Tracks like ‘Bloom’ and the aforementioned ‘Spectrum’ really make you work to find the rhythm, but that just makes it even more rewarding when you do get your head round it. There’s a sassiness to these tracks that’s difficult to explain, but it’s likely the result of the sheer gall it takes to write music like this. The confidence of this album is taken to another level by the slick, textured production that allows all the instruments room to breathe (and show off) whilst still giving the whole thing a sense of weight. The bass in particular sounds massive and makes everything sound heavy without needing the guitars to be too distorted.

There are more subtle moments on ‘No Moon’, like the soulful intro to ‘Black Palace’ and the serene ‘Pillar Of Light’, but for the most part it’s fairly relentless, and with it clocking in at just under an hour, casual listeners may find this album a bit impenetrable. The only other criticism is the under-use of the electronic elements showcased in ‘Stargazer’ and ‘Red Stasis’. There are some really interesting ideas lurking in those two short intro / interlude tracks, and it would have been nice to see them expanded upon and worked into the actual songs rather than used as segues. Overall, though, ‘No Moon’ is a fantastic record for those patient and resilient enough to be mentally pummeled by it for its considerable run time. Just maybe make sure you’re sitting down first.

LIAM KNOWLES

Images: William Pavli, Words: Mark Johnson 

Having witnessed Body Hound a few times in the last couple of years in small venues around Leeds and their native Sheffield, it’s heartwarming to see them perform on this scale again. Thanks to their trademark flawless execution and riveting instrumentals, they’re greeted to a packed out crowd at the PX3 stage, despite the early time slot at the start of day one. This quartet proves that you can play in whatever brain-warping timing you like as long as there’s a groove holding it all together, and as they work their way through a maze of musicality, it’s this central theme that ties it all together and keeps us captivated from start to finish. Body Hound just love to play music; energy and enthusiasm is written all over their faces from start to finish and this feel-good factor spreads into the crowd. The band tease out some new tracks in the set, which bass player Joseph Thorpe says will be on their new album which, he jokes, will be coming out some time this century. If they want to capitalise on the positive vibes of this performance then they’ll need to make sure it’s sooner rather than later.

Svalbard turn up the intensity at PX3 as they blast through their well-refined brand of noise. Off the back of an instrumental act, Serena Cherry’s vocals are like a swift slap in the face as her crisp, powerful screams pierce through the speakers, while pounding drums and relentless guitar riffs join the cacophony of sound. The band’s recent album ‘It’s Hard To Have Hope’ introduced a more atmospheric angle to give balance to their bruising heaviness and the soaring lead guitar lines add a wonderful ambience to their live performance, countering the anguish of the vocals perfectly. Sadly there’s a lack of bottom end to really punctuate the heavier elements of the set, but it’s still a strong performance.

The beauty of ArcTanGent’s schedule means that no sooner has one band finished, another begins five minutes later, and thanks to the site’s modest size, no two stages are more than five minutes’ walk away. Delta Sleep take to the Yokhai stage as the last notes of Svalbard’s set at the adjacent PX3 start to settle. The quartet released their new album ‘Ghost City’ just a couple of weeks ago and waste no time airing snippets of it on stage, including the wonderful single ‘El Pastor’, whose sunny disposition and gentle groove is ideally matched to the rare festival sunshine outside the tent. Throughout the set, the sublime talents of drummer Blake Mostyn play a central role in holding everything together with his clever hi-hat work and perfectly selected tempo changes, keeping a core groove while the math rock noodlings of the guitar and bass dance around it. It’s a delightful set that’s met with deserved enthusiasm from the crowd.

Traditionally the main stage – known as Arc – doesn’t open on day one but this year, with so many quality bands signed up, it opens early. It could be that the organisers are keen to try out its new full tent look this year for the first time. It’s a shame to see the iconic Arc stage disappear, it’s angular style being a fitting talisman for the jagged riffs of the math bands that have played beneath it over the past five years, but it’s an understandable move given the common rainfall at the festival, and as the weekend goes on, we have to conceded that it’s a great improvement. People Like Milk Products are the first act to try out the new look tent, a band made up of members from Chiyoda Ku and Memory of Elephants. It’s an intriguing set up with two drummers, two bass players and a guitarist, but despite the potential on offer from so much talent and equipment, the set falls flat. The two drummers play in unison for much of the set which, while technically impressive to land the exact timings, seems a wasted opportunity to concoct something more memorable. There’s definite potential with this collaboration but there needs to be more thought into the execution to prevent it coming off as a gimmick.

At the end of Svalbard’s set, Serena Cherry praised the ArcTanGent organisers, who also run sister festival 2000 Trees, for their support of women in alternative music and her point is emphasised as another female powerhouse takes to the stage. Through opener ‘Aftermath’, the petite stature and gentle voice of Rolo Tomassi’s Eva Spense offers a false sense of calm, before she erupts into ‘Rituals’, tearing ear drums to shreds with her guttural screams and raw power. It’s been quite the year so far for Rolo Tomassi, their new album ‘Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It’ still remains one of the best records of the year since its release in February, they blew the roof off the Download stage in June and with a UK and Europe tour still to come in October, they’ll be able to look back on 2018 with a vast amount of pride. They make their way through a set filled with ambience, heaviness and soaring melody, capping off yet another blistering performance. It’s always a pleasure to witness a band at the top of their game and though it’s a painfully short set, Rolo Tomassi keep the upward trajectory strong ahead of their tour in October.

Bossk get the first 45 minute set of the day underway beneath the increasingly cramped PX3 tent and their mainly instrumental set offers a well refined balance of ambient, soothing instrumentation against heavy, bass-laden riffs. The extra bite of heaviness gives each track a rich story and a promise of pay-off as each gentle passage builds to an effective crescendo. There’s an occasional burst of screamed vocals which amp up the intensity even further to cement a solid set.

After what seemed a lifetime of waiting, Tangled Hair finally released their full-length ‘We Do What We Can’ at the start of the year and they waste no time presenting the new material to the eager crowd, hitting their stride immediately from the first song and maintaining a pristinely tight performance through to the end. Tangled Hair have a knack of making the head scratchingly difficult seem effortless, as they calmly and assuredly glide through a series of complex math rock patterns, bending time signatures and tempos to their will. Despite the technicality of their music there’s a serene edge to what they play, bringing a calming atmosphere over the crowd, warming everyone through nicely to combat the chill that’s starting to blow through the tent as the night draws in.

Day one headliners And So I Watch You From Afar conclude another fantastic Thursday at ArcTanGent, despite the band initially admitting to some nerves beforehand, after being asked to play their most recent album ‘The Endless Shimmering’ in full for this show. “Playing something that means so much to us in front of people whose opinions mean so much to us is very nerve wracking” states guitarist Rory Friers, but at no point does their flawless execution show any signs of trepidation. This record is a triumph, marrying together ambient instrumentals with bursts of urgency and aggression to keep each song moving along at a great pace. The light show that the band bring to the main stage adds even more atmosphere, and gives the performance the added sense of drama that a headlining performance deserves. And So I Watch You From Afar are worthy of this final slot and ensures that the audience leaves the first day with fond memories.

And So I Watch You From Afar

MARK JOHNSON

xServitudex, unsurprisingly, are a straight edge / vegan hardcore band in the vein of Earth Crisis and Arkangel. The set starts out a bit flat but improves over time, and there are some fantastic riffs and grooves on show, but unfortunately there’s also a bit of posturing and preaching. Whilst the pro-animal rights message conveyed by the band is not one many in the room would disagree with, it comes off a little contrived. The three dudes swinging their fists around don’t seem to mind, but the rest of the crowd feels a little turned off.

If there ever was a band to turn them back on, it’s the irresistible Body Hound. This Sheffield-based instrumental math-rock outfit might feel like a bit of a strange fit for this show, but they are absolutely impossible to dislike, regardless of your usual musical leanings. Whilst the lack of vocals negates the need for a frontman as such, bassist Joseph Thorpe is very much the physical focal point, throwing out aggressive shapes, sassy bum-wiggles and everything in between whilst he and his impossibly tight band melt the crowd’s collective mind with their Don Caballero-esque song-puzzles.

Canvas, who formed way back in 1996, are one of the UK hardcore scene’s best kept secrets. Whilst everyone else at the time just basically sounded like Biohazard, Canvas were mixing that same sound with early Converge and early Meshuggah to create something that was truly unique. They weren’t around for long, but they burned fast and bright and left an undeniable impact on the kids of the day who would later go on to form their own bands. Tonight, a room full of 30+ year olds come out of mosh retirement to celebrate that legacy one last time.

The short but sweet set covers Canvas’ entire back catalogue, with fan favourites like ‘Black Shape Of The Nexus’ and ‘Elephant Shoes’ going down an absolute storm. Signature track ‘Last Prayer For Judas’ is greeted so rapturously that it’s no wonder they choose to repeat it for their encore. Despite a 16 year hiatus, Canvas have been on fine form on this reunion run, and tonight is no exception. Vocalist John Sutcliffe prowling the stage while his band execute the tracks behind him with pin-point precision, his voice shifting seamlessly from piercing highs to guttural lows, via the odd bit of actual singing. The crowd, some of whom have travelled from as far afield as Belgium, Iceland and Sweden for this show, jostle at the front for their share of the mic, knowing that this is their last chance to get Canvas lyrics slightly wrong in front of a room full of their peers.

Shows like this one are a fantastic reminder of what hardcore used to be like before fashion and trends got involved. For the 40 or so minutes Canvas were on stage, there was no pretense, no showboating, just five guys writing songs they want to write and having the time of their lives playing those songs in a room full of friends and true fans. For them to bow out knowing they never lost sight of that approach is the best farewell they could have possibly asked for.

LIAM KNOWLES

We’ve spent the last few months curating some very special experiences for the ArcTanGent faithful… We’ve got GIRAFFES? GIRAFFES! playing their first ever European show, And So I Watch You From Afar performing their new album in it’s entirety for the first time and the madly bonkers idea to have Gallops playing a full band live set at the silent disco. Plus we’re very happy to have Big Scary Monsters and Holy Roar doing a Thursday takeover. I can’t breathe I’m so excited about all this and I can also confirm that we’ll be releasing our Friday & Saturday main stage headliners before long – they are BIG! ATG #6 is going to be the best one yet for sure!” says festival booker James.

The list of confirmed acts so far are:

Giraffes? Giraffes!, And So I Watch You From Afar, Pianos Become Teeth, Alpha Male Tea Party, Rolo Tomassi, Jamie Lenman, Foxing, Gallops, Talons, Bossk, Svalbard, Gulfer, Body Hound and GUG

Tickets available here

Yndi Halda, Totorro, Axes, Alpha Male Tea Party, Her Name Is Calla, VLMV, Body Hound, and The Hyena Kill the London based post/math rock festival at The Brewhouse, which takes on the 16th and 17th June 2018. More bands shall be announced soon.

Second tier tickets are now available here and cost £27.50. More info can be found here.

The first band up on the Eyesore Merch stage is Sheffield instrumentalist outfit Body Hound. They’d be the first to admit they’re not usual Damnation fare, but their Don Caballero-esque groove-laden math rock has even the most dour-faced mosher in the room grinning and dancing. Over on the Tone Management stage, London post-metal outfit Wren are doing what post-metal bands do best: being crushingly loud. The room is packed to the doors at the back as they hammer out material from recent release ‘Auburn Rule’ with the all the intensity you could ever need. Early in the day, but utterly punishing regardless.

The main stage has a later start time, probably down to the time it will take to load Pallbearer’s ridiculous amount of amps on to the stage. The Arkansas doom-merchants suffer from sound issues at first (the main room at Leeds Uni is notorious for this) but once they find their footing sonically they sound absolutely monolithic. At least, until the fire alarm goes off and the room is evacuated.

Another highlight of the day comes in the form of the mysterious Dragged Into Sunlight. The room is filled with smoke to the point where the shrouded band members are barely visible, with the hammering of a strobe light and an elaborate gothic candelabra at the front of the stage creating an eerie atmosphere to compliment the harrowing blackened cacophony coming from the Terrorizer stage.

A little later on the same stage, Nails deliver what is quite possibly the best set of the festival. After stories start to circulate about an on-stage hissy fit in Glasgow the previous evening, some punters start to prepare for a no-show. This would have been absolutely unforgivable considering the band pulled out of last year’s event to go on a “hiatus” that only lasted a few months. Thankfully the set went off as planned, and if there was making up to do, Nails managed it and then some. The likes of ‘You Will Never Be One Of Us’, ‘Life Is A Death Sentence’ and ‘Violence Is Forever’ cause the crowd to erupt with circle pits and waves of crowd surfers that leave the security looking positively terrified. Notoriously serious frontman Todd Jones even cracks a few smiles and laughs off a mid-set topple into the drum riser. Everyone in the room, both on stage and off, is having the best damn time.

After a fairly relentless day, Norwegian prog-djent troupe Leprous are a welcome change of pace. Their sound is so crisp and perfect you could hear a pin drop in the stops, and the multi-layered vocal harmonies are absolutely flawless. The band opens with the first two tracks from this year’s ‘Malina’, which sit perfectly among the older material such as ‘Illuminate’ and ‘The Flood’. The faultless musicianship, combined with fantastic stage presence and stunning visuals, make for one of the surprise highlights at an event that would normally shy away from anything this clinical.

One of, if not THE most, anticipated band of the day is Agoraphobic Nosebleed, who are absolutely anything but clinical. The drummerless grindcore veterans have never played the UK before, despite being a band since 1994, and their fans are absolutely ravenous to hear tracks like ‘Bitch’s Handbag Full Of Money’ and ‘Clit To Mouth Resuscitation’. Their song titles may be tongue-in-cheek but there’s nothing funny about their absolutely relentless performance. The intensity is overwhelming as their short, sharp bursts of violence have the security overwhelmed with crowdsurfers. It would be an absolute crime for this to never happen again, but with a reaction like that Agoraphobic Nosebleed are likely already planning their next trip.

Closing out the day (for this particular weary traveller, at least) is Nordic Giants. Like Leprous, they’re offering a much lighter experience than most of the lineup, but they’re plenty intense in their own way. This is a band that relies heavily on visuals, so their euphoric post-rock is backlit by videos on every flat surface. The band themselves are cloaked in feathers, and create haunting silhouettes against the backdrop. Most of the set comes from 2017’s sublime ‘Amplify Human Vibration’ and throughout the set it’s clear why they’ve been billed so high up. Epic, haunting and in full control of a palpable atmosphere; Nordic Giants tick every post-rock box and then some.

Damnation Festival has well and truly cemented itself as one of the highlights of the musical calendar. It remains diverse and challenging without crumbling under the weight of its own ambition. It is exceedingly well organised and the atmosphere is so happy and free of pretentiousness, despite the extreme nature of the bands on offer. Similarly sized events across the UK, of all genres, should look to Damnation as an example of how to get it right, and keep it that way.

LIAM KNOWLES

Britney, Body Hound, Ogives, People Like Milk Products, Lambhorn, Jack Nash, Hoggs Bison, Pfaff, Steve Strong, and Madilan will play the event at The Old England in Bristol on the 2nd December.

Entry is PWYW donation entry, with all funds going towards helping Dan Wild-Beesley, of GUG and Cleft fame, get access to a live saving cancer treatment currently not provided by the NHS. You can read the full story here. For more info on the event click here.

Earlier this year the band released their second album ‘Of Empires Past’ on Consouling Sounds.

As for Vasa, last year they self-released their double A-side single ‘Burst Open’.

OCTOBER
10 SHEFFIELD The Mulberry Tavern*
11 NOTTINGHAM JT Soar* w/ Chiyoda Ku + a-tota-so
12 MANCHESTER The Peer Hat w/ Body Hound
13 LONDON The Brewhouse w/ Yowie
14 BRISTOL Hy-Brasil w/ Downward
29 COLCHESTER Three Wise Monkeys^

* MNHM only
^ Vasa only

Entitled ‘The Bees Knees’, not only does feature previously released tracks, it also features exclusives from Jamie Lenman, BRITNEY, Chiyoda Ku, Falls, RoBoTaLiEn, AlgernonCornelius, Tiger Moth, Atotaso, Down I Go, Body Hound, Trojan Horse, Lomea, Claw The Thin Ice, Panta Rhei, Human Pyramids, Pommes, Delta Sleep, False Advertising, Salt the Snail Kevin Devine, Mutiny On The Bounty, Bear Makes Ninja, Piles of Clothes and Astral Bodies.

The release was compiled by Dan’s fellow GUG bandmate Ben Forrester who explains:

“Dan Wild-Beesley is an extremely talented and well loved musician who you may know as one half of turbo-prog heroes Cleft and more recently of a third of noise rock nutters GUG.

Dan is currently battling two brain tumors. We need to raise £50,000 so he can seek treatment that isn’t available on the NHS and has an 80% success rate of getting cancer patients into remission. This album has been created to help reach his target.

This compilation features a bunch of bands and artists that been
inspired by Dan’s musical talents. It has some previously unreleased stuff, some super exclusive stuff, some pretty rare stuff as well a few bangers from current releases.”

The compilation is digitally available for £10 via bandcamp. The tracklisting for the release is as follows:

1.Axes – Pack Your Bags, Grab Your Balls and Get Ready for the Hurricane
2.Cleft – Gulch (Bear Make Ninja’s Midi Mix Up)
3.BRITNEY – MAGGOT MUSUME
4.Falls – Tongue
5.Real Terms – Lake Trasimene
6.Chiyoda Ku – Distracted From Distraction By Distraction
7.Death and the Penguin – No Blood, No Sport
8.AlgernonCornelius – Brothers
9.Vennart – Operate
10.RoBoTaLiEn – Questioning
11.USA Nails – University Home
12.Tiger Moth – Carl Sagan Megadrive
13.Atotaso – Double Deaf (Live)
14.Employed To Serve – I Spend My Days (Wishing Them Away)
15.Down I Go – Ganymede (Demo)
16.Vasa – Open
17.Trojan Horse – The Spaghetti Leg Man
18.Cleft – Hostage (Lomea remix)
19.Panta Rhei – Oxygen Therapy
20.Claw The Thin Ice – Ribcage
21.Human Pyramids – Big Data
22.Piles Of Clothes – Piles Of Clothes (Live @ Small Pond)
23.Verse Metrics – This Is Your Captain Speaking
24.Pommes – Tiny Hands
25.Jamie Lenman – Money Changes Everything
26.False Advertising – Has It Got Old Yet
27.The Hyena Kill – Crosses
28.Salt The Snail – Deadenders
29.Bad Grammar – Sandra
30.Alpha Male Tea Party – Carpet Diem
31 Wot Gorilla – Watch Out For The Tentacles!
32.Mums – In A Museum
33.Crashtactics – FDP
34.She The Throne – Sometimes My Arms Bend Back
35.Astral Bodies – Equinox Jesus Christ 2000
36.DROUGHTS – Welcome Back
37.Cassels – Coup
38.Bearfoot Beware – Thick Black Warpaint
39.Cowtown – Not Sure
40.Tricot – Melon Soda
41.Delta Sleep – Maconiklaus Culkinski
42.Kevin Devine – Me and My Friends
43.Playacting – At Some Point
44.Sweet Deals On Surgery – Desk From The Waist Down
45.Bearded Youth Quest – Sports Bread
46.Mutiny On The Bounty – Bleak Future
47.Space Blood – Techno Shamanism
48.&U&I – The Wooden Box
49.Classically Handsome Brutes – Baron Von Sharon
50. Body Hound – Rice Crispian Bale (Demo)
51. Pijn – Blush Unseen
52. Peaks – Dear George, Dear William (Bonus Track)