Having played virtually every small venue in Manchester, it was time for Green Lung to expand to their biggest venue yet: The Ritz. With a sold out show and killer support from Unto Others and Satan’s Satyrs, Green Lung were about to prove that they were truly ready to be the next big thing in heavy metal.
Satan’s Satyrs came first and raised a drink to the audience. There was a mixed reception in the audience but they still gave a rocking set of modern glam rock. The band had a mixture of classic 70s hard rock and punk with influences like The Ramones, T Rex, The Sweet and Led Zeppelin but perhaps they were a bit too good at replicating that 70s live feeling as they came off a bit messy at times.
There’s definitely talent on stage, as they played gigantic Jimmy Pagesque guitar solos, complete with a Marc Bolan-style performance complete with a 70s bachelor wardrobe. Satan’s Satyrs have the same relationship with 70s glam rock as Tailgunner have with 80s heavy metal. You can tell that there’s a lot of love for the time and genre, but if you’re not a die-hard student of it, then it may not be for you.
PS, at least one of the guitarists needs to grow a moustache to fully fit the vibe. Not a demand, just a friendly suggestion.
Next up was Unto Others and this was a much darker set in virtually every conceivable manner. The lighting was much lower and the whole band had this Lost Boys aesthetic as guitarist, Sebastian Silva, walked around the stage in his leather jacket and lead singer, Gabriel Franco, donned his sunglasses despite it being pitch black.
Unto Others are very clearly influenced by Type O Negative in all the right ways as other Gothic acts like The Cure. Virtually every song on this set would make a perfect addition to The Crow soundtrack like the haunting ‘Butterfly’ or the thrashy ‘Momma Likes the Door Closed’ which comes with an infectious section of howling so you can really channel your inner creature of the night/fursona. The gorgeous clean guitar work of Jackie amps up that goth nightclub vibe before ramping up the distortion and throwing down some absurdly heavy throughout and extended harmonised guitar solos for the Judas Priest brand of leather jacket-clad headbangers in the audience.
‘Can You Hear the Rain’ gives off the biggest Cure vibe as it matches the same intensity as ‘Burn’ which appeared on The Crow soundtrack. Containing a pinch harmonic that could shatter glass – It’s a track you can dance to and bang your head to while being super sad which is something we just don’t have enough of. If you’re still in an 80s kind of vibe then there’s still a killer cover of ‘Pet Sematary’ by The Ramones from the classic iconic Stephen King adaptation; Firestarter 2: Rekindled.
The set ended with ‘Dragon, Why Do You Cry’ and the audience marvelled at a band that has the potential to be the next big crossover hit. Unto Others have a sound that wears its influences on its sleeves while still pushing themselves to make modern-sounding music and it’s only a matter of time before the right influencer in stark white makeup and black clothes decides to make them a Tik Tok sound because that’s the only way a band can become huge now.
Finally, Green Lung came onto a giant stage complete with huge steps, a giant platform for a Rick Wakeman-style keyboard setup and Goat’s head props and various other pagan aesthetic items dotted about the stage. You can clearly see money has gone into upgrading their set since the last show at Gorilla the previous year. The set began with the sludgy riffs and prog rock keyboards of ‘Woodland Rites’ as the riffs just kept coming as the immaculate mix helped give the already brilliant collections of song that extra bit of ooomf.
Green Lung are the perfect band for fans of Black Sabbath and obscure 70s horror movies in the vein of Blood on Satan’s Claw and The Witchfinder General and the best convergence point of these is on ‘Templar Dawn’. Not only does the track have ominous doom-laden riffs and grim horror lyrics, it features a sample from the trailer of the 1979 Spanish zombie movie, The Tomb of the Blind Dead. Hopefully, this can start a trend and we can eventually have someone sample the classic trailer from I Spit on Your Grave or Reform School Girls.
Green Lung have an amazing ability to craft songs that feel like they were written back in the early 70s at the height of prog rock with tracks like ‘Oceans of Time’ making use of gigantic sweeping stories that seemingly take place across the spectrum of eternity all while having a modern twist. Tracks like ‘Forest Church,’ ‘Hunters of the Sky’ and ‘Maxine the Witch Queen’ show off brilliantly heavy riffs with unpredictable songwriting and expert musicianship that would all fit snugly onto the track listing of ‘Master of Reality’ by Black Sabbath.
The best moments of the show are when The Oosettes take the stage. The Oosettes are a trio of female vocalists and multi-instrumentalists that specialise in folk music and they really fill out the sound on gigantic tracks like ‘Song of the Stones’. There can be up to 8 people on stage during these songs and every single one feels essential as they make use of violins, percussion and thoroughly gorgeous vocals. The Oosettes are a key part of what makes Green Lung work and hopefully this becomes an ongoing career relationship for the two outfits.
Lead singer Tom Templar said “We’re gonna go away for a bit and record a new album” before playing ‘One for Sorrow’ which showed the band at their absolute heaviest as they ended the show with a thick syrupy gloopy riff that slowly bled through the speakers, destroying everything in its path. Green Lung are a band that have the potential to become the next big thing in heavy metal and they’ve shown that they fully intend to utilise that potential. Every time I have seen this band, they’ve improved in every conceivable way. From production to instrumentation and stage presence, they’re set to take over the world and set to take their place on the stages of arenas someday.
