September 6, 2024

Somergloom took over Arts at the Armory – 8/23-24

Boston’s heavy music summer extravaganza returned for its fourth edition at Somerville’s Armory.

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By now a reliable late-summer highlight for local aficionados of darkness, Somergloom made the move this year to the cavernous Arts at the Armory on Highland Ave – their best setting yet if you ask me. The high ceilings and industrial-meets-dancehall look of the Armory’s main room, the cafe space primed for acoustic sets down the hall and a mezzanine space for vendors up top combined for the ideal hub of heaviness over Friday and Saturday’s seven and eight band bills. Those, of course, were pretty stellar as well.

The pummeling doom-sludge of Boston’s Lesser Glow got things off to a stirring start as Friday’s kickoff, followed by a set fusing beats and noise in the cafe from Mouse Kid (aka the exceedingly-talented music photographer Omari Spears, whose photos of the rest of the weekend you can check out on Insta). The dramatically-lit, emotionally-heavy slowcore/post-rock of Circus Trees was next on the main stage, followed by a gorgeous acoustic set back across the hall from former Seed leader Luci Dead Limb.

Spiritual Poison – the solo project of Primitive Man’s Ethan McCarthy – evoked the feeling of meditating deep in a haunted cave, which is pretty much exactly what I want a dark ambient set to do for me. Bringing the tempo back up, deathrockers Final Gasp brought the scythe-wielding energy you can only get from Boston’s goth-est hardcore band. And finally, Montreal’s Big Brave closed things out with their singular iteration of post-metal. I use “post-metal” here not in the classic sense of lengthy build-up instrumental compositions (though we’ve got love for those as well), but truly a deconstruction of doom and drone that rebuilds the familiar from the inside out. Big Brave have always operated with their own unique musical language, and it remains consistently dazzling to watch them work.

The fuzzed-out riffage of locals Strawberry Coffin set the stage for Saturday’s festivities, contrasted in mood by the first of two short, haunting solo sets by Somergloom mainstay Kira McSpice. Heavy instrumentalists Girih and the atmospheric, dark-folk-inflected doom of Oldest Sea followed as an effective one-two punch. Gothic ensemble The Infinity Ring (another alum of fests past) played my favorite set I’ve seen from them yet, augmented by their striking lights and visuals. Cave In’s Stephen Brodsky and Adam McGrath then held court for the cafe’s most packed audience of the weekend with one of the acoustic duo sets they’ve been breaking out in recent years, touching on covers, their main band, offshoots like Old Man Gloom, and even a cut from McGrath’s forthcoming first solo record.

Back in the main hall, Northampton’s Black Pyramid and Atlanta’s Royal Thunder closed things down, the former’s lumbering doom epics complementing the latter’s psych-tinged stoner-rock nicely. Enthusiastic crowds for both seemed to concur.

Once again the Somergloom crew – headed by the omnipresent scene participant and documentarian Stephen LoVerme – came through with a weekend showcasing some of the best that Greater Boston’s dense network of heavy sounds has to offer, alongside some expertly-curated imports. This was the fest’s biggest year yet (even without covering Thursday night’s opening party here, which I sadly had to miss), and great things remain on the horizon. Already looking forward to next year.

Check out galleries from each Friday and Saturday set below.

Lesser Glow: