It made a change to have a trip to historic York for a gig, even though the venue wasn’t in the city centre as such, as this dual headlining gig comprised of Sweden’s Grift and the UK’s Darkher played an intimate show for a decent number of people on a Sunday night. The trip over to York was as relaxed as it possibly could be, no dealing with constant traffic issues that often cause multiple problems when I travel elsewhere, particularly Manchester. Arriving early meant being able to grab a drink and take up a spot near the front to await Grift. I wasn’t sure what to expect if I’m honest as I went into this gig blind, so to speak, and was confronted by a minimal stage set up of a mic stand adorned with leaves and a small skull at the front on the floor. Prior to Grift starting the man question, Erik Gärdefors, lit some incense burners to fill the venue with a heady woody fragrance that suited the music he was about to deliver.

Erik was very quiet and unassuming as he opened his performance with ‘Skimmertid’ amid very subdued lighting that was quite dark at times. His acoustic guitar playing was sublimely executed, embellishing his playing with a bell adornment attached to his guitar head periodically alongside of sample noises taken from nature such as wind, birdsong etc. to really enhance each song. He said the next song was about where he is from in Sweden and announced ‘Svältorna’ to polite applause.

I was struck by how emotive his music was, passionately played with dextrous ability that produced a slight hypnotic aura. I particularly liked how he explained many of the songs to us as Erik explained that the next song is about his home forest which promptly began ‘En Hemskog’ complete with bird calls in the background. He thanked us for being so polite and quiet, though clearly some people weren’t aware of the so called unwritten gig etiquette when artists like this perform.

Thankfully those at the front realised this and remained quiet until each song ended as he played ‘Den Stora Tystnaden’ which he said was a song about silence. The audience was thoroughly enjoying his show, his delicate musicality wasn’t lost on anyone where his vocal variations added to the songs hugely as he played ‘Nattens Pilgrim’ where you could hear those bells subtly adding to his atmospheric playing. Humorously he said the next one is my punk song and is about dreams, which I had no clue what he meant with the regards to the punk bit as he played ‘Bortom Berget’.

It was slightly more upbeat which potentially is what he meant by being more punk as he concluded his show with ‘Dårarnas Massiv’. This type of music isn’t my usual style of gig but I welcomed his performance, his poignant musicianship was wonderful to watch. It is not easy to stand in front of a bunch of people and play an acoustic set on your own but Erik easily engaged the crowd and ensured people were ready for what was to come next.

As I said earlier the lighting for this gig was very low and whether that was deliberate or not it meant the whole stage felt like it was in a penumbral shadow. There was a fairly lengthy break between Grift and Darkher meaning people had a chance to chat, get a drink or get some air on a balmy mild evening in October. The stage was cleared to leave just a drum kit plus an array of guitar pedals and a solitary mic stand ready for Darkher. I had seen Darkher before a few years ago and at the time I found the morose almost depressive blend of black metal with shoegaze ambience very interesting but have never got round to seeing her again until this show.

Like Grift I wasn’t too sure what to expect from Jayn Maiven, aka Darkher, and ably assisted on drums by Gareth Hodgson (A Forest of Stars), adding percussive highlights and penetrating beats to her dark soulful songs that began with the doublet of ‘Buried Pt. I’ and ‘Buried Pt. II’ blended together to produce a serene doom laden opening. The set was tinged with a feathering of black metal that reminded me of Myrkur quite a lot and it was interesting to view how Darkher manipulated her guitar playing, using a bow across the frets and occasionally tapping them to generate different effects and moods that continued with ‘Lowly Weep’. I will say here that it is possible I get the songs incorrect as she fused everything about her set into a seamless auditory experience with very few pauses that in some respects appeared just as periods of silence as clearly quite a lot of the crowd knew the material quite well indeed.

With the drummer adding his tribal like playing with more straight up metal structures it added depth and power when required, virtually layering his playing into the fabric of the songs main melodicism. At times you felt her vocalising was possessive, rich astringent tones blending with more pagan like elements that gave the songs a wealth of charisma. Periodically Darkher spread her arms wide like a sermon, hooking people in with measured mournful melancholia. I really enjoyed the isolated guitar pieces, particularly those that opened songs as she plunged the audience into soul stripping despair at times. With the drummer using normal sticks, and I think the mallet type, he was able to marry up the percussive playing with the grief stricken guitar work on songs like ‘Love’s Sudden Death’ and ‘Hollow Veil’ if I got the songs right.

I did expect Darkher to engage with us as an audience but instead she left the talking to her music, as each song blanketed the crowd with eerie often haunting vocal lines that at times had a piercing shrillness and listened like drifting voices on a cold breeze. Another aspect of this set that surprised me was the impact of the blackened metal parts which were incredibly loud in the small venue so that you felt every sinewy riff slice into you. The short pauses between songs gave people a brief period to relax because Darkher’s music has knifing intensity that makes you listen, especially with the abrupt metal phases.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to stay for the entire show as travel arrangements and companions meant having to head off early, but suffice to say this was a fine double header that people were treated to. It made a change to watch two artists ply their own unique trades instead of my usual gigs involving being battered by extreme metal. Both artist were different, both were consummate musicians and both easily captivated the audience.

Review: Martin Harris
Photos: Andy Pountney (@shot_in_the_dark_photography2)