On opener ‘Broken Cog’, Meshuggah are doing things a little different. Commencing the track with breathy cleans on the sinister nature, ‘Broken Cog’ then rolls into a slow moving chug – perhaps not the direct attack many would have been expecting from such an unflinching band. Nevertheless, despite some toned down aggression, ‘Broken Cog’ remains unnerving and unsettling to say the least. 

Singles ‘The Abysmal Eye’, ‘Light The Shortening Fuse’ and ‘I Am That Thirst’ follow, all tracks causing destruction in their wake. ‘The Abysmal Eye’ contains one mighty and monstrous riff, whereas the epic ‘Light The Shortening Fuse’ finds Meshuggah storming headfirst into a carnage causing drum and guitar combo, which get even stormier as the song progresses. ‘I Am That Thirst’ has some serious chunky riffs and the vocals rougher than sandpaper in the best possible way. Utterly brutal. 

Elsewhere, ‘Ligature Marks’ is a slow chugging sinister song with minimalistic vocals scattered throughout the track that gradually build up to climax in dramatic fashion. You would expect nothing less from Meshuggah at this point, experimentation with this one is evident and refreshing to see a band diverge from time to time. 

A near ten-minute epic comes in the form of the instrumental ‘They Move Below’, after that comes ‘Kaleidoscope’, a groove laden metal tune, one that has an infectious bobbing factory throughout and highly technical guitars mid way through the song.    

The penultimate ‘Black Cathedral’ and closer ‘Past Tense’ let the instrumentals do all the talking once more. On the shortest song on the record, ‘Black Cathedral’ clocks in at a mere two minuets long, packed purely of guitars. Likewise, the subdued album closer ‘Past Tense’ ends proceedings on a muted and mellow number. 

As far as ninth albums go and a bands first in six years, its clear to hear Meshuggah haven’t lost their touch of what makes them one of the best talents the metal scene has to offer on ‘Immutable’. Captivating and colossal, Meshuggah are back and better than ever. 

KATIE CONWAY-FLOOD

As an album, ‘Culture of Violence’ serves as the follow up to previous releases ‘Decimation Treaty’ and ‘Faithkiller’, picking up the pace where the previous two albums left off and not slowing down for one split second. On title track and LP opener ‘Culture of Violence’, the song kickstarts into immediate action with a borage of thrashing guitars and riled up vocals warning that “The end is near” by the time it reaches its chorus. As the track progresses, the mid-tempo pace quickly turns for a slower breakdown, which segues into an epic guitar solo courtesy of Ian Cimaglia. 

Keeping the momentum firing on all cylinders, ‘Dominion’ is far more brutal than ‘Culture of Violence’ it has to be said; a searing combo of chomping bass, powerful double bass drums and relentless riffs break the speed limit throughout the entirety of the track. As for the gang style vocals that lace certain sections of the song, they bring even more heat to an already very hot kitchen.    

While the next track ‘Thirteen’ brings a little bit of catchiness to proceedings, singles ‘Mastic’ and ‘1992’ have other ideas. The first, ‘Mastic’ cannot contain its constant tempo changes, switching between the slow bursts of ferocity to full on carnage in its faster moments. The second, ‘1992’ captures every element of hardcore and thrash metal that Extinction A.D. do best, the hardcore shouts coming from Rick Jimenez paired with the wild and untameable trash metal guitars. ‘1992’ is perhaps the most soul crushing song on this record. 

‘Star Spangled Banner’ is a head bang worthy tune – everything from its classic metal clangs to the abrasive and harsh band vocals that have everything to shout and scream about. This is a band who have confidence and a savage outlook on the harsh realities life has thrown at the world over the past couple of years, and Extinction A.D. convey that with an unapologetic attitude. 

Closer ‘Natural Disaster’, despite being the albums closer, definitely does not slam on the breaks whatsoever. It only puts its feet down on the accelerator, just as much as opener ‘Culture Of Violence’. Delivering one final hit of energy, ‘Natural Disaster’ – and the entirety of ‘Culture of Violence’ for that matter – is one hell of a riotous time. Extinction A.D. continue to thrash just as hard as their predecessors here, with an album that barely gives you any room to breathe. 

KATIE CONWAY-FLOOD

Warming up Brixton before the co-headliners come onto stage, Californian punk-rockers Destroy Boys bring a visceral and passionate expression of love, loss and the ultimate betrayal through songs such as ‘Vixen’, ‘Crybaby’ and closer ‘I Threw Glass At My Friend’s Eyes And Now I’m On Probation’, putting on a garage punk display,perfectly fitting for what’s still to come.

The first half of tonight’s co-headliners come onto stage with a bang. The lines that act as safety guidelines for the crowd on the slanted floor are packed to the brim and the balcony is at full capacity, and its only 8.30pm. Taking Back Sunday take to the stage, kicking off their co-headliner with ‘What’s It Feel Like To Be A Ghost?’ taken from the band’s third studio album ‘Louder Now’, exuberant vocalist Adam Lazarra having the crowd eating out of the palm of his hands from the get go. 

The set features some absolutely classic Sunday cuts including ‘Liar (Takes One To Know One)’, ‘Cute Without the ‘E’’ and closer ‘MakeDamnSure’, and the live reception they receive brings them bounding back to full life – that classic chorus in the closer “I just wanna break you down so badly/Well I trip over everything you say/I just wanna break you down so badly/In the worst way” receiving a colossal response. The energy levels are beyond electric and the atmosphere is dosed in the fond nostalgia that only a track like ‘MakeDamnSure’ can muster. One of the best Taking Back Sunday sets in the band’s twenty year long career, they’re a tough act to follow and Alkaline Trio certainly have their work cut out for them.

The punk rock times continue to roll as, following the earlier casual appearance of front man Matt Skiba, the rest of Chicago collective Alkaline Trio walk onto stage. A raucous reception rings out for these punk rock mainstays for set opener ‘Private Eye’, an old time classic that provokes immediate sing-a-longs and a “Holy Shit, London” reaction from the band’s very own Dan Andriano at the sight of the impressive turnout for the Trio.  

Second song ‘We’ve Had Enough’ perhaps receives a bigger arms-wide-open welcome than its predecessor, its infamous opening gongs and bongs kicking the energy into absolute madness. Igniting a frenzied mosh pit and hysteric levels of chaos and carnage, ‘We’ve Had Enough’ doesn’t get this crowd saying that just yet. 

 By the time we reach the fifth and sixth songs of the setlist ‘I Wanna Be A Warhol’ and ‘Nose Over Tail’ – the latter a track to which vocalist Matt Skiba introduces as “a song for the people of England’ – the audience are suitably reminsicing in a setlist heavily made up of songs from earlier Trio albums such as 1998’s ‘Goddamnit’, 2001’s ‘From Here To Infirmary’, 2003’s ‘Good Mourning’ and 2005’s ‘Crimson’ to no one’s disappointment in the slightest. 

Keeping everyone on their toes midway through the bands length eighteen song setlist, Trio divert to the classic ‘Armageddon’ and the audience’s reaction is priceless. ‘Armageddon’ – or as Alkaline preferred to refer to it as ‘Camageddon’, renaming the song after someone in the crowd – comes as a pleasant surprise to this Brixton crowd, the classic chorus of “Armageddon, let the light in/Before we say goodbye, give us something to believe in” ringing around the room at maximum volume. 

Ending their run on ‘Radio’ and ‘Time To Waste’, Alkaline Trio round off their time by bringing Brixton’s roof down. ‘Radio’ earns the loudest singalong of the night, most noticeably with the shouts that accompany the former’s opening line “Shaking like a dog shittin’ razor blades”, and ‘Time To Waste’ achieving the exact same.    

“A tour that has been three years in the making”, remarks Andriano, and the wait was worth all those 1,095 days. For both Alkaline Trio and Taking Back Sunday, this returning run overseas has seen two heavyweights from the punk and rock games respectively prove that all these years later, they are still as good live as the first time they stepped onto much smaller stages decades ago. Fun, humour and jubilation in much needed abundance. 

KATIE CONWAY-FLOOD

This album leans on every element that made up their 2021 EP ‘Tawny’ and takes them a step further. It’s filled with fascinating vocal melodies and is emotionally weighted with great despair, and album opener ‘Fun’s Over’ finds the band amp up the full force guitars, with riffs that accelerate Drug Church into two-minute pure punk territory. 

Singles wise, ‘Million Miles Of Fun’, ‘Detective Lieutenant’, ‘World Impact’ and ‘Premium Offer’ all bring something distinct to the ‘Hygiene’ table. The first, ‘Million Miles Of Fun’, showcases another side to this otherwise hardcore and punk-heavy outfit. Poppy sounds and infectious hooks provide a surface for lyrics that depict the bleak state of the world. The second, ‘Detective Lieutenant’, is an embodiment of this band’s evolution, still retaining that post-punk instrumental style that’s distinctly Drug Church, meddled among mellow shimmering dream-pop guitars that glide in and out between tame and tranquil. Next up, the jangly ‘World Impact’ builds on these rattling drums to explode into a big attitude style chorus and lastly, ‘Premium Offer’ swerves away from what people might expect of the band at this point in their career, pushing themselves further afield into new sonic terrain, the song retaining that balance between vocal attack and joyous guitars.

Lyrically, ‘Tiresome’ takes every theme ‘Hygiene’ has to offer and throws them at the kitchen sink in a three minute time frame. Whirring around the same endless deluge of politics and mundanity that everyday life presents, the song aims to make us all realise how much time we are wasting on pointless politics, self-pity or useless information we get wrapped up on the daily.

Following on from ‘Piss & Quiet’, a tongue and cheek play on the typical phrase peace and quiet, comes album closer ‘Athlete On Bench’, a surprisingly upbeat and pop-punk leaning lasting impression, full of prominent bass lines, crashing drums and joyous guitar riffs. 

With ‘Hygiene’ coming in at under the half hour mark, Drug Church prove that time is of the essence as they come at you with all killer hardcore and punk bangers. There’s no time for filler here, making this short album more than worthy of its quality over quantity status with its ten track delivery. 

KATIE CONWAY-FLOOD