Book tickets: Soup Kitchen host experimental festival Gizehfest

Founded in 2004, Gizeh Records has been a consistent and unwavering beacon for the darker climes of experimental music making since its inception. The last 15 years has seen the label amass a steady output of critically acclaimed records which touch on modern classical composition, ambient post rock, avant-garde metal, film soundtracks and even jazz – sometimes in a single release. Gorgeously designed and presented, each Gizeh record is an artefact, proving that fiercely independent music making doesn’t have to sacrifice aesthetic. It’s an attention to detail and militant work ethic that has attracted artists as diverse as Loscil, Thor Harris of Swans, Rachel Grimes of Rachel’s, Nadja and Yann Tiersen collaborator Christine Ott – all released in the past 18 months alone. This year’s Gizehfest will be the second live annual celebration of the label’s activities, whose shadowy music couldn’t be a better match for the gloom of the Soup Kitchen’s basement. Headliner’s Hundred Year Old Man pummelling take on avant-garde metal has gained them a voracious following, becoming a stand out act at last year’s Damnation Festival in Leeds. Having just completed a 16 date tour of Europe, the Leed’s based six piece are set to be on truly decimating form. Label Boss Richard Knox’s long standing project A-Sun Amissa offers another unmissable prospect on an already stacked bill, having last appeared at Soup Kitchen supporting Ebsen and The Witch. Their latest album ‘Ceremony In Stillness’ has had received wide praise for its startling development in atmosphere – a group whose sound has already been swallowing venues for years in a spell that weaves gloomy post-rock, neo-classical inspired interludes and bowel rumbling drone. A.R.C Soundtracks reimagine industrial music into audio-visual hallucinatory trip, where spoken word narrates hidden rhythms and densely designed sound evokes a post-apocalyptical beauty. Rounding out the bill are Aging, a doom-laden jazz band who have released records on similarly experimental Tombed Visions. Their music unfurls as slowly as cigarette smoke and is directly inspired by film noir cinema and the hardboiled detective novels of yesteryear. If these acts weren’t enticing enough, rest assured that the merch table will be, offering plenty of exquisite reasons to spend your hard earned, from decadently packaged vinyl, bespoke t-shirts and, most importantly, screen printed tote bags… so don’t worry if you forget yours.

Sat 9 March, Soup Kitchen, 31-33 Spear St, Manchester M1 1DF, 6pm, £13, www.gizehstore.com