Six-piece bands and The Green Door Store strike an interesting balance, on face value, it’s an impossible task. A tiny stage, two drummers, a synth-wizard, bassist and two guitars – practically, it’s a squeeze, if you want to generate something new, original and innovative; it’s an opportunity to tamper with. So, Paddy Shine centred in the middle of the cobbled floor, Gnod chose the latter and pulled off quite the spectacle along the way.

The Green Door Store sets the perfect boundary for intensity if a band opt to make the most of it, like a bulldog on the end of a tight leash, Gnod were set to take the bull by the horns and make the most it from the off. Arriving onstage to the thundering of two drummers, who showed little remorse for the eardrums of a baying crowd, set the tempo from the off with a slow pulsating electronic drone in the murky background. Lights flared up along the backdrop, changing the spectrum of colour upon every beat struck upon the plastic skins. For a line-up that shape shifts on a frequent basis, Gnod have certainly found their own sound and consistency regardless of the fact that change can stutter some other groups. Songs flutter across Krautrock soundscapes with brutal, to the point lyricism slurred over the top that comments on the political and existential. Sounds are not restrained to electronics however as they dive in and out of post-punk, doom and drone.

Material from Infinity Machines is remarkably underplayed, instead leaving room for Paddy Shine to let forth yelps and screams of punk-infused poetry. This is what sets the scene though, it falls in line between Mark E Smith, Suuns and Dead Meadow. It makes it exciting as the band showcase a real purpose for being onstage and a real desire to actually mean something in a live context. Often carrying a cultish demeanour about themselves, it’s slice of their heavier point of view and particularly focusing upon what noise they can make from the bass-heavy end of the spectrum. It’s immediate and hits you with the force of steam train, songs such as ‘The Mirror’ lurch at you, guitars blister and leave your ears ringing way out to sea. Sounds form with ferocity and the central piece of Paddy Shine extracts all the attention and appreciation the crowd are willing to show.

He has an ability to make members of the crowd gravitate towards him as he passes the microphone around and the crowd who follow his cue of yelling “people” at the top of their lungs through a warped, reverb wiped effect. It is this that gives it a cultish feel, the positioning of him within the centre of the crowd, the command he has over them as the other five hammer away tirelessly behind. ‘Learn To Forgive’ carries as much angst as the aforementioned ‘The Mirror’, it is rare that you see a crowd get so worked up. It feels uncannily as though they are worked up about themselves – annoyed, enraged and for this purpose, Gnod appear cathartic to a certain extent. As a live band, Gnod find themselves falling into the fray with much of the most interesting and confrontational music around, in a similar fashion to Girl Band, Fat White Family and Sleaford Mods, their music is politically and culturally relevant. It is a statement and a ferocious call to arms. It’s solipsistic in the sense it isolates you, it makes you question things around you in your own mind. The rumble of the bass hits you in the gullet and wipes drinks off the table. One of the most forward thinking promoters, Tatty Seaside Town is held culprit for tonight’s entertainment and what they are doing for the city currently is revealing a darker, experimental underbelly. It’s a soundtrack to a black hole. Experimental music has always struggled to find cohesion however, it appears Gnod are separating the mighty from the miserable and with one clean, fuzzy cut, they have found their way into Brighton.

Tom Churchill

Website: ingnodwetrust.tumblr.com
Twitter: twitter.com/gnodgnetwerk