On Thursday night, I hopped on a train to Glasgow and got myself to Ivory Blacks to see Froglord: a gig that I knew would be unfrogettable! It was my first time being in Ivorys for a gig, and I noticed how broadly laid out the space was. Plus, there was an addition of seats which I used to rest in between sets as I came straight from my 9-5 that day. This was a highly anticipated event for me as I looked forward to a night of swampy doom.
The first band up that night was ISAK. In my preshow research ISAK were a hard band to look up, which I almost liked in a way as it meant I was going in completely blind. The only description I could find was their Facebook intro: ‘Riffs, drums, noise.’ Well, this mysterious trio lived up to their description.
Each song they played was filled with continuous grooves, showcasing the musician’s clear passion for music and all of its technical motions and prepping the audience for the night ahead by filling the venue with atmospheric doom. The band’s stage presence was mostly shown with them feeling the music with minimal audience interaction, and with softened vocals this gave us a nice mellow start to our evening of doom tunes.
Next up were Kraken Waker: a self-described “loud band” from Northeast England, they were ready to take the night up a notch. Their sound was similar to hard rock band Clutch, although Kraken Waker had a heavier bass which acted as a solid foundation within their set.
Their set got everyone headbanging along to roaring vocals and whirlwind melodies. Towards the end, they lured everyone close and released the Kraken! The room then became a sea of bubbles and riffs, with a small pink octopus front and centre of the stage. During the chaos it was Kraken Waker who kept us afloat.
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After the waves had settled down, and the stage had been made into the perfect slimy habitat for our headliners, it was time to witness the sermon of Froglord. I had discovered Froglord for the first time at last year’s Bloodstock when they performed on the New Blood Stage. At first, I was unsure of the vibe they were going for, but then I heard the roar that echoed from their song ‘The Mystic Toad’, and I have since became hooked to their music.
As Froglord were now halfway through their tour that debuted the new album Metamorphosis it showed that the band exuded confidence in their performance. With every beat paired with immersive vocals, the lead singer danced ritualistically, utilising every part of Ivory Black’s stage, donning a mask resembling a triple frog faced creature.
Froglord blessed us with some new tracks from the new album such as “Mutation” and “Emergence of the Toad”. The band’s new album takes us deeper and heavier into the frog verse with harder growls, and Froglords signature psychedelic riffs that provides a sense of cosmic mystery to the listening experience.
Of course Froglord also played some older favourites such as “They Came From Saturn”. Their sound gave us sludgy thick baselines which got us grooving and becoming one with the slime. At the end of their set, they were beckoned back for an encore in which they happily obliged, ending their set by sparking a rampant hopping mosh pit, which our lead Froglord celebrate with more amphibian jolts, almost as if they were possessed by a deity of the bog.
So, to conclude the evening, I can definitely see Glasgow welcoming Froglord with open arms next time they visit, as they encouraged us to live by the fuzz, and gave us a space to be our best weird selves.
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Photos by Love And War Photography
