Blog

The irony of the fact that Froglord’s first swamp ritual in Swansea takes place on one of the driest days in months wasn’t lost on me. I had actually played a show with them back in 2023 (before they won Metal2TheMasses) and I was a fan ever since. Seeing them in my local venue was an opportunity too good to pass up, so I headed off on my lonesome to witness the spectacle.

She prowls the stage and commands the audience with great skill. This is no mean feat, as quite often nowadays the front person in the band seems to rely on phrases that are becoming tropes in the metal scene and are shouted whether there are enough people to “open the fucking pit up” there or not.

The set closer is a song entitled Top Down Hearse, which sees guitarist Michael Hiatt perform a whistle solo that would make Sergio Leone weep with joy. (Editors Note: whistling can only be performed with the cowboy hat) And as they lap up the adoration of the crowd you realise that this is only the first band of the night. Being the opener is the hardest spot on the lineup. You have to get the crowd going, usually just after they have arrived and are still only half a beer deep. 

Grindhorse83’s sound is so infectious and energetic that they have no difficulty in getting the crowd into the palm of their hand (or, claws I guess, IYKYK).

After the brightly lit, organised chaos of Grindhorse 83, the lights lower, ivy appears to sprout from the very walls and candles cast a mysterious, magical glow…

Next up are last year’s Welsh winners of M2TM South Wales, Adfeilion. Clad in black robes, faces daubed with woad, and with a solitary lantern lighting the way, Adfeilion make their way through the audience and take to the smoke filled stage. 

Last summer, they really surprised everyone at the competition with their instrumental, folklore tinged pagan prog-folk. The songs themselves provide the soundtrack to a story that is told in-between tracks. This is quite a novel experience, and one that allows you to fully appreciate all facets of the story being told.

They were engaging before when I saw them last year, but now they seem to have developed a harder edge to them since Ben Baljak (from openers Grindhorse83) joined. They can now properly be called a metal band, with the mellow, synth driven folk ambience offset by some genuinely heavy riffing. On the previous times I’ve seen them, I don’t remember synchronised head banging and strobe lighting, but maybe I’m misremembering.

This new aspect doesn’t feel contrived at all. While the guys obviously love the mellower vibes, you can see they really love to get very loud and very heavy. I’m glad to see that they are developing as a band into something genuinely unique.

Finally, accompanied by the incessant piping of frogs, the swamp priests Froglord took to the stage. Immediately you can see why these guys have made a name for themselves in the Stoner/Doom scene, even scoring spots at Bloodstock and Desertfest. Their titanic slab-like riffs sound like glaciers calving into the ocean, and are the perfect counterpoint to vocalist Benjamin Oak’s energetic stage presence. Imagine Rob Zombie fronting Variation On A Theme era OM, and you’ll be somewhere close. Call me lazy with my comparisons if you wish, it is what it is.

After being warmed up with the opening two bands, the crowd were a sea of nodding heads as everyone locked into the riffs. Highlights of the set for me were The Bog, and They Came From Saturn (which closed the set). They are my two favourite Froglord songs, and as I joyously sang along, it was great to see a band new to The Bunkhouse had not only a rammed live room, but that everyone loved them.

I may have been in “a relaxed mood” (I was definitely in “a relaxed mood”), but the lineup segued perfectly from opener to closer. All three bands are well worthy of any and all accolades they receive. The Bunkhouse showed, yet again, why it is such a great venue, and is a real treasure to the Swansea music scene. 10/10