Salem - St. Leonard's Church, London – 24/11/10
3/5
By: Josh Daniel
No drinking inside the church, but demonic music welcome...
As one enters the smoke filled, musty Shoreditch Church, excessive amounts of reverb abound. It's like what I imagine walking into a dusty crypt to be, as face-shaped silhouettes play games in the darkness. A paranoia and hushed silence pervades the air.
Their drawling hip-hop verses are perhaps unintelligible, but Salem don't seem the types to pander too much to the audience. At times the disparate beats and tortured synths create a truly moving experience in the chilly, spacious interior. The sounds explore the church’s every nook, bouncing back in massive waves, seemingly afraid of the dark.
The unassuming 'live show' offers up a few questions: Would visuals add/detract from the non-performance 'performance'? Are they even focussed on a concept of 'stage presence' at all? I envision a late night warehouse rave - jungle in one corner, drum and bass in another, footwork creeping in - as a better setting, providing for the comatose yet awake stragglers as the witching hour passes, heads bobbing in waves.
Tonight, as befits the setting, the crowd is reverential, curious and perhaps even a little unimpressed, but Salem definitely have something unique and beguiling. As the female vocal is affected, and turned into something beastly, she appears so at ease and unfussed (to be adding to this dark, enveloping sound) it's almost unsettling.
Artists in this article: Salem
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