Green Lung / Rescue Rooms / Nottingham

Nov 27

Nov 27 Green Lung / Rescue Rooms / Nottingham

This is the headline tour I’ve been waiting for. I’ve been enjoying Green Lung since their debut album came out “Woodland Rites” in 2019. Then in 2021 they signed with Nuclear Blast Records and released the album “Black Harvest”. We saw them live for the first time in late 2022, supporting Clutch on their tour at Rock City and they delivered an impressive set. A band on the rise and building a cult status with their unique blend of uniquely British occult / pagan metal, evident in that every date on the “A Journey into Occult Albion” has sold out.

The Rescue Rooms packed out early for the support act Boss Keloid. Not a band I had heard of before but the lads from Wigan put on one hell of a show tonight. A great doom metal band, along the lines of Pallbearer, Møl, Morag Tong and Urne. Their style has an abrasive, hard edge to it with tracks like Smiling Thrush, Orang Of Noyn and Hats The Mandrill which are all intricate and deliver on the heavy prog styling.

Guitarist and singer Alex Hurst is an excellent frontman, engaging effortlessly with the crowd, building up each track and joking between songs, as they deliver a wall of impressive riffs.

Impressive stuff and I wish I’d come across Boss Keloid sooner.

The stage is readied for the arrival of Green Lung. Ornate printed screens are erected, white sheets with like woodblock black prints on them, and a large striking Ooser is positioned next to the drums (a large carved wooden head with staring eyes, flattened nose, hair, beard, and, most notably, sweeping curved bull's horns used in midwinter and May Day celebrations).

As you would expect, their latest 2023 album “This Heathen Land” and added to the setlist and I’m excited to see how they fit into the live experience. Indeed the whole album is here with the exception of The Ancient Ways, joined by a number of fan favourites. The lights dim and the fog machines crank it us as the band members take to the stage. The Prologue from the new album starts up with a voice over “Beyond the cities and motorways of modern Britain, away from the influence of it’s Christian churches and cathedrals, lies another country….. An older, stranger country. A country of lonely tors and desolate moors, of forgotten woods and mysterious standing stones. You are about to embark on a journey into occult Albion. Come…. It’s time to explore…. This Heathen Land…..”. The drums announce the arrival of The Forest Church as the monstrous heavy, but crisp riffs join in and Tom Templar strides out confidently onto the stage. Joined by Scott Black on guitars, John Wright on the organ, Matt Wiseman on drums and Jospeh Ghast on bass, they are staggeringly good. The vocals are haunting and the organ creates a wonderful sinister air. The chorus sections explode with energy and it’s one that the crowd immediately sing along to.

Unlike a lot of ‘dark’ metal, the great thing with Green Lung, is that although the songs are about witchcraft, paganism etc, its never disturbing, in fact its accessible in the same kind of way as Ghost, but somehow, more serious, or believable.

Next up is one of my favourite songs from the new album Maxine (Witch Queen) a song about Maxine Sanders, the ‘witch queen’ of the swinging sixties, who was a key figure in the development of modern pagan witchcraft and Wicca, along with her husband, Alex Sanders, and they co -founded Alexandrian Wicca. Considering the doom styling, this one is quirky and one you can dance to with its swirling organ tones and big riffs.

Tom introduces the band and they dive right into Woodland Rites the title track from their 2019 debut album. A stunning song, that perfectly sums of Green Lung with towering riffs and catchy chorus, driven by a heavy bass and drum beat underpinning it all.

Next up, we’re back on the latest album with Mountain Throne a powerful number written about the trial of the Pendle witches in 1612, one of the most famous witch trials in English history, accused of the murder of ten people by the use of witchcraft. The track has the cut of a classic rock track, but with a modern twist and is fast and furious with a devilishly catchy chorus.

As the set continues we enjoy a more mellow moment with Song of the Stones. Powered by a more simple drum beat, when I reviewed the album, I thought this one was the closest to somethgin from Heilung or Wardruna and it certainly has that ancient ritual feel to it. You can almost see Chriostopher Lee being dragged unwillingly towards his ritual demise (The Wicker Man 1973 lol).

My favourite track of the night had to be the magnificent One for Sorrow. A monster of a song with a wall of doom noise thrown at you, with pounding riffs, matched with some of Toms best hauntly beautiful vocals, which soar and rise above the music. It’s Green Lung at their heaviest, but as always crisp and clear. Magnificent.

As the set comes to a close, it builds up perfectly with the delivery of Oceans Of Time.

Of course, we all wanted more, and the guys provided, with a two song encore. First up was Let the Devil In, a song about the corruption of nuns “You’ve spent your whole,life in the service of God, down on your knees to save your soul. We’ve been watching, everything you do. Our Lord and Master has great plans for you”. The lyrics go on “Sister, you've been told, That making love's a sin. Open your heart, And let the devil in”. The crowd are singing along, horns in the air loving every single moment.

Finally, we know the end if nigh as Graveyard Sun rings out, taken from the 2021 album “Black Harvest”. Its emotional, powerful and haunting at the same time, Toms delivery of the lyrics perfect “Remember Hallow's Eve, Nineteen Sixty Eight, All those years have passed, the colours never fade. And so we're lost in time, our dawn will never come, We'll live forever young, out of the graveyard sun”.

And with that, the shows over.

What a night. Green Lung were simply outstanding. I really enjoyed seeing them in 2022, but with the new album added to the set, they seem to have grown and evolved. Not into something new, but something far more powerful and expressive. It has that early 70’s Black Sabbath quality, with a modern twist, unlike anything else on the scene right now. The new material is every bit as good as the older stuff, in fact tracks like The Forest Church, Maxine, Mountain Throne and One for Sorrow will very soon be fan favourites.

A night I’ll never forget.

Setlist

Prologue

The Forest Church

Maxine (Witch Queen)

Introductions

Woodland Rites

Mountain Throne

Leaders of the Blind

Song of the Stones

Hunters in the Sky

One for Sorrow