JR Moores’ potted history of heavy music Electric Wizards concludes with a chapter quite rightly hailing Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs – who are set to play Sin City in Swansea this Saturday – as the standard-bearers for “Sabbath Phase IV,” titans of the “modern heavy underground.”
No longer a niche concern, the Geordie quintet seem to hone their craft and broaden their appeal a little more with each release, all the while compromising on nothing but song length. Viscerals, from 2020, nodded to thrash and old-school metal while remaining true to their doomy roots – as exemplified by the way that the floor suddenly falls away in album opener and single Reducer, plunging you neck-deep in the sludge.
The secret of Pigsx7’s success is arguably a sense of humour – wit as well as weight. Never imagined how legendary occultist Aleister Crowley might have fared on Bake Off? Frontman Matt Baty has, and he might tell you about it in Swansea this Saturday, Nov 13, while stripped down to his Newcastle Utd shorts and performing tai chi.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
See Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Live
Sin City, Swansea. 13th Nov.