As Night Falls / HYPERSTASIS / Jeanicelee Bannerman’s Edinburgh 17th February 2023

I had been feeling a bit self-conscious as this was the first time I had travelled to a gig using my old codgers free bus pass, but at least I was still game for some contemporary metal sounds, unlike a few of my friends who I thought might be at Bannerman’s, but who actually went to The Playhouse to see Showaddywaddy instead. WTF?

There was still a pretty good turnout of discerning rock fans on a cold night, many of them there primarily to support popular local favourite, Jeanice Lee, and her eponymous band. After a slightly delayed sound check, they opened with the vicious one-two punch of ‘Overhaul’ and a strident ‘Back in Your Cage’ from the ‘Urban Legends’ album, with Marco Morelli switching effortlessly from ferocious riffing to fluid guitar soloing and back again. There is a slightly new look to the band, with long-time drummer, Tony Hodge, now joined by Jamie Hunter on bass and together with Edinburgh’s premier power-couple, Marco and Jeanice, they rock up a storm, notably on a particularly cohesive and absorbing rendition of ‘From the Ashes’. It is an over-used word, but this bands’ music can genuinely be described as ‘incomparable’, combining a striking visual dynamic with complex music and cerebral lyrics, all delivered in a uniquely accented and nuanced vocal style. The band will get an opportunity to showcase their music to a larger crowd on 16th September when they support Wishbone Ash at The Queens’s Hall and I suspect they will need to bring a lot of copies of ‘Urban Legends’ to satisfy demand at the merch table once they’re finished.

HYPERSTASIS were the next band. It was difficult to find out much about them in advance, but they seem to be an Anglo-polish trio from Dundee, although the charming bass-playing front man sounded nothing like Bob Servant, maybe other than when announcing their second tune; ‘Fuck You’. They certainly hit you right between the eyes and ears with a high-volume, high-energy set of down-tuned industrial groove-metal. Apparently, they have previously performed with a female lead singer who recently left, so their performance is largely instrumental tonight, other than some vocal emphasis on their opening number and one other song. They are technically very good and deliver some quite intricate music, like ‘Standing Still’ and the bouncy, angry prog of ‘Sideways’, without missing a beat. They complement their brutal and bombastic music with some nice self-deprecating wit. At one point, the bass player described himself as still being madly in love with a brand-new song; ‘like in a honeymoon period’, before remembering that his wife of twelve years was in the audience. He then faked a bass tune-up to buy himself some time to think up a way to dig himself out of that particular hole, which he managed quite successfully in the end. HYPERSTASIS feature on all of the dates on this short European tour, including their first shows outside of Scotland, and they seem to have some kind of a ‘school exchange’ thing going with their Polish friends, As Night Falls, and the two bands appear to have developed a special bond.

As Night Falls have released several EPs and a couple of albums, but this is the first time they have reached Scotland from their home in Katowice, Poland. It is clear from the outset that they are very accomplished musicians and they have an obvious focal point in Anna Achtelik; an excellent singer who steps out from behind her tree-like mike stand to mount a step-riser and interact directly with an audience who seemed to be instantly impressed. Most of the songs in the set come from their most recent album ‘Awareness’ including ‘Before We Go Blind’, ‘Never Look Back’ and the quite brilliant ‘Shackles of the Mind’ which is one of the best songs I’ve heard so far this year. Their songs are built on strong guitar and keyboards-based foundations and they appear to utilise a small pool of English language lyricists to provide the words to go on top, other than one excellent song which is delivered in their native tongue and which certainly gets the follicles flying down the front. At times their melodies soar symphonically and at other times they hammer out some enthralling power metal. Before the end a mosh pit broke out, including a guy in a mask who might have been either a Lucha Libre Mexican wrestler or a gimp, or both, and it was good to see all the other bands on the bill rocking out down the front too. There was a really warm and friendly vibe going on all night, both on and off the stage, with some performers wearing the T-shirts of other bands on the bill and everyone pitching in with any equipment issues.

At the end of the gig, which only cost £8 in advance or £10 at the door (with a ‘real’ ticket stub), I made sure I picked up a copy of ‘Awareness’ and I was delighted to get a signed copy of a book-format CD with a sticker and a fridge magnet for only £10. In a week when I was reading about ‘big’ bands charging £40 for a T-shirt, it just emphasised to me that, if you look closely enough, there is some absolutely brilliant music out there by relatively unknown bands that are working their arses off to travel and play for fans and provide affordable merchandise. I’m certainly glad I took the chance to attend, despite this being my third gig in five nights, and all three of these bands are worthy of your support and a quick listen on social media or a streaming service at the very least.

After all that, it was time for me to go for a little walk – but not under the moon of love like Showaddywaddy – it was more like a long walk under the pishing rain and freezing fog of Old Edinburgh for my (free) last bus home. It was worth it though.