Primordial Undermind, Rhiz, Vienna, 24 February 2009

Another highly charged evening of out-there rock from the reliably energetic Primordial Undermind. Technical problems beset the early part of the set, but once they had been overcome, the group settled into a powerful groove and couldn’t be shifted from it. The set seemed slightly less frazzled than the last time I saw them, with the long, spacey freakouts taking a back seat to a more Velvets-y, garage rock sound. Eric Arn’s occasional vocals sounded a little flat and weedy to my ears, and I found myself wishing that there had been fewer of them. As a guitarist though he has few equals, his savage riffing and splintering solos leading the group into maze-like vortices of sound. Meanwhile, the whizzy analogue effects and the swirling abandon of the cello both added a unique dimension to this most singular of Vienna rock outfits.

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