Dragon Eye Morrison + Little London + Mister Doom + Hellcyon - Messclean, Portsmouth. 15/07/05

The much talked about 'Birth Of The Filth Trinity', a coming together of three of Portsmouth's finest rock bands for a night of ear splitting pleasure. Hellcyon have been given the chance to open the evening and while not a member of The Trinity they fit in perfectly well as they unleash a storm of groove metal that is way, way down there. They are one of those bands that are unable to stand still and gives the impression of having about twenty members on stage, twitching around as if they are having a metal fit, but when they hit that groove they go for it and it's a fine opening firing shot.

Mister Doom are the first of The Filth Trinity to flatten us; with an almost comical electric fan placed at the front of the stage to provide some relief from the heat, they serve up some serious metal with long locks flowing in the breeze, can you imagine a more metal image? In terms of music, Mister Doom are probably the most traditional band on tonight and would appeal to denim and leather clad rockers. Although they won't like me saying it, there was a slight Metallica feel tonight, more in the vocals than music but they come across as having an original take on the classic heavy rock genre. The music weaves a path through doom laden heavy riffs to passages of fairly melodic structures and they are more than happy to fit in some excellent solo guitar attacks; while a little rusty in places due to a lack of rehearsal they come across as a fine band.

Next up, possibly the filthiest band in Portsmouth at the moment, Little London. They already have a number of the fairer sex sporting Filth Trinity vests and worshipping at the altar of front man Dev and in true LL talk, they make me a little moist. I've raved about them before and I will do so again as they quite simply play honest Rock N Roll with a nice filthy edge and a huge helping of quality tunes. Little London are following in the footsteps of fine bands such as The Wildhearts, Therapy? (they stick in a cover during the set which sounded so good from the toilets that I thought Therapy? were actually on stage), Turbonegro and even Zodiac Mindwarp & The Love Reaction which is quite appropriate as their finest song has to be the mighty 'Love Reaction', an absolute classic beast of gargantuan proportions. An excellent set as I would expect from these lovable rogues.

I would hazard a guess that much alcohol had been consumed before DEM hit the stage as they fire off into complete chaos, a blur of limbs and noise as their sonic attack punches you in the face and kicks your teeth out. They are a ferocious take on modern metal, jarring rhythms and vomited vocals battling for attention while frontman Adam tries to put his guitar through the ceiling of the venue. DEM are quite a spectacle to watch, never ones for giving a dull performance they plough headlong through a heavy and brilliant set without a concern for their own or others safety; a mightily refreshing change from some of the dull Oasis indie types that nearly send you to sleep with their safe gigs.

So the birth of The Filth Trinity was quite something, four fine bands, far too much alcohol, no doubt a few injuries and some fine tunes, what a night.