Words: Keira Trethowan | Photos: Craig Taylor - Broad
Truro’s music scene was previously akin to a desperately flailing, dead fish. So the concept of monthly metal nights at Mustard & Rye are something that we should all be welcoming with eagerly open arms – and August’s offering was a tremendous leap towards salvation.
Opening were a lusciously devised instrumental group, consisting of members from other talented Cornish bands. Canned Peaches were almost everything that I admire from an instrumental group: They were solid in their group dynamics, aptly layered in their sound, sauntering from serenity to histrionic intensity, and they were very obviously well-rehearsed. Yet there was an element of energy missing from their set; a physical and emotional energy that instrumental bands need to possess.
It was always going to be challenging for a non-vocal band to impress me after seeing the jaw-dropping screamo marvel that are Fall of Messiah. But Canned Peaches are certainly heading in the right direction, and maybe a touch of inspiration from the aforementioned band wouldn’t go amiss.
Next up were my favourite Cornish oddity: Cybernetic Witch Cult. It would be easy to brand them as being nonsensical and utterly ridiculous, but it’s their surreal and galactic demeanor that make them so incalculably watchable. They’re a band who know how to weave a story of absurdity into a metal experience that you just can’t keep your eyes away from, and their Friday night set was no exception.
With their stage presence consisting of their usual concoction of passion and commitment, the three-piece injected a colourful dose of fictional opulence into the venue, and took the audience to a galaxy far away, populated by wizards, dinosaurs and magic. In their sound they’re the lovechild of Evil Scarecrow and Black Sabbath, and this fusion of genes made for one hell of a performance.
Cybernetic Witch Cult are like being French kissed by a bomb, and if could reside in their fictional realm a lot more often, then it would make me a very happy girl indeed.
Completing the impressive line-up were Kernuyck, a trio who always manage to blow my anticipations sky-high. Being the crème de la crème of the Cornish metal scene must be exhausting, but the three-piece do it with such ease.
With a fiercely loving attitude towards their craft, the band bore a performance of vast talent and demonstrated just how metal should be. They merely have this unparalleled ability to create an energy through their music, and it’s a convention that I’ve witnessed on such few occasions. I’m still unable to articulate exactly what it is that makes them so aurally appealing, but they’re doused in a mysterious cloud of head-hanging impress regardless, and this notable quality only magnified during their set.
To me, Kernuyck are merely akin to a rare breed of zoo animal that you can’t quite figure out, so your stand in awe, tilting your head from side-to-side gazing in an impressed state of awe. Friday night has proven that this awe is warranted, and whoever came to the event in search of sweat and metal perfection did not leave disappointed.
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