GIG REVIEW: Terror Claws, FilthxCollins, Bleach Brain and Charred Atlas at Guac n Roll Liverpool - Saturday 30th January 2024

Words: Richie Yates, Photos: Adrian Wharton / Richie Yates

The vegan cafe in the hinterland of Liverpools City Centre that is the ‘Fabric Zone’, or just behind TJ Hughes as most people call it, is the stop off for a night of hardcore noise as well as Guac n Roll’s Christmas Party

It really is a good atmosphere at Guac tonight, party games like pass the parcel go down well, there’s a lot of good natured moshing and a lot of the audience are letting off steam in a happy way. There’s also a wealth of music going down.

Charred Atlas describe themselves as Fastcore and Fast Fast Fast. Its accurate. They storm into their brief set at a sprint and flurry of blasting drums and chunked guitars and bass with growling vocals are kept up to tempo. Lots of fun though and the vocalist wades through the audience inciting more moshing (and at one point appears to have got lost at the far end one the venue). Songs under a minute long (frequently under half a minute) but delivered one after the other until the cumulative effect is one of being attacked an artillery barrage.

I’ve not seen this lineup of Bleach Brain but its ace. Tonight they really let rip and fire on all cylinders. Its passionate, punked up to the max and delivers body blow hits that leave the listener musically bruised in a good way. There is a Nirvana hint about Bleach Brain but tonight its less apparent and they make their way to a different harder edged sound, great bass and guitar work accompanied by manic, almost out of control (but not) drums lay down a great foundation for some emotionally delivered vocals that growl along low key one minute and then explode into a frenzy.

FilthxCollins share a drummer and short song lengths with Charred Atlas. The duo have a different more metallic feel, a grind core doomy riff based edge to them and deeper vocal growling. They blast along counting songs off in seconds and moving rapidly (very rapidly) on to a new track every 10 to 20 seconds. A great groove when it gets going.

Going to put my cards on the table, I like Terror Claws, seeing them on the bill was one of the (many) things persuading me to turn up. They don’t disappoint. Tonight they fully enter the party atmosphere and there’s Christmas hats, Christmas songs and a general feeling of well being. In between the joy they let their music rip across the venue and still including a Calvert era Hawkwind cover (Death Trap). Its a confident set half relaxed and half grind your face off (in the nicest (?) musical way). They deliver an intense set though, for all the Christmas trappings, one of those bands were everything melds together and produces an overall sound, dark, heavy and capable of melting brain cells. Ace.