saw Turbowolf (I think they were supporting Black Spiders at the same venue), this current tour is their first headline tour and if tonight is anything to go by it has been an awesome example of what can happen if you build up a strong following as a support act before going all out and giving those early fans something to behold, because without fans a band cannot succeed and by the looks of it Turbowolf were on a mission to prove they are worthy of their brilliant fans because Turbowolf were amazing.

The energy, the sound, the volume all cranked to maximum and whatever was left of us after the brilliant support was well and truly blown away. The pit needed no encouragement and swelled in size as the band played tracks off their album (Roses for the Crows and Read + Write being real crowd favourites) and a couple of covers from their new covers Ep (which are now combined as a deluxe edition on iTunes but still separate if you already have the regular album).

For those of you that maybe don’t know who Turbowolf are, it's kind of hard to describe without just telling you to listen to their music. I guess the closet band I can think of sound wise is some of Eighties Matchbox B-Line Disaster’s stuff but there are still too many differences (like the vocals, levels of distortion). Turbowolf like to experiment with sound plus their cover art and merchandise have some surreal images so at first glance you might assume they'd be classed as 'prog rock' and that would be quite a way from how they actually sound. The distortion and energy suggests 'punk' or 'thrash' but the synth, keys and the odd samples point towards experimental/psychedelic genres so I’m going to bail out and say Turbowolf are a genre of their own, which is why they deserve your attention and why I can't wait to hear more from them. Even more so as they played a new track that sounded great!

TL;DR Fantastic gig, I was happy enough to pay to see Turbowolf alone, but to have three new bands that I want to hear more of means the whole evening has been a great success!

Throne (I’m having trouble finding anything online for this East London based band, but there is a good introduction to them here www.spoonfed.co.uk/spooners/domzig-172/listen-here-throne-6953/ so have a look)

Wet Nuns can be found on Facebook, here www.facebook.com/wetnuns where they have a few tracks on their Band Page

Black Moth are also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/themothpit with a couple of tracks and a store link

Turbowolf are on Facebook here www.facebook.com/turbowolf and Myspace here www.myspace.com/turbowolfband



I got a video of Black Moth that isn't on the Grapevine site, but the quality leaves a lot to be desired...