Live Review: UK TechFest @ Newark Showground, 9 July 2016

Reviewers: Andrew Doherty / John Skibeat
Photos: John Skibeat

AD: This was the fifth edition of UK TechFest. I’d been to one before, Johnski to two. We both noticed the improvements since our first visit in 2013. The bands and atmosphere were good but then it was all a bit rough and ready. Newark Showground is now the venue. It’s spacious and well set out with a neat campsite, a wide range of reasonably priced food outlets, helpful staff and good and working facilities. The two stages are in large hangars, which are divided by a large area with a bewildering array of TechFest, label and band merchandise. So let’s start by saying “well done” to the organisers.

JS: It was midday when the proceedings began. Giving us a pleasantly mellow wake-up call was the Cornish progressive metal collective For The Oracle. Boasting seven members, they filled the smaller Hands On Printing stage, scattering it with a range of percussive instruments. When in full flow, we were treated to a pair of saxophonists (an alto and a tenor), a pair of drummers and three guitarists. They’re a young band with a confident, active frontman in Sam Lawson; a definite positive, which you hope might soon inspire his rather more chilled-out accomplices as their experience grows. Their music flows beautifully, rising and falling with his vocal. There were also some pretty eclectic Floyd-ian touches, some Afro beats (“Princess”) and jazzy drives that see them successfully combining the twin universes of Incubus and Tool.

AD: I know a bit about parallax boards and measurements, so I had an inkling that The Parallax Method might play music with mathematical structures. An impressive crowd of over 100 spectators gathered to witness an mesmerising display of complex instrumental shapes and patterns. Technical mastery overshadowed any warmth, of which there was very little. Both the music and the band, who were probably nervous and certainly looked uncomfortable, seemed very earnest. “I’m popping out for a smoke”, commented my friend and fellow spectator Jonathan. I silently told myself he wasn’t going to miss anything. Actually he did, but for the wrong reason. “Thank you. Enjoy the festival”, announced the band spokesman. Hang on. “We haven’t finished yet”, he added as we all proceeded to troop out. So we stayed for another five minutes of sophisticated shoegazing proggery. This set had great technical qualities but it was like the world’s longest interlude.

JS: The feisty Hull/Sheffield quintet Dividium sport a fired-up frontman who was ably backed up with a technically-proficient, bouncing crew. In fact, the scruffy-bearded Neil Bailey is a bit of a card. He seems quite happy to refer to himself as “the fat lad” and is keen to point out that, despite his jams, “the chafing is real, people.” His large strides make sure he covers the whole stage quickly and hopefully saved him from too much discomfort! Their melodic tech metal is built around solid grooves with added bluster and a variety of vocal techniques. Bailey started out colouring his with a somewhat ropy operatic lilt before he fell back into a much more confident series of deathly roars balanced by sweet harmonised cleans. Their new album got a good airing with “Eternity” and “It’s All Gone 19” the standouts. The latter blew away the cobwebs by creating a huge wall of battering sound with a monstrous series of breakdowns built in.

AD: From Sorrow to Serenity weren’t showing on my original list. Thinking of similar previous experiences with Aeolist and Day Six, unexpected bands have proved to be pleasant surprises, and so were these Glaswegians. Immediately cutting in to hardcore energy, the philosopher come politician come vocalist screamed or cleared this throat violently, as you prefer. But this wasn’t raw violence. The riffs were magnetic, the structures were well thought out and the timing was excellent. “Thanks for getting up early: this is the wake up call”, announced the vocalist. It was about 1.40pm. The tall, wiry bassist stood on the monitor and looked menacingly into the crowd. The band moved and twirled, the crowd banged their heads and the dangerous djenty rhythms with technical twists and atmospheres just added to the violent expressions of anger. The intensity level was 150%. So while the social and political undercurrent of the songs’ themes may have been rancid and cutting, as a performance this was a breath of fresh air.

JS: Shifting across to the Carillion Guitars main stage, U.S. progressive modern doom quintet Dark Orbit lost a member somewhere and appeared to have shifted their sound to one spouting a wall of death with scouring, astringent roars and heaving kicks of hardcore. With their Voyager backing track kicking in briefly to set them up, they soon settled into proceedings and provided us with plenty of energetic power-housing built on explosive grooves that build to euphoric crescendos. Chad Kapper, their long-haired, heavily built vocalist dominated the stage by constantly pacing between his drummer at the back of the stage and the crowd, planting a right foot on, first, the riser then the monitor. His main partner-in-crime (a pretty decent Phil Lynott lookalike), John Schiber, was a blur of action, constantly growling through bared teeth and fighting his guitar to set up a constant undercurrent of groove. There were plenty of “invisible oranges” on show and pumping fists thrust into the sky but, shorn of the futuristic affectations that tint their fine EP, on stage they veered too much towards just a single-colour slab of sonic destruction.

AD: Explosive death metal erupted as the five members of Belial went about their business. The band identity seemed to be about facial hair, neck tattoos, aggression and what? The vocalist pulled a nasty face, kept telling us “we’ll move this place” as if trying to convince himself of this, and growled some more as the grungy wall of noise continued. “It’s a heavy one”, announced the vocalist unnecessarily. Same riff, different song. “Parasite” had a bit more punch, irregularity and interest but all in all this was a storm, which blew over without damage. Some in the crowd were more than enthusiastic than I was, but for me Belial just dropped back into the pack of the other fourteen bands with the same name.

AD: During one of the few breaks between sets, I met Jake from The Schoenberg Automaton. I asked him what to expect. “Something abstract” was his reply. Thanks to a purposeful build-up, these Aussies subtly took us into a higher place with powerful and heavy groove lines, supported by ferocious vocals from the aforementioned Jake, striking with his flowing ginger beard, lanky frame and multi-coloured beachwear. Game on. I and my fellow spectators tuned into a world of irregular chaos, stepping up, stepping down and constantly changing but hugely interesting and enjoyable. There was death metal somewhere in amongst all this irregular timing, melodic lines and metalcore anger.

Visually, the band showed great personality and presence. Jake disappeared as he lay on his back on stage, continuing to growl before getting up athletically and continuing his theatrical display. This was organised chaos at its best. Outstanding guitar solos appeared in the middle of all the noise. Each progression was gripping and exhilarating. Jake swung round like a madman in time to these maniacal and ever transforming instrumentals. I didn’t know where to look to find the action. It was everywhere. Jake stormed the crowd. I detected a faint melody in the thunder. The set ended with “Where Are We, In a Cube”. There was an infusion of jazz and moments of doom while Jake swayed robotically. The music was weighty, mobile and dark, but also thanks to the good grace and humour of the band, it was all great fun too. The animated crowd had been gradually lifted to a state of fever pitch. Paradoxically the irregular metal didn’t seem disjointed but had a good flow. This is what live performance is all about: Interesting, carefully crafted and powerful music, presented in an audience-friendly way.

AD: There was no time to take breath. After The Schoenberg Automation I made my way over to the other stage, where triggering drums, a massive groove line and heavy, heavy metal signalled the arrival of Abhorrent Decimation. But this wasn’t just about heaviness. There was melody, and those groove lines were rampant and transfixing. “Love is the answer. Now is the time for love”, proclaimed the beefy vocalist. What? It became apparent that this man had a magnificent sense of humour. “Technical issues … what a place for this to happen”, he commented as men fiddled behind him and adjustments were made. Soon we were back to growly and brutal melodic assaults. Abhorrent Decimation just didn’t mess about. This was like Deicide with melodies to die for, sheer authority and firepower. A little Eastern sample was slipped in, but this was about the riffs, the groove and the unending motion. There was a purity about this assault. The guys from Loathe looked on enjoyed the set with the rest of us. “Have fun. We are”, exhorted the beefy man, who invited a left side – right side sing-a-long as “Echoes of the Vortex” got under way. It didn’t go to plan. “This side has given up. Fuck ‘em”, he concluded. Finishing with “Terminal Reality” off the “Miasmic Mutation” album, the band’s feisty but crowd-friendly attitude, the djenty grooves and the complete co-ordination, which had won everyone over, were there again. Superb music, great crowd interaction and sheer entertainment: you can’t ask for more.

AD: I walked across into a packed room. People were chanting “Potato”. I saw Serbia’s Destiny Potato at this event three years ago. Here were the first clean vocals I’d heard so far. They weren’t great. The lady singer, who herself seemed surprised at the level of support for the band, couldn’t hold a note. She was no Anneke van Giersbergen or any of the singers from Tristania. The songs were commercial, a bit gothic, but ultimately I found them dreary. Destiny Potato gave off the presence of a big band with all the gestures, but these slushy, soulless songs lacked personality and came across as a form of mashed up melodic rock-metal. So you’ll gather it wasn’t speaking to me but as I looked round heads were swaying and many of the sizeable crowd were appreciating the show more than I was. “Addict” had a bit of Eastern mysticism with a djent underscore. I liked the heavier tones and the lady’s growls were good. Overall I didn’t enjoy this set as much as I had others. Destiny Potato seemed to be unwittingly cultivating a rock star image, but in spite of that managed to convey likeable personalities. The crux of this for me though was that the songs weren’t strong enough.

JS: Now here’s a Parisian modern death quintet who sound like The Faceless mixed with Gojira. Oh yes, there’s storm a-brewing. Pitching a series of arpeggios up against an avalanche of breakdowns, Atlantis Chronicles hit heavy and they hit hard. “The sea is everything… the cycle will soon be completed” intoned the Biblically-deep voice from the gloom. It’s the eerily-atmospheric spoken intro to their new album and, as there, they followed through with the crushing “Otis Barton”. Loaded with deathly roars and vast intakes of breath that build into great whooping Randy Blythe-esque screams, the whirling dervish that is Antoine Bibent set out his stall early, bouncing from pillar to post, and was soon slicked in sweat. The aquatic backstory continued throughout their set allowing us to follow their journey and very soon the audience was drowning in a monstrous conveyor belt of sound. They were clearly loving their art, sporting shit-eating grins and throwing many “thank you guys” to the baying crowd. Their genial, amenable attitude of course comes paired with their ability to tear the neck from your shoulders so be warned.

AD: Earlier, the spokesman for From Sorrow to Serenity had declared their allegiance to Fit For An Autopsy, with whom they had been touring. The intensity level now was stepped up. Fit For An Autopsy came on stage and kicked some ass, as no doubt they would refer to it. But it was ass-kicking with twists, turns and technical patterns. The crowd created a big circle. The moshing began with the second song “The Jackal”. This was a typically big performance by a US band: much posturing, much aggression, a constant wall of sound, demonstrative gestures from the band members, time to let the spectators take it in and react. And react they did. The moshpit erupted in wild fury during “Saltwound”. A case of tough guys playing for tough guys? But this New Jersey hardcore was laced with subtly deep and dark melodies. For some reason mention of the USA by the vocalist didn’t go down too well. This was neatly sidelined. Thunderous and edgy metalcore energy was matched by slick presentation. An interruption to deal with sound problems threatened to derail the momentum. The guitarist was still having problems in “Still We Destroy” but the show must go on, and so it did in its loud and vociferous way. The moshers followed the roaring vocalist’s instructions. A frenzy was whipped up. There was something tribal about the progression – perfect for the moshers. The place went wild to reflect the musical violence on the stage, and carnage on the floor. It’s important not to forget the musicianship. To a shuddering backdrop, it was sharp and tight, and of course heavy. The set ended with the anthemic “Absolute Hope, Absolute Hell”. With its technical twisting to entice us, and a hint of Killswitch Engage’s “Daylight Dies” about it, spice was added to the usual potent mix of brutality and metalcore. It was a fitting end to a dazzling display, even with a couple of technical interruptions, of controlled and uncontrolled frenzy.

JS: Oddly enough Sithu Aye is pronounced C2-A which makes the main man sound like something out of a Star Wars film. With the Glaswegian’s touring trio also on show we are privy to the full instrumental tech experience. They may look like lost extras from The IT Crowd but they certainly know their onions. Plenty of rise and fall, arm-waving instrumentals, sweeping melodies and a strong Animals As Leaders meets Pelican vibe. However, with the focus solely on the music’s sole architect, the pleasure of watching him (and indeed the rest of the band) noodle away, head down, performing string gymnastics, wore off rather quickly. Even with the rhythmic slides hitting neck-breaking grooves and with Sithu’s own baby brother’s bass thumping away it all too quickly began to feel like watching a YouTube masterclass. If I wanted that I’d have headed over to the mysterious Hangar 3 – they’ve been giving guitar demos out there all weekend to a small crowd of cross-legged die-hards. Perhaps I should sit down? No better not – there are a few bobbing heads and thoughtful scratching of chins so perhaps the same die-hards were in! Even when the pace lifted it soon settled back into swing – honest to God, there was some bloke next to me at the barrier checking his own Facebook feed.

AD: Fallujah was the band I’d come to see. Judging by the t-shirts, I wasn’t alone. After the release of the band’s impeccable “Dreamless” album earlier this year, there was nowhere else I wanted to be today. The musical machine gun started. Brutality, subtlety, expansive guitar sounds, pumping drums and flashing lights were just some of the ingredients. The bass rumbled through, up and over us. A circle was formed and the moshing began. Technicality was overlaid with the brutally explosive core and the intransigent sound wall. This set’s output was heavier than I remembered “Dreamless” to be. It was good. “Abandon”, one of my favourite tracks on the “Dreamless” album and for me the highlight of the live set today, was heavy to the point of being apocalyptic, but then in the same piece came the subtle shimmerings of the guitar from the heavy progressive end of the spectrum. Ethereal guitar work, djent rumblings and bass and drum thunder combined. The mosh pit raged.

The spectators around me looked stunned. “If you like technical and melodic metal, you’re in the right place”, pronounced the vocalist when introducing “Scar Queen”. Epic structures fell out of this sophisticated technical metal.  Fallujah continued to tear us apart with the technically infused “The Dead Sea”. We heard an ambient passage. “Are you ready to wake up?” asked the vocalist. In fact I concluded it wasn’t about waking up but grasping the complexity here. So much was going on with the mesmerising guitar passages, epic sections, deathcore vocals, massive explosions and the enormity of sound that the thoughtful elements of the crowd relied upon motivation from the vocalist. I lost count of the number of times that he barked out instructions: “make some noise”, “I need you to headbang/jump/whatever”. The prompting was necessary. It was as if the crowd needed rehearsals for this multi-layered feast. We jumped to order to “The Void Alone” before enjoying a more chilled-out section, then finally we were treated to the thunderous depths and headbanging properties of “Sapphire”. I sensed universal appreciation around me of the vastness and range, but the reaction of the audience confirmed to me it was also difficult to grasp. It was a great show from Fallujah, with great moments of majesty, but it was a lot to take in and I concluded that we needed prior preparation for such sheer enormity.

JS: Progressive chaos is probably the best way of describing Canadian quintet Protest the Hero. I could list their names but it seems more appropriate to list them as “black beard”, “bare feet”, “beach sandals”, “giant ginger beard” and “backwards cap”. They launched into a quick one-two, “Bloodmeat” and “Sequoia Throne”, raining down maniacal string rushes onto the bouncing fans before silence fell. Frontman Rody Walker stepped up to the mic and announced that as these two were their best songs, “it’s all downhill from here”. Ah, that dry Canadian sense of humour. And with that the pace of the gig was set. Short bursts of violent, tight, abortive arrhythmia littered with Walker’s heartfelt, effusively melodic cleans and then a long pause to deliver another barbarously witty comment or pre-organised sideshow. With a marriage proposal, some law-breaking, a tour story and a couple of stage dives from Sithu Aye all included, the gig began to feel like a bit of a cabaret act. Now whether you lap that up or yearn for more of the music is a personal choice but myself and a large proportion of the pit were grinning like Cheshire cats.

“C’est La Vie”, “Hair Trigger” and “Limb From Limb” went down a storm with those famous scrambling guitars pulling polyrhythms and staccato breaks as if from the ether. Then, with the band downing tools, Walker broaches politics for his next dig – “How do you guys feel about Brexit?” A mixture of boos and cheers, naturally, goad him into “You lot are fucked up!” His constant ribbing of the crowd and the perfect marriage of wry smile and an accepting British public meant the skits went down a storm. And if all else fails he had self-deprecation to fall back on. As an example, we are treated to some freestyle rapping on “…this stupid fucking progressive metal rap song” which it turns out Rody loathes. “I fucking hate it – I’ll try not to pass out”. With the party in full swing it’s easy to see why this lot were originally named Happy Go Lucky! As the gig swung round to its inevitable encore, the high-pitched crowd whoops picked up and all hell broke loose as they rewarded us with “Mist” from 2013’s stonking “Volition” album. The full stop was provided by the samba dance track which kicked in from the sound system as the lights go up and an exhausted crowd filter outside. Time to reflect on another superb day witnessing the brightest and best at tech metal’s premier UK festival.

Full review here: http://www.avenoctum.com/2016/07/uk-techfest-newark-showground-9716/
UK TechFest Website here: http://uktechfest.com

Album Review: Intronaut – The Direction Of Last Things

Over their last three albums, post-proggers Intronaut have played things fast and loose. They are known for lurking between the dark polyrhythmic assault and vaulting angst of Periphery and the lighter, jazzier tendencies of Between The Buried And Me, but with this latest full-length they have tightened up the ship and worked hard to a create a flow to their music.

It’s not unusual to find them stumbling over the gritty hardcore edges that frequent the music of Monuments as they do for opener “Fast Worms”. Its raging chorus sees vocalist Sacha Dunable dishing out roars from behind a dark, powerful series of shreds. With the album constantly returning to themes such as the lunacy that lurks within the modern world, the capitulation of reason and the fragility of the human psyche, they pick some rather tasty, suitably insane lyrics to match.

“The pieces fit together
Like so many arms and legs,
Lifeless, limbless, body rejects”.

“Digital Gerrymandering” follows up on this by laying out its theatrics early with barking, downtuned strings – DJUN-DJUN DJUN. It’s pure Periphery but the artistic flourishes soon melt into complex, flowering structures of dots and splats. Riding around a strong central core, the glowing pop-fusion tech of Intervals and the furious stringwork of Animals As Leaders begins to break through. This abrupt switch from driven fervour to jazz interlude is strange but not, in the least, unwelcome.

The album’s weaker material hurts more when you consider the strong stuff. “City Hymnal” is a particular irksome beast and offers little in the way of direction – when you consider the album title, perhaps that’s the point. In the same vein, munching its way into existence with a literal NOM NOM NOM, “The Pleasant Surprise” is a one-dimensional scrawl of strings which digs away at you with the repetitious lyric “Gaps in the wall”.

Compare those two with the crushing title-track and “Sui Ponticello”. The former comes embedded with the rough-housing djentisms and snarling roars of Meshuggah all tipped into a maelstrom of double-kick and scrawling guitars. It all eventually spills into a hushed bridge; the aural equivalent of being torn apart by rip tides before being spat out onto the tranquil safety of a warm, sun-soaked beach. The latter track, the album highlight, bears a malevolent potency; a tapestry of rising and falling arpeggios, overwrought with taped threats.

With Devin Townsend mixing the squeaky tight production, this was never going to be an issue here. What irks are the peculiar structural anomalies and sense that they really are heading back over familiar territory. Blow me if they aren’t deconstructing here more than they are bringing something fresh to the table.

I must admit it is a surprise to find them boxing themselves into corners and not stamping their own mark on proceedings. It hasn’t stopped them sporting a kaleidoscope of polyrhythms and tones – proof that these LA boys are still brimming with promise. As for that flowing music they were hoping to create, they aren’t quite there just yet. There’s enough about The Direction Of Last Things though to prove one thing – surely it is just a matter of time before they crack the code and create a masterpiece.

Also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2015/12/intronaut-the-direction-of-last-things-century-media/

Periphery – Juggernaut: Alpha / Omega

In the beginning, there was Periphery and Periphery was good. They were loud, they were obnoxious and they were untamed. Yet here we stand, a mere 10 years later, gripping a twin album release, safe in the knowledge that it is the stuff of legend. Not only is their third long-player their heaviest, darkest, densest and most mature work, it is also their most emotive, addictive and haunting. Put simply, this is the work that will define their career.

Juggernaut contains a story, one based in fact, that can take you on a journey to spots of tear-jerking beauty before ditching you in the foulest, most soul-destroying of places. The album’s concept has been well-hidden so far and I hate spoiling surprises, so all I’ll suggest is check the track-listing if you want a clue to the full insanity of the project within a project. What unsettles most of all about the themes is the intricate dealing with each slight change in mood of the story’s main character. The humanity and hope within comes across from within the most hopeless and inhumane of situations.

Taken at face value, Juggernaut concerns the slow and relentless onslaught of one man’s mental faculties. Taken as a metaphorical tale, it can be applied to a wide range of subjects including birth, re-birth and death itself. The difference between the Alpha disc and the Omega one, according to guitarist Misha Mansoor, is that the former is “more optimistic” whereas the latter is “pessimistic”. Essentially these are two parts of the same story, one single time-line, but our anti-hero’s experiences ultimately dictate the reason for the split. Running to 82 minutes, it’s an awful lot to be tackling so there is argument that this could have been pared down to a single album by stripping out the few weaker tracks. With so much essential material though, it’s a blessing that they decided to double-up.

Dealing with Alpha first, it’s immediately apparent that the production levels are off the chart. This has allowed for a complete tonal range to shine; from the heavy punch and bruising limbs to the crisp, clean and sharp edges. “A Black Minute” resonates with twinkling strings and psychedelic, echoing keys creating space for Spencer Sotelo’s clean vocals to portray a vision of soft innocence, wonder, hope and even joy. “MK Ultra” presents a far-different side, however, as dark palm-muted butchery and malevolent roars tear into the listener until overload occurs. This blackout is the point where a short, jazzy hit of lift-music is inserted to say more than any white noise, siren or other such sound effect could. Following the storyline, “The Event” is a huge moment. Cleverly, it’s an instrumental and contains nothing more than a tremulous underscore and a steady pattern of single string strikes. Deeper in, Periphery dig out big, infectious hitters with huge choruses. Tracks such as “Heavy Heart”, the poppy licks of “Alpha”, the hardcore-flecked “22 Faces” and the jerking “Rainbow Gravity” all soar. Sotelo’s often nasal delivery can be annoying at times, but because of his flat refusal to dwell for any length of time on one style they lock into the musical flow rather than get under your skin. Here, he dips into his bag of extreme from which he can pull out everything from a guttural moan to an ear-splitting scream and anything in between. Check out “The Scourge” or album highlight “Psychosphere” to experience the sheer glory of his full range. It’s simply a staggering performance delivered with true emotion.

Moving into Omega, following a gut-churning “Reprise” we get another important moment within the tale. “The Bad Thing” marks the point where any semblance of self-understanding, normality, reason and forgiveness dissolves. It is vicious in sonic impact, unrelenting and ripped with dark lyricism. Its companion track, the enigmatic, ambient post-rock of “Priestess”, looks at the same world but attacks it with eyes wide open offering a spirited sequence of layered arpeggios warmed through with a sweet, hooked chorus and effervescent electronic touches. From here we begin the descent in spirit to the anarchic “Graveless” and the monstrous Meshuggah-worship of “Hell Below”. The jazz-flecked closing section of “Omega” offers up one final look backwards before “Stranger Things” give us one of the album’s more experimental moments of enlightenment and reflection, providing a fitting ending on a crushing half.

The precise structuring, degree of detailing and thematic recycling of Juggernaut show just how much careful thought has gone into the long and arduous process that it has taken to finally bring this album to the table. Ultimately though, it’s the emotional pull of the narrative and the rich variety of the music that will decide on the album’s impact. It seems to me that no matter how many times I go through this material, experiencing some of the most radical, deeply depressing, sick and highly disturbing of musical journeys, I still feel like I’ve been put through the wringer anew each time. Both albums are streaming online now so there really is no excuse not to do the same. I urge you to invest in this because the deeper you venture down the rabbit hole, the deeper it becomes. At the point of total immersion you may, just like me, actually feel your heart break.

Full streams are available through the team at Heavy Blog Is Heavy team here: http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2015/01/21/periphery-stream-juggernaut-omega-prepare-to-dismantle/

Review also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2015/01/periphery-juggernaut-alpha-omega-century-media/

Album Review: Monuments – The Amanuensis

Amanuensis – a term used over the years to mean such things as slave, aide, scribe and secretary. Sure, it’s a bit of a mouthful but then here’s an album that’s got the depth of flavour, good looks, emotional pull and addictive qualities to back that hefty handle up.

This sophomore song-driven album has drawn inspiration from the themes and motifs that connected the dots of David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas novel and, if that wasn’t enough, it also taps into the mysterious Samsara cycle. Guitarist John Browne has described the latter as “the cyclical existence of life that we are all bound to.” Here he goes on to mention that “Chris (Barretto, vocalist) has written an entire story around the lyrics. Maybe that will see the light one day!” Intriguing stuff.

Recorded in Wales, North America and England, the production has been stripped back and recorded live, where possible, and it all comes without triggers and without studio trickery. They’ve also refined that same infectious, rhythmical, progressive groove that so marked out their debut Gnosis. The immediacy of these techniques are there for all to hear. These, of course, are features that are also being picked up by more and more bands now, but it’s a concept that has been around for far longer than Monuments. SikTh’s work has undoubtedly had an influence, but Monuments’ guitarist John Browne, originally with one of djent’s forefathers Fellsilent, is proof of that pedigree.

On the first listen, you’d swear the vocal layers on this thing are infinite. Chris Barretto (ex-Periphery, Ever Forthright) debuts with the band here and his experience and incredible vocal gymnastics lift the album to a whole new level. Throughout “Origin Of Escape” and the epic “Quasimodo” he’s tearing out lumps from your lugholes by firing out elongated roars that he bends into long, base-to-peak crecendos. During “Horcrux” and “I, The Destroyer” he fishes out those bowel-loosening piq grunts of his and for the remainder he’s scraping the skies with a sweet, melodic drift that gently echoes and swirls around inside your skull. On this performance, you’d be hard-pressed to find a better fit for this infectious band.

Playing Devil’s Advocate, you could perhaps find fault with the start-stop end to “Quasimodo” or the powered-down, monastic chanting that forms the soul-sucking closer “Samsara”. Both could be viewed as rather crass stylistic affectations that the album could do without. Also, the tight production does tend to crush the mix together a little too thickly, so you may find that you have to hunt for the big riffs and choral keystones. Certainly the feisty “This is the end of promises made that were never meant to hurt / Forget what I say, I just want to watch you burn!” of “I, The Creator” is a monster hook big enough to keep anyone happy but you might be hard pushed to find another to match it.

The stark reality though is that The Amanuensis takes a burgeoning genre and raises the bar for the rest. Seriously, you’d be hard-pressed to find another modern progressive metal album that could match this for impact. “The Alchemist” is the star track here. It also forms the central axis, directing the flow as it draws the rest of the tracks inwards. It knits the whole concept together; driving with a brutal force powerful enough to level cities yet retains the lightness of touch to draw the eye time and again. There’s even a game-changer in here in the form of “Jinn” with its majestic Eastern elements wickedly-woven into the fabric of the music. This is a completely, crushingly epic goliath of tech and groove; wall-shuddering, space-flooding both by design and in performance.

Also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2014/07/monuments-the-amanuensis-century-media/

Live Review: A Day In The Life Of UK Tech-Fest 2014 – Newark Showground, 13/7/14

After the over-riding success of last year’s event, Tech-Fest returned bigger, bolder and brighter. This year saw the team take over the Newark Showground with its simple access to hangars for the stages, merch stands, bar and promoters. Not to mention the outbuildings for the loos, food facilities and adjacent closely-cropped field with running water for the campers. Of course the nearby run-off strip that allowed for parking was a bonus too. On the downside, and it is a downside. Once all the speaker stacks, assorted lighting rigs and accompanying band gear had been rolled into place it was immediately apparent that the stages themselves were too low, too tight and too far back from the barriers. Once those hangars started filling up, there was only ever going to be a clear line of sight for the first few rows. That was an unforgivable oversight and, word of warning, one that will undoubtedly impinge upon this review.

On the Sunday that Ave Noctum rolled up, tail between legs, it was apparent that plenty of other djentlemen had taken up the challenge with 800 camping tickets sold and 200 more walking in on day tickets. Of those punters that this reviewer encountered, there were plenty of happy faces with the majority of those dining out on the positives rather than dwelling on any perceived negatives. For most, this entire event was a simple godsend, being less about all that unwanted promotional garbage, unnecessary levels of security and ridiculous pricing that so afflicts the big name festivals. The fact that the bands that they loved were here playing their hearts out (not filling up the bottom support slots elsewhere), supporting each other and walking amongst their fans, was the only thing that really mattered to the attendees.

Thrown straight into the action, the first band up were Shields who, accompanied by stage two’s mad lighting set-up (hangar-flooding strobes and big strip lights burning holes in retinas throughout), tore into their set with energetic abandon. The heaps of echo on vocalist Joe Edwards was as much to do with the spacious metal hangar as whatever delay had been added through the sound-desk. Edwards and floppy-haired guitarist Sam Kubrick’s wild stage antics (one bouncing whilst snapping his neck violently, the other shooting himself in the chin with his fingers as he sprayed out water) deserved better than being met with bleary-eyes and folded arms but their hefty, inventive metalcore grooves certainly set heads gently nodding.

Aeolist lead vocalist Bradley Gallacher made great use of a flight-case to raise himself above the crowd. Sporting a network of tattoos and augmented lobes (one fashioned into a teardrop, the other boasting a huge tunnel), his slow prowl, lascivious leer and eyeballing of the crowd certainly loosened a few bowels. More so, the entire band’s utter abandonment to their post-rock noodling (closed eyes, heads bobbing, swaying gently) made each passage of scathing death vocal even more effective. Part-Contortionist, part-Between The Buried And Me, they certainly proved beyond doubt that they know a thing or two about the art of flow.

Featuring a Mikael Akerfeldt lookalike on vocals and bursting with NWOBHM and thrash-light tendencies, Aeon Zen seemed a little over-reliant on their introductory samples to get each song going but when they hit their stride there was plenty of warm, soft ambient keys courtesy of Tom Green. Sadly, it all felt a little tacked together and considering the fact that they were deemed strong enough to tour with the great Devin Townsend, that’s somewhat of a disappointment.

Saving the day (replacing Destiny Potato who had to pull out), Exist Immortal over on stage one absolutely nailed it. Their death-heavy tech fired up the slowly-massing crowd into a bout of fist-pumping and frontman Meyrick de la Fuente made certain we reached a peak of frenzy for the big hit “Edge Of Infinity” from their debut full-length. With all that hair flying about it was hard not to buy into each and every swirling, hammering groove.

Italy’s Destrage were an utterly manic burst of colour. No matter which genre you tried to stick them in (melodeath / metalcore / progressive metal) these Italians had a way of breaking free. Thanks to all the samples and a vast, floor-shaking bass drum, it sounded more like Rage Against The Machine were playing Nintendo against Dragonforce. Utterly bonkers from beginning to end. You had guitarist Matteo Di Gioia looking like Ali G, sporting a black beard, blonde crop, knee-length socks and a spasming body and singer/rapper Paolo Colavolpe tearing into the first few rows to deliver his invective in torrents.

As Chicago trio Alaya hit stage one, everything changed. So accomplished, tight and superbly emotive were they, that there was an instantaneous sense that the thrilling mayhem of the support acts had ended and the assured pomp of the headliners had begun. With stonkers like “Grace”, “Sleep” and “Poor Gloria” threading their way through the minds and mouths of the crowd, the soft floating cascades and arpeggios that surrounded the infectious choruses hit home and moved heads. With such little material to choose from there was a tendency for a mid-set slackening of impact, but with frontman Evan Graham Dunn literally bubbling over with enthusiasm (“We’re having the time of our lives at this festival. It’s been worth every dollar and every mile”) it was easy to become completely immersed in the performance.

Having left bereft guitarist Chris Purvis behind, Friend For A Foe  made sure they paid due tribute and enjoyed the moment. After losing Chris Barreto to Monuments we were blessed with multiple vocalists tonight with regular leggy blonde Max Curnow taking the lead role. The alternate blonde, Nikki Simmons (Drewsif Stalin), played a superb cameo skipping her way into the crowd before cheerfully ending with a “Thank-you for letting me party with you guys”. The pumped-up guitarists were soon in with us too and Curnow quickly followed, fighting his way into the crowd only to sink to his knees to scream his heart out. There was a bit of mic trouble and a few holes in the sound but their infectious energy made for compulsive viewing.

Aliases were able to laugh away stage two’s continuing “technical fuck-ups” by offering the crowd plenty of foot-on-amp posturing as Pin (ex-SikTh) and Leah Woodward hammered away at their guitars. It all made for a blindingly intense experience, both sonically and visually (those strobes again).

With a shift back to the main stage, there was a sudden sense of abandon, the pit properly began to kick-off and it was all due to those happy-go-lucky Eggheads The Safety Fire (9/10). Each of their firecracker numbers like “Old Souls” and “Mouth Of Swords” sparked a new bout of bouncing bodies as fists punched the sky. Amongst it all one overzealous fan was manhandled from the venue (never a pleasant side) by some pretty heavy-handed security who seemed desperate to calm the fervour. The taped segues brought a certain element of calm to proceedings but those titans of scrambling tech had their moment of genius to blow our minds and the high-pitched climax of “Beware The Leopard (Jagwar)” was it as vocalist Sean McWeeney hit that insane top-note.

The Ocean were restricted a little by their surroundings. Undoubtedly, that pesky sun peeking through the roof and the downsized stage set didn’t allow for complete immersion in their moody masterpiece Pelagial. They still made a fist of it though with the lighting crew doing a grand job of throwing blues and purple spots down at them. There was also a scattering of interesting filaments shining out from on stage and their enigmatic ocean blue bubble-boards offered a visual piece of the puzzle to connect to. Without the band backlit and the enigmatic video to fall back on though (something that so powered their own intimate tour performances) the show lacked the necessary impact. However, this being Tech-Fest we did get a robot dancing in the crowd so it wasn’t all a wash-out! The joys of those soft builds and the deep, scarring, all-encompassing vocal attack of Loïc Rossetti was immense. Time and again, he ran forward to scream into the faces of his adoring fans. Robin Staps was equally monstrous as with head hung he hammered out the doomy strains of the emotional “Bathyalpelagic II”. Against all the odds, they’d only gone and left us dazed and confused once more.

With UK progressive metal godfathers SikTh reforming and headlining here, you could forgive the venue for packing them in until catching a glimpse of the band became a matter of Darwinian theory. The stronger and more determined won out leaving this old sod with little to view but a red glow and the occasional choice bobbing of Mikee Goodman’s dread-covered head as he mounted the barrier. What was heard was more than enough to inspire. Referring to the mayhem before him, Goodman’s satisfied cry of “Having been gone seven years you don’t expect this kind of shit” said it all. You only had to know how much this all meant to the crowd from the reverential chanting that emerged from every mouth in the venue as “When Will The Forest Speak…?” rung out. With Goodman leading them like some deranged puppeteer the whole gig became an utterly cathartic experience. A place of worship – where else would a chant for the festival organiser kick off? Yet here we were hearing “Si-mon, Si-mon” spinning round the hangar. Mr. Garrod must have shed a tear, this event being a real labour of love for him. Like the fans, he too must have been in his element as “Sanguine Seas Of Bigotry” kicked the conveyor belt of crowdsurfers off. Sadly, as “Wait For Something Wild” left us with jaws agape this reviewer had to tear himself away.

Old Father Time is such a cruel master, but even he might have moshed a little that night that SikTh preached to their disciples once more.

Festival Website = http://uktechfest.com
This review also online @ Ave Noctum = http://www.avenoctum.com/2014/07/uk-tech-fest-newark-showground-13714/

Album Review: Damned Spring Fragrantia – Divergences

When music comes at you like this, attacking from every angle, it’s often all too easy to phase the individual sounds into a conglomeration and assume that everything you are picking up is identical. This band aren’t all blitzkrieg, nor are they a single-minded, unoriginal, write-off. Sensitivity to multiple sound sources isn’t going to help here – this isn’t music for the faint of heart. However, for those hard-skinned devils willing to apply a little patience and perseverance, sounding out these Italians can offer rich rewards. Listen long enough and you will discover that the key to unlocking Damned Spring Fragrantia, and this may seem odd considering their strength of purpose, is to focus on their subtlety of touch.


‘Still Alive‘, with its brooding anger and creepy taped overdubs, marks them out as the proverbial stalker. It is them taking the opportunity to calculate their method of attack before they launch upon you with brutish gang chants and sudden, dizzying changes of pace. This is the only calm they understand and it comes before the storm of ‘A Common Tragedy’ and ‘Lost Shores’ hit. And yet their creative peak arrives when they fine-tune their rage a little.

Take ‘D.M.Z.’, the track at the heart of their debut album Divergences. Named after them, defining them, it is littered with little nuances, showcasing their complete range and is underpinned by a writhing series of polyrhythmic, thunderous assaults. A clever combination of scrawl and crawl, it is real guts and glory stuff and yet it holds enough back to really hit home. Team this with ‘Drowned In Cyan’, another track that, appropriately, floods you with a little bit of everything and you’ll get an idea of just how talented this bunch really are.

Very quickly you’ll unveil their rampant Meshuggah worship, but you’ll catch plenty of The Acacia Strain‘s raging ‘core in there too. The clean, crisp production and vast dynamic range is an absolute thing of beauty allowing for a seamless blend. Yet, despite this and their obvious technical skill, most of the album can rather pass you by. All too often there is the sense that they aren’t taking full advantage here; that they aren’t ramming each point home deeply enough. The album is littered with little game-changing moments but they are too randomly scattered. This cherry-picking from their collective skill-set, can be jaw-dropping when they employ it, yet they need to use these moments to define their songs.

There’s the flicking, enigmatic tapped riff in ‘The Obsidian Fate’, the interesting split-channel switching and slow-motion shred in the title-track, and the fiendish melodic flourishes that lurk in ‘The Refusal Effect’, ‘Drowned In Cyan’ and ‘Pariah’ (which features a welcome guest spot for Heart In Hand vocalist Charlie Holmes). Even Nicolò Carrara’s regular bouts of phlegm-regurgitation or the heart-stopping sub-drops in ‘Heritage‘ and ‘The Refusal Effect‘ all excite. All these things burn brightly enough to transform a stock album into a timeless classic and yet they are just fleeting, quickly-forgotten moments.

Carrara’s one-dimensional vocal doesn’t help either.
- Almighty throat-ripping roar? *ding ding ding*
- Variety of delivery? *fart noise*
Clearly they also need a good tidy-up in the songwriting department, but his vein-bulging vocal angst that seemed such a bonus on the wall-of-sound ragers, like ‘Lost Shores’ and ‘Heritage‘, ends up being a massive weight around their neck when the music cries out for diversity.

For anyone feeling brave enough to tackle Divergences, you really need to know only two things. At its core, there is plenty of solid, workmanlike muscle. At its extremities, there is the potential for better, wilder things yet to be revealed. Damned Spring Fragrantia, hope springs eternal.

Also online @ Heavy Blog Is Heavy = http://www.heavyblogisheavy.com/2013/06/21/damned-spring-fragrantia-divergences

Article: Writer's Picks For 2012

I was recently commissioned to highlight a couple of bands with forthcoming albums that, for the coming year, were getting me a little hot under the collar. I plumped for these two...



When a new musical style begins to form, it’s rare that many take notice until it is well and truly established. This hardly seems to have been the case for the onomatopoeically-termed genre of ‘djent’. It first appeared in the early noughties, inspired by the signature palm-muted string hammering of the Swedish metal band Meshuggah, and has rapidly grown into a goliath with new bands piling on board each and every year. India’s Skyharbor and England’s The Safety Fire are two you may not yet have come across. Both have debut albums popping up in 2012 and both promise to be real game-changers. Having seen and heard the the former’s numerous little burps and squeaks popping up on various media sites of late and having experienced the latter’s storming “Sections EP” and explosive live show, I for one am already experiencing palpatations at the prospect of the pair taking djent to the next level.

Skyharbor will release the debut album ‘Blinding White Noise: Illusion & Chaos’ worldwide via Basick Records in early 2012.
You can listen to a sample of what they do here: http://soundcloud.com/skyharbor7

The Safety Fire will release their debut album ‘Grind The Ocean' via InsideOut Music on February 27th, 2012.

This short piece also appears online @ TLOBF = http://www.thelineofbestfit.com/2012/01/best-fit-2012-preview-writers-picks/

Interview: Of Legends

When Of Legends’ debut album, ‘Stranded’, winged its way into the MTUK office earlier this year all hell broke lost. Not only was the music a brutal eye-opener, not only was it yet another tentative baby-step into a newly-forming genre, but when we realised the chap at the helm was, up to now, known for being an electro-pop peddler it was like slipping into an alternate reality. Having just laid waste to half of North America on their Spring tour, John Skibeat grabbed a moment to fire a few questions at the man himself, vocalist/multi-instrumentalist Luis Dubuc.

Most will know you, Luis, as the man behind The Secret Handshake. What convinced you to make the leap from electronica into metal?
Well, it wasn’t that hard to be honest and really it was just exciting to be doing something so freeing as compared to pop music.

Have you always been a fan of heavy music in general?
Yes, ever since I was a young boy. That’s not something most people know about me so I guess it can throw most of my fans off, especially my critics.

The Secret Handshake was a solo project. At what point did you realise you might need some help from others to fully realise the band Of Legends?
Well, I think it was clear I needed to have that real element, so Travis [Orbin, drums] was an obvious choice based on his talent and character. It has been a great fit.

The band is comprised of yourself and members of Drop Dead Gorgeous and Sky Eats Airplane. How did the collaborations come about?
Well, at the time when I was ready to start touring with Of Legends, the guys’ other bands were sort of ending per se and so it was a perfect fit.

Who took on songwriting duties?
On the album, I wrote everything and sent the tracks to Travis who really took ownership of the drums and tracked them. I played everything else on the album.

I’m thinking specifically of the lyrics that refer to “the humans” when I ask whether you’re a fan of Devin Townsend’s body of work?
Ha! The album is a concept album about the movie Event Horizon, so that’s why those references are made.

What would you say your influences are for writing the songs that you have?
Well, to be honest I’m a huge fan of all genres of music, but overall I really love Meshuggah, In Flames and Soilwork as far as metal goes.

The atmosphere generated by the pile-driving polyrhythms are somewhat reminiscent of bands like Meshuggah, Dillinger Escape Plan and Strapping Young Lad. How much input did Travis Orbin have with that side of things?
Well, like I said earlier, I had written the drums and he took them and “orbinated” them and really made them shine and become unbelievable. He has an amazing talent.

Your vocal style is a real throat-scraper! How did you find it trying to reproduce that kind of raw power and what methods do you use to keep it intact?
I think that sound is just my newness to the genre and overall lack of knowledge of how to scream properly. I’m glad people like it.

You’ve now got Ben Weinman (Dillinger Escape Plan) and Tim Smith (Atreyu / HORSEtheband) co-managing the band. How did they register their interest?
Well, I had been friends with them for a few years and when I showed them the album it was clear that I was serious about the project and so they decided to get involved.

What did it feel like to get that kind of backing so quickly?
Well, it was a bit of pressure but it was fun to live up to it - especially live.

Considering you performed virtually everything on the album, can you describe how difficult you found the process?
It was a bit tricky to be honest as I had done all the demos at home with virtually no pressure. The whole album was done in about 6 days so it was go, go, go!

Now you’ve covered North America, can we expect to see you taking the live shows to other countries in the future?
Hopefully soon, just taking it one step at a time right at this moment.

Is this a project that you think can run and run and, if so, have you already started thinking about what you want to do for the next album?
Yes, we have already begun writing the next album as a collective, so it’s not just me at the helm anymore. Very excited to see how it turns out.

Perhaps (and it’s only a thought) with so many members of Sky Eats Airplane on board, we might expect to see you developing a more melodic sound?
Definitely not melodic in a singing sense. I think personally I really prefer to have metal with just screaming, though I do think the music will become more technical.

Also online @ MTUK = http://www.metalteamuk.net/interviews11/interview-ofleg.htm

Album review = http://johnskibeat.blogspot.com/2011/02/album-review-of-legends-stranded.html

Album Review: TesseracT - One

This is an album that has been eight long years in the making. Right from that fateful day in 2003 when guitarist Acle Kahney began penning lyrics, for what was then a solo project, right up to the day that the fully-formed TesseracT handed over this hallowed piece of polycarbonate plastic, they have been building to this moment. It's been a long process of road-testing and fine-tuning their material through a multitude of live performances and recorded previews. Needless to say, along the way they have accrued a mighty fanbase, not forgetting a recent Golden Gods nomination, so that now there are many who will hail this album as the moment when the validity of a new music scene was finally accepted by all.

Djent - that odd-sounding word just keeps popping up. I suppose it's the kind of word you can really chew on. Although you could just as easily describe TesseracT as being math or tech metal, for some reason this more-refined description seems to fit them better. The onomatopoeic 'djent', originates of course from the sound of a heavily-distorted, palm-muted guitar strike and it is all over this album. You'll no doubt catch the influences they've picked up from their tours with Meshuggah and The Devin Townsend Project, but that's not to say that those high-gain, polyrhythmic cuffs dominate here like they do on so many of those particular bands' tracks. No, here it is used more as a lead-through to the more evocative side of TesseracT where they flood you with unerringly epic vocal (that, initially, sounds like it would be more at home fronting an alt-rock band), expansive melodics and wildly progressive key changes. These are moments that are more likely to make you feel like you're in an alien environment - similar to that ethereal music created by bands like No Made Sense, Mastodon or Isis.

The overlapping vocals that float in layers above the chiming guitars and funk-fuelled bass of 'April', the emotion-soaked verses of 'Sunrise' (the antithesis of the underscored hammering strings) and the skyscraping vocal that runs through 'Lament' before acquiescing to the shuddering pulse - these are the moments where we will wallow, allowing our minds to wander. The spatial polyrhythmic blasting of 'Deception', the hopelessly cantankerous 'Epiphany', Dan Tompkins' mesmerising vocal performance over the soaring melodics of "Eden" - these are going to be the rare moments when we focus and throw shapes.

If it is true of 'One' that we have already gorged ourselves on it's heart (The six tracks that comprise the 'Concealing Fate' saga were released last year), leaving us just five new tracks to mull over, then it is also true that hearing what surrounds the centre is like suddenly seeing the whole picture. Listen to that early release now and it will feel somewhat incomplete. So although this is essential listening, before you leap, consider this. It may be a generalisation, but the levels of production clarity on show can easily divide the potential listener into one of two factions. The tech-heads amongst you will get goosebumps, whilst the remainder will bemoan the absence of raw edge; the inorganic, procedural feel of the delivery. I'm afraid, on a personal level, this kind of pinpoint accuracy does make me a little nervous. It's the same feeling I get when I visit a hospital - metal-fronted lifts set into white walls and high heels click-clacking on spotless lino - impulsively, I want to scratch up the floors and throw mud at the machines. So while I'm on board to a point, I'm going to be a lot more likely to dig out the filthy majesty of Chimp Spanner or Of Legends to get my djent fix in the future. Consider yourself warned.

Also online @ MTUK = http://www.metalteamuk.net/apr11reviews/cdreviews-tesseract.htm