YHWH Nailgun

YHWH Nailgun (pronounced Yahweh, a Hebrew word for the divine) are an avant-garde noise rock band from Brooklyn. To give a flavour, imagine Earl Sweatshirt producing Deftones tracks. At Rally, even their sound check was quite ominous, and I could see doubts forming on the faces of the less alternative festivalgoers. Just 30 seconds into the first song, a noticeable contingent of the crowd had hurriedly made for different stages, as the lead singer (Zack Borzone, who also dabbles in poetry) started to strike bizarre poses and shout unintelligible sounds into the mic. 

Near the stage, what was left was a group of mostly long-haired men who proceeded to form a large mosh pit. A few women also braved the pit, elbowing their way through to make small inroads into the severe gender imbalance. 

It’s a testament to the nature of the music that the crowd was unsure whether Borzone’s mic was off or he was just having a day at the mumble end of the screamo register, rather than the shouting end. The sound in general seemed oddly quiet compared with the constant and energetic mosh pit they managed to conjure up. The frenetic, polyrhythmic effort of drummer Sam Pickard was the standout, keeping the rest of the band on track and helping to provide structure where the volume was perhaps miscalculated (or maybe spatially inconsistent). 

Given Borzone’s onstage behaviour, the otherness of the music, the unintelligibility of the lyrics and the presence of long-haired men in alternative clothing, it all felt like an off-kilter tribal religious ceremony. That said, it would’ve been a friendly religion: mosh pit etiquette was closely adhered to, with great effort made to quickly lift every person who fell to the ground. 

At one point, a smaller chap launched himself with little support onto the top of the pit, and adopted a sort of swimming-style crowd surf, punching and kicking down on those below him to provide the energy to keep him afloat. Being punched repeatedly in the head is not normally my idea of a good time, but at YHWH Nailgun I found myself rather enjoying it. 

I dabble in mosh pits, but nothing more than that. At this show, however, I spent 45 dogged minutes amidst the masses, in a constant state of imbalance and increasing exhaustion, as though on a ship in the middle of a storm. A group of friends who also rarely mosh were, like me, sucked in for the duration. The situation left me feeling incredulous, and at one point I could not stop laughing; I ran into a friend (literally) and, as he bounced away, I noticed he was also laughing uncontrollably. 

Something in the texture of their horror-soundtrack music transformed the crowd at Rally. On the one hand, the experience was rather odd and esoteric. But it was also very fun. If you have a tolerance for metal, hardcore, or post-punk, then I would recommend catching this band live. They are carving out an interesting artistic space at the cutting edge of modern rock music. 

Definitely do not wear an expensive pair of shoes. 

P.S. If you’re YHWH-curious but unwilling to throw yourself into the pit, their recent video with NTS Session is a good introduction.