So Saturday night i was out at what i can only describe as possibly the most in your face insane hardcore shows I have ever been to in my entire life. words that I write will not really accurately describe the mayhem that witnessed.

I was out at the Gryphon for an all day hardcore/grindcore all dayer, you know the kind of event where you have multiple numbers of bands playing, none of them playing for longer than about 10 or 15 mins, because otherwise the bands would lose their intensity!. Having only been to the Gryphon on a fleeting visit before I have to say it is one of the most welcoming pubs in Bristol.

I personally knew that I was letting myself in for when I saw Witch Cult were on the bill. If you have ever come across this band then you will know what an ultimate attack to the senses they are and if you havent heard of them then I really recommend that you check them out.  Personally, I think their record is one of the best things released last year! it is to the core of what Power Violence stands for, anger and pure rage.

So I had a good idea of what the other bands would be like and from my friends descriptions I knew it was going to be a bit tasty. I mean I didn’t come expecting sitting down cross-legged singing Kumbaya My Lord, although it would have been quite funny.

It’s fair to say that I could easily describe the Gryphons function room as being cosy. It actually feels like you are in someones living room. With about 100 or more people shoehorned in. It was just the right kind of size to generate the perfect atmosphere for any of extreme forms of music. it was possibly the only time I have been to a gig and they have had to clear the entire room so they could switch around equipment in-between the bands.

This here is a video of Witch Cult playing a gig in Bournmouth which was probably at least twice the size if not bigger then the function room in the Gryphon. I used it just to give you guys the jist of what they are like live. And they really are amazing. They actually stated that this was the best gig that they had ever played and it did go off in a big way.

So to the highlights, of which there were 3 bands that really stood out for me! I mean there was the aforementioned Witch Cult, Bear Trap who hailed from Massachusetts basically like the modern version of Converge, delivering every blast with such intensity that it feels like a punch to the guts as they physically man handle the audience in the true spirit of hardcore.

Here is a video of one of their european shows from last year, it would have been just too mental to video their show.

From the off Bear Trap pretty much swung into the audience with a nucleus of an atomic styled explosion from the audience. There were points where there were bodies flying over the top of me, and I am not a small guy.

Unsu actually had a circle pit and a wall of death break out during their show, it was like a positive wall of anger. I know that is a contradiction in terms but it was genuinely how I felt about the show. They had elements of old school Crust and Grindcore mixed together.

It was as every bit as annihilating as I can put into words really, it’s the kind of music that functions on the whole DIY ethics of punk rock. It would lose all of its impact on a big stage. and I think that music like Grindcore Power Violence and Hardcore serves its purpose as Anger Therapy.