scruffy murphys

Tour of the Valkyries - Night 1

Standard weekend routine: get my ass down to my beloved Scruffy Murphy’s to photograph a selection of the undergrounds finest metal acts. Last night I was treated to the wonderful ‘The Loved and Lost’; this would actually be the sixth time I’ve had the pleasure of photographing them live and they never disappoint. In tow were the superb Novacrow; a band I’d had the honour of performing with a couple of years back in Wolverhampton with my old band IDE. It’s fair to say that they’ve really grown as a band and are smashing it!!

Joining the lineup were Bled The Fifth and Gallows high, both of which were totally new to me but I was really impressed with both bands. Both absolutely nailed it.

Morbid Black Trinity

I recently made my way down to my favourite venue; Scruffy Murphy’s to capture the EP release show of the local black metal ‘Master’s Call’. I had caught Master’s Call once before back in late 2017 at the Slade Rooms Wolverhampton and was taken back by their dominating stage presence. Their EP release show was no different, with incense filling the air and a room full of hardened black metal fans behind me, we were in for a good night. Support was filled by ‘Opus Mortis’ and the enigmatic ‘Burden of the Noose’.

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Feel the ground shake.

As much as I enjoy being in a large venue surrounded by thousands of screaming music fans, there’s nothing like being in a cramped small room being pummelled by the finest local talent. Last night I made my way down to to my favourite local venue ‘Scruffy Murphys’ to photograph a night of doom metal hosted by Subversive Promotions.

It’s a shame that so many venues are closing down, it means that people are no longer getting the chance to share the experience of a sweaty horrible underground show. Doom metal isn’t for everyone so we need our smaller venues to ensure that niche music forms can live on. Thankfully bands like Voidlurker, King Corpse, Tumanduumband and Callous Hands are waving the flag for proper authentic doom and hopefully inspiring more people to check out the genre and with any luck get down to more underground shows.