Although London can provide any experience you could possibly imagine, sometimes you just want to walk into a packed music venue and get pummelled by heavy songs for a few hours. The next time that urge consumes you, book a ticket for the nearest Svalbard (8/10) show and get involved. With two shows remaining on their tour with Comeback Kid, and even more Read more…
Some bands are born special. I first came across Black Peaks (then known collectively as Shrine) back in 2014, within a year or so of their initial formation, and it was obvious even then that these guys would go on to achieve big things. Fast-forward past their Closer To The Sun EP, 2016’s beautifully batshit debut album Statues, massive amounts of touring, and more than a few Read more…
Thrice have always thrived on diverse creative approaches. Their on-record history has already taken in a set of post-hardcore classics (The Artist In The Ambulance), experimental compositional sorcery (Vheissu), and the all-encompassing masterwork The Alchemy Index. Since the latter epic saw the light of day, Thrice have never quite managed to Read more…
Although attractiveness is subjective, ArcTanGent happens to be situated in an official Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – and if you visit it and look around, you’d probably agree with the government’s judgment for once. As for the music you can expect to experience at the UK’s most respected prog, math, and post-everything festival, it may serve a very specific niche, but the fans who love the styles in question tend to Read more…
Let’s start by stating the obvious: Depression is a cunt. According to the UK’s Mental Health Foundation, combined anxiety and depression is the most prevalent mental health issue in this country, ruining and even destroying life for far too many people. Add in the fact that over one million people a year die by suicide worldwide, and you’re only scratching the surface of the topic tackled by As It Is throughout The Great Depression. Read more…
Relocation is usually key to creative development, whether it be stylistic, mental, or physical. New perspectives, directions, lessons, discoveries, and opportunities rarely come when people sit and stagnate – and Trophy Eyes have never been ones to stick fast and stand still. That fact has earned them plenty of detractors, but it’s also Read more…
Arcane Roots know how to throw a musical curveball. Evolving swiftly from Left Fire’s Biffy-meets-Muse approach to Blood & Chemistry’s dynamic diversity and Melancholia Hymns’ cinematic expansiveness, these guys never fail to shock and awe. With sets at 2000 Trees and ArcTanGent approaching fast, I talked to bassist Adam Burton about Arcane Roots’ plans for both festivals, the importance of spare socks, and Read more…
Over the past several years, Endless Heights have risen through the Australian post-hardcore ranks and earned much respect along the way. Vicious Pleasure – the Sydney quintet’s second long-playing effort – takes a more introspective and self-analytical tack than previous album New Bloom. It opens with Taste It, a short and promising intro full of Read more…
To members of the UK’s underground rock scene, Jamie Lenman is nothing short of a hero. Since his old band Reuben split almost ten years ago, the memory of their albums Racecar Is Racecar Backwards, Very Fast Very Dangerous, and In Nothing We Trust remains in many brains and smartphone hard drives, as well as 2000 Trees institution Camp Reuben, where die-hard Lenman fans gather to sing Reuben covers all night long. Read more…
A good gig should be a break from reality. The world beyond the walls of the music venue in question should temporarily cease to exist. You should be made to forget any problem that’s rumbling away outside of those walls, without even realising that said forgetting has happened Read more…