May 8, 2025

Gig Review: The Hazytones & Warlockhunt at The Skerries, Bangor

There’s something beautifully bizarre about watching face-melting fuzz rock unfold in a ‘locals’ pub like The Skerries in Bangor. One minute you’re ordering a pint while pensioners stroll past the windows; the next, the back room’s being sonically bulldozed by **Warlockhunt** and **The Hazytones**.

This wasn’t a night for the faint-hearted — this was for the riff worshippers, the amp stack addicts, the people who like their music slow, loud, and slathered in doom.

Opening the night were **Warlockhunt**, a local outfit who take “sludge” and make it even sludgier. Imagine a tar pit with riffs. Their set moved like a tectonic plate — slow, unstoppable, and heavy enough to loosen teeth. There’s something deeply satisfying about their sound: slow cavernous drums, thick-as-mud basslines from two bass guitars and Lorraine’s soft vocal overlay. Warlockhunt aren’t here to make friends. They’re here to summon something — and judging by the way the floor was shaking, they just might’ve done it.

Then came The Hazytones, all the way from Montreal, Canada, warming up for a UK tour. Their brand of psychedelic stoner rock was faster, flashier, and straight out of a cosmic jam session. Think Sabbath jamming with Nebula after too much cough syrup. Vocals drenched in reverb, solos that spiralled off into the unknown, and grooves that locked in like a spacecraft landing gear. The crowd lapped it up

Not sure what planet The Hazytones were orbiting when they set a £40 price for their vinyl, but it clearly wasn’t Earth. Safe to say, that stayed on the merch table. Great band, but I’ll stream it, thanks.

Still, overpriced records aside, it was a cool night. Two very different energies: one crawling from the depths, the other launching for the stars — both finding a strange harmony in the heart of Bangor.