Review: YOB, Black Cobra and Opium Lord, Mama Roux's, Birmingham

Standing in its centre and looking around is akin to being afforded a vision of a bustling street in America's Deep South, albeit one that has been designed by an old acid head.

There's mock house frontages with shuttered windows, crumbling walls and hanging baskets suspended from the ceiling. I'm told that on other nights punters are treated to burlesque, voodoo and snake charmers.

It is both horrible and brilliant at the same time, although the beer prices (£4.50 a pint!!??) were more befitting of some upmarket Brindley Place gaff than a rock club.

Local lads' Opium Lord opened up proceedings, with frontman Nathan staying true to the New Orleans vibe by introducing himself in French.

They play doom of the most miserable kind, using Grief as an obvious reference point. It's desolate, spiteful and at times horrific, leaving you feeling completely worthless by the end of their half hour set.

The UK is blessed with some masterful exponents of this particularly nasty strain of doom, and Opium Lord are another gem.

Los Angeles' Black Cobra are an altogether different beast.

The two-piece, consisting of Jason Landrain on guitar and Rafa Martinez on drums, are unrelenting, barely pausing for breath as they hammer out successive blasts of hardcore infused sludge.

The band raised the bar again with this year's incredible full length Imperium Simulacra, and its tracks from that album including Challenger Deep and The Messenger that really shine here.

It is in the live setting that Black Cobra are in their element, cutting the in-between song banter down to a minimum as their relentless sonic assault sending the crowd into a head banging frenzy.

YOB are one of the greats in the world of heavy music, a special band that have emulated their influences and managed to continue to expand creatively over the course of seven full length albums.

For years the Eugene, Oregon doomsters were not really a touring band, and although they get out a lot more these days any opportunity to see them live must be cherished.

This was the first date of the UK stretch of their tour and the band's first time in Birmingham. The centrepiece of their set was the sprawling Marrow, the near 19 minute closer off 2014's Clearing the Path to Ascend.

It is more of a hymn than a song, and is so good it could have been extended and released as an album in its own right.

Hearing it performed live is a revelation. Mike Scheidt - surely one of the greatest metal vocalists - eschews his trademark howl for clean singing, as the track lurches from quiet reflection to a shuddering outpouring of emotion, and then back again.

It crowned an incredible set from a band that are still pushing the boundaries 16 years into their existence.

By Peter Madeley