Black Rat Death Squad @ The Halt Bar, 13 Jun

If the West End Festival promises a varied occasion that breaks from the norm, then Halt Bar Hijack certainly embodies the spirit of the beast perfectly. On stage tonight are The Leg (**), a three piece rock band wearing sinister wrestling masks and playing even more sinister music. Discordant guitars over the disembodied laughter of an insane asylum, it’s difficult to work out exactly what The Leg are getting at, if anything. Within minutes after their set, the room is choking with cloud from the smoke machine, perhaps a nod by KMVSNI (***) to drone masters Sunn O))). This is a more analogue-influenced show of wall-to-wall noise, with a sweat-drenched frontman carrying two torches and wriggling through the bewildered, visually impaired audience in a sensually overloading experience. Cutting a considerably more mainstream track for themselves are Signals By Semaphore (****) playing progressive instrumental rock with swagger and head-nodding original riffage. Topping the night off are ‘death n roll’ quintet Black Rat Death Squad (****). Big riffs, bigger solos and enormous fun as the singer hops across the bar top to give a theatrical, snarling, faux-misogynistic performance. Throwing themselves into the healthy crowd again and again, the Death Squad top off a weird and wonderful evening’s fun. (Jamie Borthwick)