ÅRABROT
JO QUAIL/COMA WALL
YOUTUBE LIVE
London promoters Chaos Theory always keep things interesting, and this lockdown sesh - equal parts informal Zoom chat and creative showcase - cycles repeatedly through three distinct yet complementary acts. Norway’s ÅRABROT are one of modern rock’s most thrilling bands, and become more intriguing as they shapeshift away from their noise-rock roots. Filmed in a church at midsummer, Karin Park and Kjetil Nernes perform within a ritualistic ring of animal skulls, their mercurial clangour stripped startlingly and beautifully down to just voice, 12-string guitar and pump organ. Cellist JO QUAIL, too, is a creatively restless spirit intent on pushing herself and her art. Seeing her play in her living room feels almost intrusive as she wrings plangent notes from her 200-year-old cello - her intense, exhilarating set mixing Bach, a piece penned by Venom Prison and her own complex, brooding work. COMA WALL, the secret identity of Oxfordshire doom-bringers Undersmile, mines territory that is emotionally heavy if easier on the ears than their main gig. The gloom-infused melodies and mournful harmonies recall the Unplugged sessions by Nirvana and Alice In Chains, serving as both foil and buffer for the session’s more outré sounds.