Live Review: Keep It Low Festival - Munich
11th-12th October 2024
Words: Matt Noble
Photos: Tim Finch
The tenth edition of Keep It Low Festival rocked the Backstage complex in Munich in October, offering three stages of heavy rock, sludge, doom and psych, an outdoor beer garden and plenty of merch, food and atmosphere to really create a festival vibe. Consisting of three individual indoor venues, with plenty of outdoor room in its remit, Backstage is a welcoming spot for live music, and with the likes of Russian Circles, Fu Manchu, Monolord and Truckfighters on this weekend's bill, tickets were already sold out some time before doors had opened. It was my first time at the festival, and I was really taken by the friendliness, the excellent choice of German beers, and the overall sense of being at a big event, that still kept a tight knit and warm feel.
REZN played around teatime at Werk, the main stage of the event, warming up the crowd with an atmospheric heavy psych set that was well received. Lulling the audience into a trance with floating vocals and a thick guitar sound laden with effects and power, their control over loud and quiet, and dynamic range, is impressive. Not long after came Speck from Austria in the Halle venue, whose extended jams washed over their crowd nicely in a busy room. With long, drawn out passages, they used influences from psychedelia, space rock and more to create a hypnotic wall of sound.
Messa offered a touch of avant garde elegance on the main stage. Blending a huge range of styles into one melodic, doom-laden, proggy noise, their fuzzed out guitars and haunting female lead vocals led the performance beautifully. They brought a graceful sense of heaviness to the room, with a striking stage presence and a genuinely unique sound. US stoner rockers Valley of the Sun followed not long after on the second stage with a starkly different feel. Injecting a fun sense of energy into Halle, it was the perfect soundtrack for drinking beers and banging heads. With harmonised vocals, bluesy riffs and influences from the grunge gods of the 90s, they sounded like a real party band tonight.
After much anticipation, Swedish doom giants Monolord entered the main stage to a huge round of cheers, opening with 'The Weary' from their most recent album. Its pounding intro set the scene and built suspense before launching into a classy set of psychedelic doom numbers, dripping with Sabbath worship and massive riffs. The addition of Per Wiberg, also known for his work in bands like Opeth, Kamchatka and Candlemass, as a second guitarist, really makes Monolord sound a lot bigger than their traditional power trio setup, allowing for guitar harmonies and more layers. Thomas's vocals and lead guitar work were on point tonight, and the crowd lapped it up, even with a crowdsurfer spotted during the end breakdown of 'Larvae'. Ending on a colossal-sounding 'Rust', it was easily one of the highlights of the day.
Who could follow but Russian Circles? The atmospheric intro to '309' gently led the audience into a masterclass in post-metal. With an expert level of control of volume and dynamics, they churned out riff after sludgy riff ahead of a confident, pounding drum performance and a beautiful sense of melody in the undercurrents of what they do. There are few instrumental acts who can pull off what Russian Circles have to offer as well as they can. Their sense of atmosphere and, importantly, song structuring and crafting, is what stands them head and shoulders above many of their peers. What they do also earned a raucous crowd response from the merry Munich concertgoers, with a huge cheer filling the room as the start of 'Youngblood' rang out. Using loops and effects to build a wall of sound, their powerful sonic creations could come from far more in number than the three members that closed out day one of the festival.
First on the main stage on the Saturday afternoon are South African fuzz rockers Ruff Majik. They're a fun live act, whose bluesy riffs and Queens of the Stone Age-esque vocal delivery warms up the crowd nicely for the day ahead. Off the back of the release of their new 'Moth Eater' album and a relentless touring schedule in Europe, it's a triumphant set. Raging Sloth are not long after in Club, the third stage. A last minute addition, the local three-piece bring a serious touch of evil into Backstage, with extended sludgy jams and a brutal blackened doom style suckerpunching anyone fortunate enough to witness them. A massive thudding bass tone fills a lot of sonic space, and they alternate mournful melodies with gutturals that hit like a punch to the gut. A hidden gem of the weekend.
Yorkshire-based desert rockers Psychlona are up next on the main stage, on the final date of their European trek promoting the release of the excellent new 'Warped Vision' record. They play plenty of new material, received enthusiastically by the crowd, who are starting to become livelier as the afternoon goes on. Frontman Phil speaks to them hunourously between songs such as 'Jasmine', with some awesome Josh Homme-inspired guitar duelling, or the epic closer 'Magic Carpet, which gets arses shaking across the whole room as it picks up in energy towards the end.
Psychlona's touring mates in Greenleaf follow, completely packing out the main stage at six in the evening. With rumbling bass lines, entertainment value, and that sense of presence and coolness that can't quite be explained in words, they deliver a muscular, classy stoner rock set. 'Sweet Is The Sound' really swaggers as its heavy rocking, groovy riffs whip the place into a frenzy, and a mosh pit can be seen breaking out during the closing 'Let It Out!'. Indeed, the crowd absolutely love it, with every second a real party. Those who catch the whole thing are pretty unlikely to see any of rising stoner rockers Gnome on the second stage. Such is the interest, with a claustrophobically full and sweaty venue even a couple of metres past doors, that people wearing their signature pointy red hats can be seen stood outside hanging out and drinking beers WHILE the band are on! There's no chance of getting in - surely they'll be on the main stage next time.
Slomosa's dense stoner rock really impresses on the main stage. Full of energy, and armed with the fantastic new record 'Tundra Rock', the crowd bounce off their energy, starting mosh pits and stage diving to Slomosa's deserty jams and deep fuzz. The lovely harmonies and powerful overall vocal performance is captivating, and with a particularly strong and tight stage sound, they seem unstoppable at the moment. Swedish stoner legends Truckfighters follow. The crowd, by now, need no encouragement whatsoever to party hard, but Truckfighters still bring the energy and shake Werk's foundations. The classic 'Desert Cruiser', that ends the performance, is an obvious one for getting the room jumping and moving, but between spacey jam sections their energy, with a bit of a punk rock feel at times, is what keeps the crowd entertained and keeps the beers flowing.
Wolvennest, who follow, induce goosebumps with their black metal performance. Dripping with psychedelia, ambience and guitar effects, it's an extremely hypnotic and captivating experience. Another rare band to incorporate the use of theremin without it coming across as gimmicky, it's easy to lose yourself in a dark haze for the whole of their set.
Meanwhile, the atmosphere is quite different over at Halle, the second stage. US extreme metal sextet Inter Arma deliver an intense and progressive set that's unique and individual at its very core. Blasts, gutturals and psychotic riffage may be expected, but the heavy use of effects and even a theremin certainly isn't. They are capable of slowing proceedings down to a crawl as much as the faster, blackened sections deliver. One of the most striking moments of their time in the spotlight is the beautiful, proggy set interlude of 'The Long Road Home'. Inter Arma take the listener on a mournful melodic journey that's both gentle and potent, before the song's final few minutes ramp up the intensity and melt our faces off.
Embodying effortless cool are the main attraction for the Saturday night - Fu Manchu, the iconic Californian stoner rockers. It takes approximately one and a half songs for the pits to start breaking out. The evening is getting late and the vast majority present are in some sort of hazy stupor by now. It's a fuzzy rock party, and heaps of fun. Fu Manchu get the whole room dancing, jumping and moving, rousing huge cheers and responses as the likes of 'California Crossing' and 'Hell on Wheels' are blasted out. 'Cyclone Launch', 'Evil Eye' and 'King of the Road' sound particularly incredible, with a nasty, fuzzy guitar tone to back it up and fast, bluesy lead guitar licks to deliver a real sense of rock n' roll attitude. Though Fu Manchu have a legendary, heritage status, their new material still goes down a charm, showing that there's no sign of them fading away for now. But the classics inevitably hit the hardest. By the time the final notes of 'Weird Beard' fade away, the vibe in the room is at its absolute peak all weekend.
The afterparty slot goes to Heckspoiler over on the second stage. A sonically powerful two-piece, they've got a hardcore punk energy mixed in with plenty of nasty grooves to keep the party going just a little longer. A set of late night moshes, beers, and local Bayern dialect on the mic that appeals to plenty here, the two of them make a wonderfully nasty racket for the last hour of the night - much more than you'd expect from a bass guitar, a drum kit and a couple of microphones!
If you're considering checking out Keep It Low in Munich I'd recommend it to anyone who likes music to lose yourself into, who likes German beer, and who likes a fun time in a genuinely welcoming environment. Don't forget to take your glasses back to the bar though.
Photo Credits: Tim Finch Photography
