Eyehategod brought their signature visceral sludge to Sheffield’s Corporation nightclub on Sunday, December 8th. The night was part of the Turned Troubles Tables Tour, and the crowd were in for an ear-blistering night of intense music Accompanying Eyehategod’s pulverizing set on this night were two stellar support acts in Rotherham’s Swamp Coffin and Goatwhore.
Swamp Coffin
Swamp Coffin kicked things off with their crushing blend of sludge and doom. Their sound was excellent, and tracks like ‘As Cold As Blood’ and ‘Last of The Summer Slime’ ripped through the old walls of Corp, as well as the lads insisting on the world’s slowest wall of death during the latter track. The hometown-ish
boys were an excellent fit for this bill, and had some great banter between tracks that were bursting with heavy riffs.
Goatwhore
Goatwhore had very little issue following that set, as the blackened thrash legends roared onto stage. Their setlist featured tracks primarily from Angels Hung from the Arches of Heaven but spanned various other albums in their history. Ben Falgoust terrorises the front of the stage and shares a beer with fans, joking that they “now have whatever he has”. Between pummelling tracks, Goatwhore is the nicest troupe of guys, but their sound is still incredible and ear-splitting. In all honesty, Goatwhore and EHG could have rotated slots each night for who played last, both bands are that good.
Eyehategod
Eyehategod is the final act to grace the stage in Sheffield. Though even they might disagree with the use of the term “grace”. Mike Williams shouts out various bands based on the merch worn in the front row, has a tipple of rosé, and then the NOLA quartet rip straight into ‘Lack of Almost Everything’. The opener very much set the tone for a show that would be mostly comprised of the Dopesick, Self-titled, and Nomadic Behaviour albums.
They make it through a quarter of the set before touching any other material, with ‘Jack Ass in the Will of God’ being their first track off any other album. Even by Corporation loud standards, the mix for the New Orleans band is paint-pealing-ly loud during the middle portion of the set with ‘Blank/Shoplift’, the ever-pleasant ‘Sisterfucker’ and ‘Take as Needed for Pain’ which was a standout of last years tour commemorating the album.
The closing stretch of the set was an absolute barrage of noise from Bower, Mader and Aaron Hill, with the hallmark ‘Methamphetamine’ and ‘Peace Thru War’ being the final offerings of the night from Dopesick. Williams does the honours of thanking the Sheffield crowd before wailing through ‘Run it into the Ground’ from 1990, before the band finish triumphantly on ‘Everything, Everyday’ to see us over the finish line.
There’s a true lack of high-profile Sludge presence in South Yorkshire. Eyehategod and
the crowd’s response to them is proof there very much needs to be more of it. That said,
you might need a good nap and 24-48 hours of hearing rest afterwards.
Artists: Eyehategod, Goatwhore, Swamp Coffin