Live Review: Green Lung - Arts Centre, Colchester
30th April 2024
Support: Lowen
Words & Photos: Tom Atkin
This has got to be one of the most unique venues I have visited in a long time, a grade 2 listed church that has seen its fair share of history. Being rebuilt several times over the years! I must say, it is absolutely stunning inside and out!
Tonight’s show is fully sold out, I checked for tickets before setting off, there was 1 available, I linked it to a friend, in the five minutes it took for them to click the link it had sold. So this 400 capacity venue is going to be a bit cramped this evening I think!
First up we have Lowen, a middle eastern progressive doom band from London, a new band for me and one that has made a lasting impression. This is certainly not a genre I have delved into before, so this was very much a, let’s find out kind of situation, and needless to say, I was impressed!
Their stage presence is empowering, lead singer Nina Saeidi’s voice is absolutely amazing and certainly captivates the whole audience.
Tonight is one of those weird nights where pretty much every one is loving the support act, I think I have said before that this kind of thing means the world to smaller bands and really helps push the music scene. I’ve had the chance to listen to them a bit now since the show and the comparison between live and recorded is very close. There is more passion behind their performance but other than that, their recorded music is an amazing example of what they are like if you don’t get a chance to see them.
The last few dregs of people have now pulled in for tonight’s main attraction and the age range that I am looking at is surprising. Kids as young as probably nine, all the way up to seventy year olds. London’s Green Lung certainly have gained a fan base since first arriving on the scene in 2017. With very obvious influences coming from Black Sabbath (and whilst they haven’t said it, you can feel some Iron Maiden in there as well ) Green Lung bring an absolutely perfect early heavy metal vibe.
Opening with the title track from 2019’s Woodland Rites, as someone that has not listened to too much of their music, I found this to be a perfect introduction to their well crafted sound. Tom Templar’s voice fits the genre so incredibly well and his general on stage presence is to be desired. With his vocals belting out at the start of the song, it certainly shows he has an incredibly passion for the music.
The rest of the band Scott Black, Joseph Ghast, and Matt Wiseman really help tie the sound together, then chuck in John Wright on the organ/keyboard it just adds another level to their sound.
With several albums under their belt now, there is an extensive choice of songs for these guys to play this evening, the majority of which have come from their latest album 'This Heathen Land' including 'Hunters In The Sky', 'Mountain Throne' and their latest single 'One For Sorrow'. All of which greatly received by a sea of head banging.
They filled out their set with songs that stretched back throughout their discography, Fan favourites from their albums 'Black Harvest' and 'Woodland Rites', even throwing in 'Lady Lucifer' from the debut EP 'Free the Witch'.
The crowd lapped up every song, normally it is easy to tell which particular songs are fan favourites, not tonight though as every song gets the same amount of hype and admiration towards the band.
Green Lung are next hitting The Netherlands before return for a few festival warm up shows and you can find them at Bearded Theory Festival, and Bloodstock this year.
Photo Credit: Tom Atkin
