Barbarian Hermit

“I knew Mike, having been a huge fan of his previous band Bisonhammer, who were kings of the Manchester underground metal scene in the late noughties, early 2010s,” says Adam. “After they disbanded, he put a call out on Facebook for musicians to join his new project, Barbarian Hermit. I answered the call and auditioned as second guitarist. At that time they had a drummer, Loz Brindley and bass player Chris Wood. Shortly after we enlisted Simon Scarlett on vocals, sometime in 2014, and the band was complete. With this lineup, we recorded the One EP, which we put out in 2016. We had a bit of a tumultuous period in 2017 when Chris, Loz and Simon left for various reasons and were replaced by Bobby Sutcliffe (bass), Gaz Manning (drums) and Ed Campbell (vocals). With this lineup we recorded our debut album Solitude and Savagery in 2018. Then in 2020 Ed left and Simon returned and this final lineup wrote and recorded our latest album Mean Sugar.”

Mean Sugar was a project the band were, and are, particularly proud of. “After a rocky period of lineup changes, not to mention a global pandemic, it finally felt with that album like we were at our creative best,” says Adam. “We put so much work into the writing, recording, even the artwork of that album and I think it really shows. The response from fans was amazing and it really seems to have resonated with people.”

Far be it from Northern Monk to miss the opportunity to champion the achievements of an old friend. “Northern Monk founder Russell Bisset was one of the moshers I hung around with at school and we've been best of friends ever since,” says Adam. “Since he started Northern Monk he's always been one to champion friends who make art or music. Barbarian Hermit was one of the first bands to play Northern Monk's celebration of dark beers and heavy music, Dark & Wild in 2017, and have played it many times since. When we released the Solitude and Savagery album we did our first beer collaboration with them, with a Black IPA of the same name. Then when we put out Mean Sugar he was more than happy to do another collaboration, this time with a blueberry and coconut black IPA. It flew off the shelves the first time round so we are very excited that it's getting re-brewed for Beer52.” 

In recent years Russ has also entrusted Adam with the responsibility of curating the band lineups for Northern Monk festival, giving him the freedom to book the likes of Wallowing, Battalions, Rupcha Farms and Hundred Year Old Man. “At this year’s Dark & Wild, we’ve got our biggest lineup yet,” says Adam. “Ba’al, Din of Celestial Birds, Pleiades, Iron Rat, Codespeaker and Mastif are all playing, and we’ve got a pre-festival warm up show featuring Coilguns, Every Hell and Hidden Youth. It's going to be an incredible weekend of music and beer.”

To satisfy my own curiosity, I ask Adam about how he’s seen the craft beer and heavy metal scenes collide and grow into each other, over the years. “I think there's something about the craft beer scene that attracts fans of heavy metal,” he begins. “Loads of those moshers who were slam dancing to Limp Bizkit when they were 15 are now head brewers, tap room managers and graphic designers doing amazing can art,” says Adam. “I think it's because it's an industry that values the alternative way of thinking and creativity, plus the small-batch nature of craft brewing allows for a lot of collaboration to take place. And from the band point of view, having your own beer is such a cool piece of merch and a great way to get your name out to a receptive audience.”