Desertfest London review 2024

Desertfest is a multi venue music festival that takes place in Camden during May. This year the headliners were Masters of Reality, Godflesh, Suicidal Tendencies with incredible support coming from Cancer Bats, Ozric Tentacles and loads more.

Friday

FRANKIE AND THE WITCH FINGERS

This was the first band on for the weekend at Electric Ballroom and their energy was incredibly fitting for a first act to make sure everyone got moving. This four piece from LA had a funky sound, with an uptempo beat, although, the vocals were a little lost amongst the energy and dancing.

The use of two guitarists helps to amplify the sound and adds strength to the funk they were putting down. This incredibly young band seemed practised and confident in their musicality, whilst almost seeming like the weirdo kid in school who ended up cool af during A Levels. Youth is not wasted on the young in this case and if they weren’t so tight, they’d be cacophonous. Great opener.

MONDO GENERATOR
This three piece from California (founded by Nick Oliveri;Kyuss, Dwarves, QOTSA, Bloodclot) had great energy from the go and were far more upbeat than I expected. Lead vocals were pleasant whilst the band itself were weighty enough as just a three piece. The sound is anthemic, almost Kasabian like, with thick and meaty, catchy riffs. They felt educated in their performance and the drums were super clean. I really enjoyed the slow slinky guitar solos and I could feel the heavy through my flares, enough said!

WAKE
This atmospheric grindcore band from Alberta Canada were positively visceral in their approach. They slammed the instruments with a butt load of passion and accompanying lead vocals echoed out against a wanting crowd. We caught this five-piece at the Underworld, a fantastically cosy venue for a band this weighty.

RAGING SPEEDHORN
This well-established crew are a tight bunch, never putting a foot wrong in their performance. I always enjoy catching them when I can and this time was no exception. I will never know how they make their heavy sound so much fun to see live. Both lead singers perfectly dodged each other on this small stage, inbetween getting in the faces of the audience to create a truly intimate performance.

The crowd loved them, and were willing to pick up anything they were putting down, including one of the lead singers when threw himself into the pit! Catch them in Swansea in June.

Saturday

PEST CONTROL

Thrash is back and it's all thanks to bands like Pest Control. An electric performance from them this weekend, as ever, thus further cementing them as a upcoming stalwart of the Hardcore/Thrash scene. I am glad I ran through Camden to catch them as they are definitely worth the elevated heartrate. 

Their lead singer looks fully at home on the stage, making sure she attends to all sides of the audience by pacing with the stomp of an old school Hardcore vocalist on a mission.

Hailing from the north of England, this aggressively talented young group have everything ahead of them.

ACID KING

After a small technical hitch, this three piece Stoner Metal band from Cali trudged on through their heavy basslines to deliver us from our hearing. 

Psychedelic Rock always finds its home at Desertfest.

CANCER BATS
As a staunch Hardcore fan, I am incredibly surprised I have never seen this band before. I feel now as if I have wasted time by not catching them at every opportunity I could get!

The lead singer has all the energy of a fabulously happy monkey and is an absolute joy to watch. Infectiously fun riffs that edge into the groove metal genre, it was impossible to not move your feet. As usual with this style of music, it's played fast and complex but with unimaginable rhythm.

Easily the most amount of fun I have had at a show where I didn't know a lot about the band.

SUICIDAL TENDENCIES

One of my favourite bands of all time, they continue to own whatever stage they inhabit, no matter how large.

This performance was extra special as veteran members lead singer Mike Muir and guitarist Dean Pleasants were joined by former/current Dillinger Escape Plan's Ben Weinman on guitar, Rob Trujillo's (Metallica and former ST bassist) son filling his shoes on bass and former Slipknot drummer Jay Weinberg.

Muir still brings a level of energy that makes it hard to take your eyes off him, and Weinman matched this by getting involved crowdsurfing and standing on a supportive crowd.

Pleasants is still one of the greatest Hardcore/Thrash guitarists you can see, it is always a joy to watch him perform.

Sunday

SILVERBURN

Another first for me, not just the band but Dingwalls venue. The lighting was glorious, raining down upon singer, guitarist and founder of this Hardcore/Atmospheric Metalcore single man project. Backed with a live band, this performance blew me away. Sounding like a Tyrannosaurus stomping in the forest, Silverburn were musically imposing and more than carried the opening slot.

Sadly, it was a little early for me to hit a two-step but I could be encouraged the next time I catch them which is hopefully soon!

MONOLORD

A lot of energy for a band that’s so heavy and marauding, that paper stuck to the ceiling from the club night before was knocked loose onto the crowd below. Gloriously melodic in places Monolord are a big crowd pleaser, with their absence being felt in the air when they finished a song. As is usual for doom metal, there was a ballad and it felt as if we were lost in a rainy forest. The string section created a sound like a muddy pit of distortion, this band were a pleasant surprise for me.

GODFLESH

I have waited a long time to see Godflesh and I am so glad I finally got to join in on worshipping this industrial metal band from Birmingham. I say worship as their performance felt like a religious experience. The opening twenty minutes was more akin to a Jungle or D&B rave, which was a breath of fresh air against the heavy doom and fast riffs of the bands I had seen previously. Although, as soon as they asserted themselves on stage, this performance was incredibly overwhelming and a total sensory overload. I felt as if I had to unplug myself once they had left the stage.

You can sense this band are consumate professionals with singer Justin Broadrick carrying on with the rhythm after announcing they had lost a monitor. Not a huge surprise after how heavy they were and how bulky in sound the bands that had graced the stage that weekend before them had been.

The perfect Sunday headliner, for those that like their metal a little left of the field.