OGOD (Over-Gain Optimal Death) and Acid Mothers Temple & The Melting Paraiso U.F.O at El Mocambo, 04/04/10

I've never been very good at genres (who needs to be in this hyphenated day and age?) so try make sense of this if you can: Over-Gain Optimal Death (or OGOD) are from California - but they sound nothing like 'California', they sound so far from the beach and sunglasses, it would make more sense if they came from some grim rural town perpepuated by grey skies and concrete. The play psychedelic/sludge/doom metal/fuzz and I could feel the air vibrating, standing so close to the amps. The drummer flashed a menacing smile every time they entered new territories of loud. It was, in a word, brilliant. Plus, there was lots of hair (and then none on the drummer).
If you don't know who Acid Mothers Temple and their various incarnations are by now you should probably do yourself a favour and get onto it. If you need a little shove along, just imagine four old Japanese dudes blissing out to psychedelic jams. It's kind of a religious experience. Highlights include Kawabato Makota aka lead guitarist swinging his guitar around in a frenzy of feedback and fuzz, hitting himself in the mouth, attempting to hang it on a cable from the ceiling only to have it fall on top of his head amongst the mess of his already bleeding lip (poor dear), water bottle acoustics accompanied by a tambourine and something about a cover for their encore (I think I heard someone mutter The Rolling Stones but I couldn't place it). Best show I have been to all year, hearing loss included (earplugs, Dimity, learn to love earplugs!). These less than average photos don't really reveal that.









http://www.myspace.com/acidmotherstemple
http://www.myspace.com/overgainoptimaldeath (click me, click me!)