Red Seas Fire – ‘Confrontation’ [Review]

red seas fire confrontationMetal’s been around for a long time now – but it never ceases to amaze me how many musicians are still finding ways to breathe new life into a genre so frequently mocked for its backward-looking retromania.

On Confrontation, Red Seas Fire take all manner of pre-existing metallic mutations and mix them into still another fresh sound. Think Korn’s first album mixed with Periphery’s latest and you have Tyrants; visualise Chester Bennington laying down vocals over a Killswitch Engage / Tesseract jam and you’ll get closing track Compass. The Gold Room, meanwhile, offers fuzzy riffs and hardcore vocals alongside catchy lyrics sure to translate live and a bit of Dillinger Escape Plan-esque mathiness toward the end, while The Grand Escape is pure djent-fuelled filth. In short, Confrontation is all killer, and absolutely no filler. Read more…

Posted on 17 September 2014

Black Peaks – ‘Closer To The Sun’ [Review]

black peaks closer to the sun

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There are three kinds of bands: Those who sound good on record, those who sound good live, and those who do both. Ideally, every band would fit the third mould – but even if that were the case, Black Peaks would still stand out by a dozen country miles. Read more…

Posted on 13 July 2014

Jamie Lenman – ‘Muscle Memory’ [Review]

As regular readers will know, Jamie Lenman is a big deal where I’m from. My Facebook feed literally blew up with the release of the double-A-side Fizzy Blood/Pretty Please, news of his secret set at The Boileroom in Guildford, and the dates for his Heavy / Mellow Band’s recently completed tour. On top of all that, of course, there is this album. Not just a standard-length LP, but a 70-minute double album that takes in so many styles that I felt compelled to delay this review and let it all sink in and mature for a while. Now, however, it’s ready to go. Read more…

Posted on 07 January 2014

Doomed From Day One / Dye The Flux / Stone Giants / Change Persona / Origami Hearts [Live Review – Surrey Uni, 31/10/13]

Opinion

Change Persona

Unfortunately I missed the evening’s openers, Origami Heart – but Change Persona kicked off my evening with a fun and entertaining set of well-practiced punk tunes. Throw in a Sum 41 cover, an enthusiastic crowd, and a frontman in a dress, and you have all the signs of an act with great punk-centric potential. Nice job! Read more…

Posted on 01 November 2013

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