Words: Chris Sansom
Photo: Beki Cowey
There are few things on earth that can sway SEXBEAT to forgo the sworn oath to avoid the shitstorm that is Camden. In fact there’s an almost inexhaustible list of alt-goth reasons to steer clear of it for good: Flesh tunnels, faux-punk crap peddlers, Digidog (or whatever it’s called), unicyclists, or the great swathes of idiots clamouring over each other to experience London’s most ‘subversive’ neighbourhood. This year’s Desert Fest however had more than enough promise for us to eschew the sacred vows, and take an impeccably soundtracked ride into hell for the festival closers on Sunday.
Set across The Underworld, Black Heart and Electric Ballroom, Desert Fest was giving zero fucks when it came to their doom/psyche/sludge/thrash heavy line up. Indeed, any festival that manages to shoehorn three bands with ‘Bong’ in the name (Bong, Bongripper, and Belzebong in case you were wondering) along with a band whose name conjures the ensuing bodily action after smoking so much weed (Cough) gets our vote. Alongside these heavy smoking /harder playing studs were acts like psyche crusaders NAAM, the fuzz laden Truckfighters and seminal metal journeymen Pentagram.
