Jack The Envious – In Your Own Way

Having already grabbed attention with their debut EP last year, UK outfit Jack The Envious have bigger things in their sights with the release of its successor In Your Own Way. It is a more creatively adventurous affair swiftly revealing a new confidence and bolder exploits from within the band which only increasing experience and expanding imagination can bring.

Formed in 2012 by vocalist Nir Perlman and guitarist Guy Avnon with bassist Guy Checkarov subsequently  linking up, all this going on during their military service, London based Jack The Envious took their time honing their sound and live craft as national service absorbed their time. Debut EP, Pull You Down, made a solid impact with its release last year, its post hardcore nurtured sound a potent introduction to the band. Its first steps though have now been strikingly eclipsed by In Your Own Way, the Jack The Envious sound having evolved with those new previously mentioned attributes and a maturity they can only breed. With its line-up completed by drummer James MacPherson, the quartet has moved from being another promising post hardcore proposition into an imagination grabbing and openly distinct incitement looking back on a lagging behind genre crowd.

In Your Own Way opens up with Shut Me Off, intriguing ears and thoughts with its darkly toned atmosphere and pulse veined by a melodic tingle. Soon guitars and rhythms are crowding around the senses though, subsequently uniting in a tenacious and lively stroll blessed with a delicious bass sound and the wiry exploits of the guitar. With Perlman’s vocals equally as distinct and enticing, punk and indie rock lining the track’s post hardcore breeding, it erupts in a magnetically eventful blaze with numerous increasingly gripping twists and turns. The track is superb, quickly stamping a new creative authority and adventure upon the band’s writing and its portrayal.

The pop punk entrance of Begging For More belies the forceful tide of sound in close pursuit and remains an enterprising texture within the mercurial landscape of the song. Fiercely infectious with a matching strength of aggression and imagination, the track is a fascinating tapestry of styles and invention keeping the listener busily captivated before the band’s new single Guilty takes over. Its gentle melancholy scented opening similarly draws a wall of intensity and trespassing sound without losing  the poetic integrity within the blossoming heart and guitar weaving scenery of the song. Imposing drama also brews within the song, laying out its temptation as Avnon conjures and rhythms challenge alongside the ever enticing vocals.

Mrs. Grim swings into view on a trapeze of guitar woven tendrils straight after, the track embracing a host of indie, punk, and hardcore spawned flavours in its appetite stoking invention. The most imaginative and creatively bold encounter within the EP it is also one of its most inescapably catchy making, as most songs here, a riveting gateway into the world of Jack The Envious whilst challenging the first as the best song within In Your Own Way.

The EP ends with Never Look Down, the calmest proposition within the release but brewing its own keen to erupt blaze of energy and sonic fire within the song’s melodic hug. Though not quite lighting ears up as those before it, the track is a fine end to quite simply one exciting release. With their first EP Jack The Envious said here we are, with their second they have declared themselves ready to make a leading role in shaping the future of British post hardcore/ melodic punk.

In Your Own Way is out now as a free digital download @ https://jacktheenvious.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/JackTheEnvious/

Pete RingMaster 19/07/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyrigh

Cauls – Recherché

It has been five years since UK alternative/progressive rockers Cauls delighted and impressed with their EP simply called 2. It turns out it has been a time which almost saw the band call it a day just as it was beginning to make a major impact on the UK music scene. Thankfully they pulled out of the nose dive and after a line-up change found the energy and inspiration to go again. That thankfulness even more pronounced now with the release of their debut album Recherché.

An atmospheric, provocative, and continually rousing blend of alternative/progressive and post rock with earthier post hardcore intensity, the band’s sound and release has evolved into a fire of imagination and enterprise. You would expect and hope each release outshines the last and pushes things on again, something which does not always happen as we all know, but Cauls have taken a big leap in building on the success of that last EP. Recherché is a compelling web of sound and suggestion fuelled by melodic and harmonic elegance and driven by a climate of rousing and often aggressive atmospheric imagination.

From the short instrumental flight of opener De Novo Quincunx, the quintet of Michael Marwood, Chris McManus, Graham Morris, Douglas Redfern, and Kye Walker entice and involve ears and imagination with increasing creative drama. That first piece is a slow developing mist of sonic calm and darker intrigue, guitars gently entangling as darker hues occasionally moan; it all leading to the instantly kinetic presence of Peace Paean. Around the ever impressing vocals of Marwood, a relative calm while engaging guitar woven tendrils smoulders and builds into a more boisterous roar. Descriptive melodies continue to entice and flame in the rousing breakouts, adding to the bolder fire of the song and its captivating Mars Volta meets Muse like landscape.

The track is pure captivation, sparking a keen intrigue and appetite for what is to follow; that adventure soon in full flight through firstly Radio Johanne / Said Molineux. From its initial low key peace with an alluring tingle of melody, the track also simmers and grows in presence and intensity, building into an unpredictable web of sonic and melodic imagination punctured by the adventurous jabs of McManus’ beats. With at times a resemblance to the raw tenacity of At the Drive In, the song consumes ears with fiery charm and rousing energy before the first part of the three-track Wide Opus Abyss awakens in ears.

Amusia is a secret smog full of suggestive essences and evocative sounds as it blossoms into the corporeal body of Vapours. Rhythms quickly provide a bold spine for its harmonic and sonic flames to erupt and unite around the striking draw of Marwood’s voice and the combined prowess of Redfern and Walker alongside the poetic finesse of Morris’ guitar. It is a resourceful blaze which eventually becomes Tide and Bye, an even more agitated yet controlled melodic clamour sharing Radiohead/ Far like spices in its eventful recipe.

The technical sprightliness of COQ8 dances eagerly in ears before mellowing into a reflective serenade. It is a plaintive cry though carrying its own instinctive tempest, a highly strung excitement bringing fiery exchanges of textures and band around the thoughtful vocal led calms. Its second part, Retentive Anamnesis adds greater volatility to that scorching heart, providing a fibrous sonic weave to its wired atmosphere and pleasure for ears and thoughts.

Épée brings things to a close, strolling in with bass and guitars merging dark and surf rock like hues in its tranquil swing before things bubble and boil around ear captivating vocals. Jazzy and sultry yet melancholic, romancing and seducing with a boldness exploring a diversity of rigour, the track is just mesmeric and another fresh detour in the album’s diverse soundscape.

Cauls are back with a whole new heart to create and a sound which grabs that intent with adventure and beauty, Recherché offering surprises and provocative enticements at every turn. We can only sigh with relief that the band did not buckle to that feeling of bringing things to an end.

Recherché is out now @ https://cauls.bandcamp.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Caulsband/

Pete RingMaster 09/05/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Show Of Bedlam –Transfiguration

They may not be the most prolific of bands recording wise but without doubt when Canadians doomsters Show Of Bedlam uncage their creative imaginations and sonic dexterity it results in something truly irresistible and memorable. That claim is richly confirmed yet again with the band’s new seven track EP/mini album, the quite stunning and unnerving Transfiguration.

The Show Of Bedlam sound has never been solely confined by that doom tagging, their fusion of sludge, post hardcore and punk, and atmospheric malevolence a cauldron of raw and transfixing invention and suggestion but never has it been so mesmeric, bone-chilling, and psychotically arcane as within Transfiguration. The release is a furnace of raw emotion and intensity soaked in a suffocating beauty; the band creating an evocation of macabre intrigue and corrosive psychosis which if the Witchfinder General was still a figure of ‘responsibility’ would have Show Of Bedlam burning at the stake.

From their debut release as one half of the split Autocannibalist with Jucifer in 2009 to first album Roont in 2012 and now Transfiguration, Montréal hailing Show Of Bedlam has kept ears and fears waiting and richly rewarded. The time between releases has seen the band continue to nurture and hone, push and experiment with a sound which is instinctively unique and dramatically imposing. For all their previous successes, Transfiguration is easily the band’s finest moment to date and the moment they surely blossom from a widely known secret to a fully-fledged inspiration within the metal scene.

Twelve minute opener Blue Lotus immediately engulfs the senses with its sonic smog of intrigue and melodic discord; enticing and intimidating in equal measure as it crowds the listener ready for the equally haunting and inescapable prowess of Paulina Richards’ presence and voice. There is virulence to all the dark thoughts and visceral imagery escaping the stifling atmospheric density; infectiousness as easily trespassing body and thoughts as the psychosis of sound carrying it. With a gothic wash equally blossoming and recalling Xmal Deutschland at times, the glorious predator of a track swallows the listener with its tapestry of creative spite and despair simultaneously disturbing and invigorating with its oppressive magnificence and intimate examination of the senses.

Latest single Taelus swiftly follows, teasing ears with its melodic beckoning as beats wait to lay an occasionally anthemic hand on an already eager appetite. As a sample lurks, the song simmers and bubbles, bursting from its confines as vocals and guitars entwine in another caustic wash of sonic tempting stalked by the hungry rumblings of bass. As its predecessor, the similarly deceitfully catchy track is as descriptive sonically as it is vocally, every fresh wave and adventure of intensity and cunning a new twist in the nightmarish landscape painted note by note, syllable by syllable.

At two minutes plus, the album’s title track is a short and powerful insight into a blossoming defiance and turning of the worm within a rhythmically entrancing and gripping affair, inciting the senses physically and  emotionally before Hall of Mirrors rises from its slumber with carnivorous breath and intent. It crawls over the listener, dragging its sludgy weight and doomy intensity with rapacious relentlessness as Richards roars with unbridled emotive intensity and persuasion. It too ebbs and flows with energy and greater volcanic urgency, consuming the senses with lava-esque ferocity lined with more of the band’s contagious groove spited toxicity; it all leading to a climax which simply consumes all before it.

Lamentation offers a respite of sorts, its twenty odd seconds a detour into a fresh fly infested charnel house from which the oppressive elegance and invasive almost cancerous  tempest of Easter Water broods and escapes. With every passing second it looms up and imposes its weight and immersive embrace, bullying whilst igniting ears and imagination. Subsequent slips into less intensive though no less spine-chilling and fearsome pastures as well as the darkest corners only adds to the theatre of sound and its realm of the portentously obscure, and to the imagery festering and conjuring in the imagination.

Closed by the brief sonic ruin of L’Appel Du Vide, quite simply Transfiguration is glorious; daunting and alarming for sure but a sonically and emotionally distressed alchemy of sound and invention which leaves the majority of releases this year so far and easy to suspect to come, looking bland and uneventful. As the world falls further into disaster and decay, so Show Of Bedlam rises, their sound and new offering the perfect soundtrack and antidote.

Transfiguration is released May 12^th through PRC Music and Sentient Ruin Laboratories with pre-ordering available now @ http://www.prcmusic.com/store/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=1447 and https://sentientruin.bandcamp.com/album/transfiguration

https://www.facebook.com/Show-of-Bedlam-231634652456

Pete RingMaster 18/04/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Everyday Sidekicks – Hope

It has been around eighteen months since British post hardcore outfit Everyday Sidekicks caught ears and appetite with their debut EP, The Things I’ve Seen. It was a release which suggested this was a band with real potential. Now the Bristol quartet uncages its successor, a collection of songs which not only realise much of that promise but show a big leap in fresh adventure and maturity, as well as identity in their sound. Hope is a stirring encounter, a warm and spirit inspiring proposal equally showing a new rousing aggression and raw energy in band and music.

The time between releases has obviously seen Everyday Sidekicks concentrate on honing their sound and writing. There is boldness and a far keener character distinct to the band in the songs roaring from within Hope. According to the band, some of the new qualities revealed have been pushed and nurtured by the EP’s producer Tom Manning, the band stating that, “He pushed us to play better and really put in the effort, so that we feel now that a big part of our sound has actually come from working with him. He likes to make things a lot less over produced and more stripped back and raw, which we are really starting to dig in our sound.” What and wherever the seeds, Everyday Sidekicks have hit a new plateau with their EP, yet still a mere but potent step in expected greater evolution ahead.

Glass House starts things off, the song an immediate bluster of sound and impassioned vocals with frontman Archie Hatfield, a blaze of emotion and word under the mesh of melodic enterprise cast by Tim Brown’s guitars. A raw edge is swiftly apparent but equally too an infectious tone as the song blazes away in ears and imagination. In many ways, it is not overly unique as a post hardcore proposal yet has a fresh breath and nature to its roar urged on by the muscular tenacity of drummer Mat Capper and the brooding catchiness of bassist Sam Hughes.

Its strong presence and persuasion is followed by that of Bury Your Friends, the song from a melancholically melodic start erupting into a metal coaxed rock ‘n’ roll tempest. Its body and tone is irritable, its swing ultimately infectious but constantly feeling like it could turn on the listener at any time even in its calmer and fierce pop scented passages. It is a striking track, a bigger outburst of the band’s new creative prowess matched in power and thrills by recent single Fracture. Riffs and grooves lead with antagonism, rhythms barely taking an ounce of venom from their punch as melodies and vocal harmonies subsequently escape from a brooding storm never far away. Richly enjoyable when first unveiled last August, it seems to have just grown in temptation and stature; blazing superbly from within Hope with greater attributes being found with every outing.

The poetic melancholy of Lacuna takes the imagination away next, the brief instrumental a solemnly suggestive detour before the EPs best track launches its mouth-watering squall upon the senses. As much as their sound is hardcore/punk bred, Business Secrets Of The Pharaohs is equally a proposal of carnivorous metal intent; a snarling, intrusive treat fluidly merging with melodic and post hardcore spawned endeavour. From vocals to sound, writing to cantankerous air, the song is superb and if a sign of things to come, maybe the first step in truly big things for Everyday Sidekicks.

The band themselves admit hints of inspirations from bands such as A Day To Remember and Beartooth can be heard in their music but as the excellent Hope shows, and especially its closing gem, all are becoming passing whispers in something warranting, as good as demanding attention.

The Hope EP is released March 31^st and available @ https://everydaysidekicks.bandcamp.com/album/hope

Upcoming live Dates:

4th April – France, Dunkerque – Bobble Café

5th April – France, Angers – T’es Rock Coco

6th April – Belgium, Namur – Le Temple

7th April – Switzerland, Zurich – Wallstreet Bar

https://www.facebook.com/everydaysidekicks   https://twitter.com/EDSKOfficial

Pete RingMaster 31/03/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Hunter Kill Hunter – II

Building on its well-received predecessor of 2015, the new EP from British alternative rock quintet Hunter Kill Hunter is a striking affair. II is evidence of a band settling into their creative skin if yet to lure out the truly unique aspects of their sound though from start to finish the release captures ear and imagination alike. It is a bold and creatively tenacious affair which leaves a definite appetite for more from this emerging outfit.

Formed in 2015, the London five-piece soon drew attention with their live presence, which has gone on to see the band play with the likes of Jonah Matranga and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and find their debut EP Find A Way Home well received. Merging post hardcore roars with infectious alternative rock bred enterprise, Hunter Kill Hunter offer an emotionally charged, tempestuously intense affair which has found a new strength and maturity to fuel its visceral yet openly catchy tempting in the new EP.

Opening with the harmonically coloured enticing of Intro, band and release soon up the ante physically and emotionally with Too Much To Take. Instantly a snarling air grips ears and the textures of the song but equally catchiness is abound as vocalist Justin Jackson, revealing both his raw and melodic side, uncages the song’s heart backed by the similarly potent tones of Stuart May and his and fellow guitarist Kieran Harper’s adventurous enterprise.  It is a trait which infests the whole of the song, its twists and turns often seemingly familiar yet driven by a fresh imagination which ensures there is nothing predictable about the fine encounter.

Sinking From Within swiftly uncages a rhythmic proposal which demands attention next, the growling air of Rhys Kirby’s bass in league with the eagerly swung beats of Joe Lanigan. It is a formidable enticing as inviting as it is predacious and the lead into another potent blend of rapacious intensity and melody honed angst. There is a touch of Billy Talent to the song at times mixing in with further unexpected moments of Hunter Kill Hunter invention as once more expectations are evaded by the excellent track.

The reflection bred embrace of The Hunted is a mellower encounter but too equipped with an instinctive almost tempestuous edge which erupts in sonic crescendos between the plaintive warmth of the vocals. More of a grower against the more quickly impacting prowess of its predecessors, the song grows into another truly engaging affair with a lingering infectiousness before They’ve Traded Us For Gold finds an even calmer landscape for its resourceful proposition. As with the last song, its calm is interrupted with fiery expulsions of sound and energy, each outburst escalating an impressive hug of melodic and harmonic enterprise.

The imposing intensity and volatile climates of earlier tracks is enjoyably exposed again in the outstanding We Are The Blame, its eventful drama stirring ears and spirit in swift time while closing track Neverlasting Light is the darkest, arguably most intense moment within II as heart and sound expose their rawest qualities and honesty in a turbulent and pleasingly imposing tempest.

Another track growing to its full height with subsequent listens, it provides a thickly satisfying end to a highly enjoyable encounter with Hunter Kill Hunter. As suggested earlier, there are many familiar aspects to the EP yet it would not be wrong to say each is twisted or employed in something building towards a character of sound distinct to the band, and something rather easy to want more of.

II is out now @ https://hunterkillhunter.bandcamp.com/album/ii-2

http://www.hunterkillhunter.com/   https://www.facebook.com/hunterkillhunter/   https://twitter.com/hkhband

Pete RingMaster 17/01/2017

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Hypophora – Youth / Caught

Hailing from the beautiful Cornish county town of Truro, Hypophora has been picking up attention and praise since emerging in 2012 and especially over the past couple of years as they earned a reputation for being one dynamic live proposition. Now the British quartet is tapping on national awareness with their new double A-sided single Youth / Caught.

Taking inspiration from various Seattle grunge/early 2000s post-hardcore bands, Hypophora create a punk infused alternative rock roar just as ripe with melodic invention and funk bred infection. As suggested its anthemic potency has helped see the band a notable prospect and export from the UK’s south western tip. Live the band has shared stages with the likes of LTNT, Allusondrugs, The Hyena Kill, and Narcs among many. Ahead of a UK tour, Hypophora are laying down a strong invitation with their new Easy Action Records released single, a proposal which reveals a potential which demands it is taken notice of.

Youth instantly engages with hardy beats and a senses grasping web of grooves. Cast by Karum Cooper, they wind around ears with melodic suggestiveness growing a funky nature as the growling bassline of Lewis Pilcher and the swinging rhythms of drummer Jim Richardson collude with the vocals of Katie McConnell. She has an expressiveness and emotion to her voice, backed in strength by Cooper, which pulls you into the song where the band shows their imaginative enterprise. The track does not exactly leap out from the speakers but rather creeps up on the appetite for a lingering tempting that incites a need for closer involvement.

The same applies to Caught, a similarly restrained roar which rumbles and blossoms with a tempestuousness which unites perfectly with the evocative melodies and vocal passion shaping the magnetic encounter. It continues to ebb and flow with intensity throughout, darker rhythmic hues flirting with ears and the catchy character of an increasingly captivating track.

The single is the introduction of Hypophora to a wider audience which may not explode into view but creates an intrigue which only leads to a want to further explore the inescapable promise and swiftly enjoyable sound of the rising four-piece.

Youth / Caught is released November 11^th via Easy Action Records.

https://www.facebook.com/hypophora   https://www.instagram.com/hypophoramusic/  https://twitter.com/hypophoramusic

Pete RingMaster 08/11/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright

Light The Skies – Human

It seems that there is a sudden swell of excitement around British quartet Light The Skies primarily because of their new EP, Human. Creating an attention luring sound built on a fusion of post hardcore with melodic metal influences, it maybe that the band has been on the radar of a great many before now but it is with their potential fuelled new release that the rest of us might just be catching on.

It is hard to say there are many major surprises within the six songs making up the EP but each is an accomplished and imagination built proposal easily enticing ears. Since forming during their college days in 2013, the Birmingham band has grown into a potent live force, sharing stages with the likes of Ghost Town, Palisades, Boy Jumps Ship, Alverez Kings, Scream Blue Murder, Lock & Key, Beyond Recall, and Templeton Pek along the way. The Human EP is a new step up in their ascent, a release sure to be nudging national awareness of the band’s dynamic sound.

The EP opens up with Animals, a track which promises much but does not always deliver yet leaves a definite intrigue to hear more. Its muscular opening with the probing beats of drummer Sam Hemus make a potent coaxing, escalating as just as intensive riffs and grooves from the guitars of Will Douglas and Charlie Elliott grip the senses. With the heavy tones of Conor Browne’s bass seducing it is a formidable start capped by the raw throated cries of Douglas. A sudden slip into mellow climes with clean vocals is a less potent move for personal tastes though redeemed by the great band harmonies which lead back into the tempestuous roar of the song.

Continuing to switch between its increasingly imaginative stages the song is ultimately a powerful and pleasing start to the release and soon matched by Distractions. Its gentler melodic opening paves the way for a tantalising mix of Douglas’ clean vocals and a web of guitar enterprise speared by the shadowy yet flirtatious nature of the bass. With a lighter climate throughout compared to the tempestuous air of its predecessor, the song is a radiant tempting with keys and melodies as suggestive as the emotion lining the eventful song.

Acclimate uncages its own irritable storm of sound and intensity straight after, a challenge nicely tempered by warmer vocals and melodic endeavour as rhythms intrude upon the senses. It many ways it is as poppy as it is aggressively raw, veering more towards the latter the further into its creative and emotional turbulence it ventures though still it makes room for more welcoming ideas.

Looking Back unites the same kind of contrasts in an infectious stroll with a forcibly anthemic chorus and heavier textures which prowl its body throughout while its successor Ourselves is an acoustic caress with Douglas showing the strength of his harmonic tones. The first of the pair is a certain highlight of the EP with the second increasingly beguiling, their individual qualities combined by the closing drama of Distance. As its start, Human ends with a song which fully satisfies if without finding all the ingredients which ignite other tracks but each nurtures an appetite to hear more from Light The Skies; a success in anyone’s book.

Human is out now via Snowhill Records @ https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/human-ep/id1154785404

http://www.lighttheskiesuk.com/   https://twitter.com/LightTheSkiesUK   https://www.facebook.com/LightTheSkiesUk

Pete RingMaster 04/11/2016

Copyright RingMaster: MyFreeCopyright