Heights / Agent / Sumer / Toska [Live Review – The Barfly, Camden, 31/7/2015]
South West Trains can drill a hole in a mirror, and fuck themselves.
Fortunately, TMMP overcame assorted transportation disasters to see Toska (95%) open a lineup bookended by two bands who’ve been slowly making their way north of Brighton together over the past few months. This set was easily – easily – Toska’s best live showing to date, mainly thanks to an absolutely immense sound job. Studio-grade tones, songs equal parts Armageddon and ecstatic release, a level of tightness that borders on pure telepathy…these guys are the perfect instrumental prog-metal band at this point. Judging from the amount of head-bobbing going on, every single earlycomer knew it, too. I’d be willing to bet that more than a few of them are in neck braces today.
Following Toska is a real challenge – and Sumer (83%) did a great job. Combining experimetal influences old and new alike into a cool, brutal, and progressive style (and manipulating time like the aliens from Interstellar), Sumer won themselves a new fan over here. The only big-ish issue was the way Sumer’s set opened with a massive instrumental opener, followed by a between-song pause before they launched into a series of epic vocal-led offerings. Finding a way to segue from an extended instrumental barrage into a vocal-led track with zero interruptions would’ve made this experience that much more intense from the outset – and intensity is clearly what Sumer are all about.
By the time Agent (76%) took the stage, the Barfly crowd had become sparse and fatigued – but were still appreciative. Technique-wise, Agent know their shit, they have good songs, and they’re heavy as balls – but the onstage passion made obvious through facial gestures and body language didn’t translate into the kind of performance that gets under your skin and leaves you riveted for the duration (bar a handful of incisive standout moments). This is rare for me, but I’m fucked if I know why that was the case.
As for Heights (95%)…Christ. Tag-teaming lineups with Toska has pushed both openers and headliners onto other levels entirely. Sound-wise, Heights were as pristine as Toska – a fact I suspect could be down to both bands including Jedi-grade producers in their ranks, as well as the consistently great work from the in-house sound guy – and technically, they were as close to flawless as you could reasonably ask human beings to be.
What’s always separated Heights from the rest, though, is their approach to composition. Every note and every drum hit has a purpose. Not one is wasted. Heights manage to make songs filled with musical events feel minimalistic, their soundwaves adding up to waves of sound, pure and shiny one minute and gritty and attitude-laden the next. New album track Solar (Bringer Of Chaos), Lunar (Bringer Of Light) – shining bright amongst a constellation of stellar tunes – demonstrated both sides of Heights while proving an all-night highlight.
If you’re a promoter reading this, and you have both Toska and Heights in a planned future lineup, give Toska the main support slot already. They’ve paid their dues, and are way way more than ready for bigger opportunities.
Links
Heights on Facebook and Twitter.
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