“Our best intentions pave our path to hell.”
A long-sold out night in Kentish Town featured a mixed bill of overseas bands. These four acts are connected in many ways, but the first that springs to mind is their connection to both ‘tech’ and ‘pop’ sensibilities. Each band provides gratifying grit and technical performances directly aside melodic components, and yet, they’re all very different from one another. You could say they’re all safe bets when you’re handed an aux cord, but for one night, they were all alive before us.
Photos by Dobbin T, words by Maximo David and Dobbin T.
Paledusk
With a suprise early start, there was a distinct risk that Paledusk would play to a dustbowl of a room. But there were dedicated fans even for the first act that turned the floor into a busy party. In fact, forget the times you’ve seen support acts go down poorly, because tonight every band was a delight. Living up to their reputation, Paledusk were ridiculously animated. Any part that was musically “easy” to play – you know, like precise syncopated djent mutes – becomes their opportunity to morph into beyblades. As time has gone on, Paledusk‘s setlist has shifted over their weeks on tour, and tonight’s set was focused on the new EP PALEHELL. Elsewhere across Europe they have been opening with another curveball – Eminem’s “Lose Yourself“, plus the anime-anthemic “I’m ready to die for my friends“. The EP title track “PALEHELL” was my favourite song, full of crazy beat breaks. By the time they finished with “RUMBLE“, the audience has just about settled into Paledusk‘s dazzling scheme, but it was time to pass the mic to a more down to earth band.
Thornhill
If tonight’s set was any pointer towards where Thornhill are developing their sound, there’s increasing priority towards grooving rhythms, and I mean this in a wider sense than the ‘tech’ world normally sees it. They’re getting danceable – perhaps even a little sensual. Case in point was the newest track, “Obsession“, and the live setting made an already catchy song even more memorable, audibly enchanting the most dedicated fans. Then again, some things aren’t changing: they absolutely own their branded moody composure, and they made sure to end every track on some high intensity twist with nasty gutterals. The trademark Thornhill-range was well represented, thanks an even split of material between Heroine and The Dark Pool. As with all the singers tonight, we were impressed by Jacob Charlton‘s strong clean and harsh vocals, despite the long tour they’d just finished of the US.
Silent Planet
Speaking of mood music, the magic of Silent Planet was clarified in the visuals of the performance: unfathomable heaviness that comes in flickers and stutters. Where most heavy bands settle for all the keyboards on the backing track, guitarist Mitchell Stark fired synths himself from a dimly lit electronics station. Contrasting this dark presentation, there was a strong theme of mental health and togetherness expressed by frontman Garrett Russell, such as “Panic Room” being dedicated to PTSD sufferers. The details of the track’s backstory were laid bare before the biggest venue they’d ever played. “Antimatter” was a catchy rampage that prompted huge recognition from the audience. It’s clearly been a breakthrough single for the band, and these live performances of the SUPERBLOOM material are certainly another part of their dramatic upward trajectory. They saved perhaps their most ‘tech’ song for last, “Trilogy” stunning us all with the mini blast beats.
Polaris
Context is everything, and with the passing of Ryan Siew, there was a sense that Polaris were performing not in spite of his passing, but in honour of it. This fact brought clarity and importance to the event, and to every drum smash, djenty twist, sung-back lyric, and buoyed crowd surfer. The set was a celebration of the new record Fatalism as Polaris offered the most directly ‘pop’ tracks of the night, with vocal and rhythmic hooks on such songs as “Harbinger” and “Nightmare“. Early in the set they also had some vicious tracks – “HYPERMANIA” brought wall to wall harsh vocals and ecstatic breakdowns. Juggling these two epitomes is Jamie Hails who makes for an enigmatic, smiley, feel-good frontman. With a lot of disappointment, we had to dip early during their set (shout out to rail replacement services), so we’re not really counting this one in our books. But even on a night with four bands, Polaris played a thirteen song set and two encores, which will surely have been a treat.
Check out our reviews of the latest records by Polaris, Silent Planet, Thornhill, and Paledusk at Boolin Tunes.