Black Peaks / Palm Reader / Toska [Live Review – The Haunt, Brighton, 9/4/2016]
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You never know what’s going to happen in Brighton on a Saturday night.
When Toska (97%) are on a lineup, though, you can always expect to be blown away. Time and time again, I’ve watched these guys tear venues apart – and with an extended tour behind them, Toska are now capable of pulling off next-next level performances. Holy hell.
Opening their opening set with two new tunes (A Tall Order and Congress), Toska wasted no time getting stuck into an unrelenting barrage of ultra-complex instrumetal moments. Eschewing standard song structures in favour of individualistic sections woven together with world-class compositional virtuosity, Toska have already established an instantly recognisable style of their own – but with A Tall Order and Congress, they’re continuing to explore territory alien to every pair of ears on the planet except their own. Watching a band who represent, in my opinion, the future of progressive metal progress into their own future is heartwarming, exciting, and utterly captivating.
Concluding their set with Chalk Teeth (complete with that Snare Hit Of Doom) and the raging Infantile (home to a perfectly placed silence-hole that’s become one of Toska’s signature set-defining moments), Toska progressed into the realm of music as martial art. When these guys go for it, they will tear your face off – but when they ease off the gas, Toska turn meditative, and that’s a whole other deal. If you want your metal cut up with dynamic peaks and troughs, Toska have you covered.
So, so tasty.
Palm Reader (95%), on the other hand, pump out pure venom. Relentlessly. It’s equally petrifying and inspiring watching Palm Reader do their thing, like watching five guys turn themselves inside out, go firewalking, and live to talk about it.
Having to follow Toska is a tough ask, but when you have songs like Sing Out Survivor and I Watch The Fire Chase My Tongue in your back pocket, you’re golden. Palm Reader’s set was nothing less than an amp-mangling, math-ridden, consciousness-crushing rampage. Jebus.
Where can you even go from there? It was up to Black Peaks (98%) to find an answer – and to be fair, “push everything over the top and just see what the fuck happens” was a pretty good plan.
Not even the A-Team could have made Black Peaks’ plan come together more effectively. Whether singing along to Crooks; going apeshit for White Eyes’ Mars Volta vibes; bearing witness to Toska guitar maestro Rabea Massaad guesting on Set In Stone; or losing it as Palm Reader vocalist Josh McKeown joined in for Hang ‘Em High, the Haunt’s 350-head sellout crowd proved perfect collective partners in crime. Then…
I’ll be honest with you: Say You Will is my favourite Black Peaks song. It’s pretty fucking sexual. But someone in the pit literally got stark bollock naked for it – and was promptly escorted out by a security guy handling Naked Pit Man as if he were radioactive.
I don’t really know what that guy was expecting to happen. Send your suggestions to musicalmeltingpot@gmail.com.
Next up: Drones. The distorted bass riff in that one is pure filth, marking one of the highlights of the night for me. Then a brand new song (Desert Song, I think), boasting badass drum flourishes, furious math-punk energy, and a mic-stand-tackling guitar solo spot. Even with their debut album’s release date sitting memorably in the past, Black Peaks still have plenty of creative juice flowing through their veins. The future is looking bright on that front, for sure.
Into the home stretch. UK underground hero Jamie Lenman joined Black Peaks for a winning run-through of Statues album closer To Take The First Turn, dealing out his ultra-versatile signature vocal as only he can. Naked Pit Man missed that – and I’m gutted for him.
Naked Pit Man also missed Black Peaks’ most recognisable pair of tunes: Glass Built Castles and, of course, Saviour. From Gordian Knot polyrhythms to guitarist Joe Gosney’s spider-fingered guitar solo, those two songs felt like a well-deserved victory lap. If proof were ever needed that back-breaking hard work can pay off, the Haunt saw it first-hand.
Ultimately, it needs to be said: Toska, Palm Reader, and Black Peaks all represent the future of their respective genres. On paper, this lineup is insane enough – but in real life, it was something else altogether. If you’re relatively new to any one of the above, dig in and start exploring. The rewards for doing so just keep on coming.
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