"Let's fucking go!” Heriot drummer Julian Gage has jumped to his feet behind his kit, his face contorted with rage and adrenaline. Eyeballing the crowd, he gestures wildly with his arms, orchestrating the mosh. On either side of him, singer/ guitarist Debbie Gough, guitarist Erhan Alman and bassist/ co-vocalist Jake Packer exchange knowing grins, before steamrolling into a hulking riff powerful enough to turn your insides to jelly. Cue chaos.
We’re at Corporation in Sheffield, where Heriot are playing Bastard Fest, the mini-festival curated by Empire State Bastard, aka Biffy Clyro’s Simon Neil and Oceansize’s Mike Vennart. It’s everything you’d expect from an event called Bastard Fest. Five of metal’s nastiest, noisiest bands have united for this one-day gig: alongside Heriot there are post black metallers Hidden Mothers, mathcore ragers Pupil Slicer, monolithic miserabilists Conjurer and Empire State Bastard themselves.
