Misery Loves Co / Iron Monkey / Medulla Nocte

Nottingham, Gestapo City

September 26 1998.


Hello. Welcome readers of YAZ. Or anyone on the net reading this seperately from the zine. You will have to excuse me. I’m drunk. I'm really pissed off as well as being pissed. Pardon? Why you ask? Thankyou, I will tell you. It’s 12.10. Saturday night. Well, 0.10 Sunday morning if you like that sort of thing. I’m pissed off, and I’m sweaty cos I’ve just walked home from the gig. And you know what? You don’t, but I’ll tell you, I just got searched on the way OUT of Rock City. IN I can handle. But OUT. Yeah, that’s right. Mr Rock in Nottingham, voted rock club of the year for I don’t know how many years, has decided that I am worthy of an outwards search. Sorry, but WHY? WHAT DO YOU THINK I AM DOING. WHO DO YOU THINK I AM. For those that don’t know, capitals mean shouting. As in SHOUTING.AS IN PISSED WELL FUCKING OFF. DO I LOOK LIKE A DRUG DEALER? HARMFUL? CRIMINAL? Most of you won’t know to answer that, but I think that if you ever get to know me, then you’ll be able to make a well informed decision. I’ll tell you for nothing, Rock City has a major fucking attitude problem. It tries to stamp over everything in Nottingham. Last week, it stopped it’s hometown heroes from having stagedivers. Pitchshifter in case you are wondering. WAKE THE FUCK UP. THE SUN DOES NOT SHINE OUT OF YOUR ARSES, NO MATTER WHAT YOU MAY FUCKING THINK. Sorry, but my knuckles are fucking red raw, cos I’ve been hitting the fucking walls all the way home. I take serious offence. For those that don’t know me, I don’t even smoke, let alone take drugs. But I do have long hair. And yes, I’m drunk. I’ll admit that. I do fit into the national sterotype for “heavy metal” fans. But one of the last places that I expected to uphold that sterotype was Rock City. But they’ve managed it. Fucking narrow minded wankers. Like everyone else, they’re just interested in the bucks they make. God, sorry, but well, it may have been a woman that searched me, but I can guarrantee that she wasn’t after my body. I AM FUCKING SEETHING. I FEEL LIKE MAKING A FORMAL COMPLAINT TO ROCK CITY. BUT I KNOW THEM. THERE’S NO POINT TELLING THEM, COS THEY’RE NOT ITERESTED. STUCK UP FUCKING HYPOCRITES. I AM REALLY FUCKING MAD. Maybe they think that as I’m leaving so early, I must’ve scored a deal somewhere, and now making my way out. Well sorry, but once the gig is over, there’s fuck all other reason to stay in Rock City. It’s not really as a great a place as they would maybe like to think it is. Sorry, a gig review is meant to be here. Ok, just wait until the morning. I seriously need to calm down. ROCK CITY, IF YOU EVER READ THIS, YOU SERIOUSLY NEED TO GET YOUR FUCKING HOUSE IN ORDER. SOME PEOPLE AND PLACES, SERIOUSLY OVERESTIMATE THEIR OWN IMPORTANCE. Goodnight, I’m going to sleep on this.

Ok, it’s Sunday now, I’ve calmed down a bit. I’ll do the review. But I won’t retract what I’ve written. I know it wasn’t much, and as I wasn’t carrying anything, I shouldn’t be upset. But ‘ve been going to that place for 3 years now, and never been searched coming out. Will they do it to the other maybe 2000 people that were in there? I doubt it. Anyway, first up are Medulla Nocte. The same set as they’ve been playing on all the gigs this year, and once more, it has to be said, they totally blew the other bands away. It is a cliche, but if they were American, people who be wanting to have their babies, they’re so good. Instead, when Paul asks if people have the album, there’s a few mute cries. So I hope some of the others bought a copy after the gig, especially seeing as it was on sale for a hell of a lot less than in the shops. The set seems almost more intense than before. Paul wasn’t lying when he welcomed people to the show with “Iron Monkey, Misery, and some noise from us”. All Our Friends are Dead, though it may not have been a chart hit, finally sees people getting to grips with them. An outstanding band.

It was funny though watching the bloke next to me in a Soulfly shirt. Soulfly, macho. Hard. Honest. And he seemed to enjoy taking the piss out of how hard Medulla seemed to be. Y’know the sort of thing people do. How strange for someone in a Soulfly shirt. Maybe Paul needs to shout Keeeler, and Fuck Shit Up. Then people will take note of this band.

Iron Monkey are next, and I still can’t fathom them I find it hard to get past the wall of noise that is vocalist Morrow. At one point, he introduced a song as “one off the new album, but I don’t know what”. Seems to matter little, as he’ll just throw himself into it anyway. It seems strange to talk of subtlety in this sort of extreme music, but Medulla have the subtlety to make them accessible, while the Monkey don’t.

As for Misery. Well, they’re operating on a different level again. More light and shade I think is one of the more pretentious terms that gets used. And I still only own the first album. Still, the new track, No Exit, sounds like one of the best things that they have actually done yet. So it means that the new album, due out according to Patrik in “six months, 12 months, 3 years, whenever”, could be their best yet. Along with the track Kiss Your Boots, which seems to get most people up and at them. Sort of thing. As does Yet Another One. At least that’s what someone shouted out for, and that’s what they got. And they leave the stage to feedback which isn’t quite as impressive as that of Iron Monkey, who do good feedback. Even if they overdo it.

Sorry, crap review. I got, er, pissed off by events.