Palm Reader - Braille

If you're yet to hear of Palm Reader, this is the perfect time to get yourself acquainted. The Nottingham based mentalists have been knocking about since 2011, but their newest record Braille knocks all their past material out of the park. It's a master stroke of unease, anger, passion, beauty and calm. A frantic journey through the senses. I reviewed their single Swarm a few months ago for Invicta Magazine (you can read that review HERE), so I already had excitement brewing for the release of the full length. But nothing could truly prepare me for what I heard. It is not the record I expected at all.

Swarm completely readied my palette for the record when I first heard it towards the end of February. A whirlwind of manic drums and frenzied riffs, all with an underlying sense of dirt and grit. Married with the enormous chorus melodies, there was nothing to dislike. It sounded, to me at least, like a cross between Every Time I Die, Norma Jean and The Dillinger Escape Plan, which just happen to be 3 of my favourite bands of all time. I mean they've always sounded like that, but the initial listen of this track sucker punched me right in the gut and I was hooked. Then came the release of the rest of the record, and it did not disappoint. Quite the opposite, in fact. It seriously impressed me. The Turn is a modern metalcore slice of genius, flowing in and out of enormous riffs and serene stripped back atmospherics before erupting into a simple yet crushing sledgehammer of an outro. Coalesce is a 6 minute epic, demonstrating the bands grasp on dynamics and flaunting their ability to build suspense. Like A Wave is a thrashy and punishing affair from the get go, featuring breakneck verses, dirty riffs and a dark yet catchy chorus. The standout tracks here, though, are the 2 that close the album. Clockwork is a slow burning ember, gradually growing and rising before exploding into a storm of pummelling drums and gigantic chords. Album ender A Lover, A Shadow is almost like a combination of the 9 tracks that have preceded it rolled into one. Everything that you heard running up to this point is on show here, acting almost like a conclusion. The aggressive and dirty riffs, the soaring clean vocals, the sense of unpredictability, the serene and beautiful calm; its all here, and it's all been expertly woven together. As the final bass note and cymbal crash rings out, you find yourself wanting to listen all over again. And that's exactly what I've been doing. Numerous times. For weeks.

Not only are Palm Reader great on record, but they put on one hell of a live show. They've racked up quite the reputation over the last few years for the ferocity and musicianship they exert when they perform which, as a witness, I can confirm isn't just hearsay. They're touring the UK and Ireland in July and August this year, and I highly recommend that you attend. One of the most underrated bands in the UK scene. Pay attention to these guys, you won't regret it.

D.S

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Every Time I Die - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 15/11/17

You know the last gig review I did? Where I said I hadn't been to a gig in a long time? Yeah, well, that's been quickly rectified. This show was my second show in 2 days, and who better to spend that time with than Every Time I Die and their their loyal cult of Etidiots. Little bit of personal backstory; Every Time I Die are my favourite band of all time, and have been for well over 10 years. The first time I heard about them was by attending a My Chemical Romance show in Wolverhampton, and they were they main support. Up until that day, I hadn't heard anything that made me feel or react the way their set did. The next day I went to my local HMV in Tamworth (RIP) and bought a copy of Gutter Phenomenon, and the rest is history. I went on to track down the rest of their back catalogue, as well as buy every new record when it comes out. I used to listen to the songs and read the lyric booklet to ensure I had all of Keith Buckley's cryptic, sarcastic and intricate words memorised. More importantly, though, every time they come over to our shores I make sure I attend at least one date on the tour. I've lost count of how many times I've seen them, I just know it's a lot. Which brings me to this show. And I was excited.

Higher Power

Opening the show was Higher Power, a band who I've heard of but never listened to. I made an assumption that they would be a hardcore band, and I was sort of right. Musically they sounded like old school metal with a modern hardcore feel. Even the guitar tone was similar to old Metallica records, which gave the thick chordy riffs an even more classic feel. The vocals were completely unexpected, though. I guess nowadays you just expect new bands in this scene to have a screamer as a vocalist. This was the opposite; none at all. I didn't latch onto it straight away, and found it kind of difficult to get my head around at first. By the time their set had ended, though, they had completely won me over. I was appreciatively nodding along to every riff, scrunching my face at all the dirty bits. It was great. This is exactly the kind of band I expect the boys to bring on tour. Something a little bit different.

Knocked Loose

Next up was the main support, Knocked Loose. These guys have been rapidly developing a fan base both in this country and in their homeland of the USA, and for good reason. They're unique. I joined the party fashionably late, only getting into their most recent release Laugh Tracks a couple of months ago, but now I'm at the party I don't want to leave. 11 tracks of heavy, sludgy, unrelenting noise. I was so intrigued to see if they could pull it off live, and unsurprisingly, they did. In places it was like watching them record the album. Highlights of the set for me were the obnoxiously heavy Oblivions Peak and single Billy No Mates. But I've got to give a special mention to No Thanks going straight into the minute long moshfest that is Counting Worms, complete with loud and enthusiastic barking from the crowd. If that didn't warm the crowd up for the oncoming storm, I don't know what would.

Every Time I Die. Photography by Ryan Winstanley

And so, it's time. The boys. Every Time I Die took the stage. Before I go on talking about their set, it's worth noting a few things. Jordan Buckley (guitar) broke his foot the previous night, but still walked out on stage with a special boot-cast. Their drummer Dan Davison left a couple of months ago, and had been replaced on this run by Norma Jean's drummer affectionately referred to as Goose. Keith also took a moment to let us know that the zipper on his jeans had broken, which although wasn't as serious as the issues previously mentioned, was still an issue. Amidst a wall of feedback and guitar wails, they launched straight into No Son Of Mine without warning. The room erupted with approval; a pit opened up before the first chord had finished and hordes of people were spitting the lyrics straight back at the stage (myself included). They then began playing Floater, another big favourite amongst fans, and the pit just got bigger and wilder. The chaos had already begun.

Every Time I Die. Photography by Ryan Winstanley

They continued to storm through a mixture of both new and old material stretching all over their back catalogue. From the recent belter with a hilarious video I Didn't Want To Join Your Stupid Cult Anyway all the way back to old mosh-tastic Romeo A Go-Go, the latter of which I'd never seen them perform before. Crowd favourites Bored Stiff and Underwater Bimbos From Outer Space went down an absolute storm, with every single guitar note hitting like a ton of bricks, and lighter more party anthem-like tracks We'rewolf and The New Black almost echoed through the venue due to the number of people singing along. They may have been injured, and they may have had some line-up complications, but this was possibly the tightest I've ever seen them. Jordan was still running about and jumping around like his foot wasn't in a cast at all, Goose was faultless behind the kit, and Keith's zipper didn't cause him too many issues. They closed the set with the opener of Low Teens, the heavy and crushing Fear and Trembling. A weighty, wall of noise to bring a chaotic night to an end. I was left speechless. So was most of the crowd. Their longest set I've ever seen, and also their best. They didn't disappoint. But, to be honest, they never do.

The tour left the country for the second time a couple of days back, and now they have the legendary Comeback Kid along for the ride too. If you managed to get to a show, you know how mind blowingly good it was. If you didn't, trust me, you NEED to see these guys in the future. There's no show like an Every Time I Die show.

D.S

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Counterparts - Rescue Rooms, Nottingham, 14/11/17

I haven't attended a show in a while. I mean I KIND OF have, but at the same time, not really. All depends on your perspective. I toured with my band last month, but as I was performing I don't class that as attending at all. I was there because I had to be there, not because I chose to be. I mean I DID choose to be in the band, but I'm only there because of being in the band. Not to say I wouldn't go and watch us. I would. Erm. This got very confusing very quickly. I'll start again.



I haven't attended a show in a while, and I thought it was about time I showed my face and went to something. Seeing as I enjoyed the newest Counterparts record so much, it seemed like the perfect gig to attend. I even said in my review of the album (which you can find on this blog, not sorry for the shameless self plug) that I was intrigued to see how the new material came across live, so this was the perfect opportunity to do so. The last time I saw them was when they supported Architects and Every Time I Die a few years back, and I wasn't the biggest fan of them back then. That's very much not the case now. And I was pumped to attend this show.

Napoleon (Photography by Thomas Smith)

Naploeon kicked off the evening with their unique technical take on melodic hardcore. They were tight and precise as they always are, blazing their way through material off most recent album Newborn Mind as well as a new track and a couple of oldies. Despite their impressive musical display, the crowd just seemed to not respond at all other than with occasional appreciative head banging. This is the second time I've seen them get slept on live, and it completely baffles me. They're one of the best bands of their size in my opinion, I don't know why everybody else can't see what I see.

Polar (Photography by Thomas Smith)

Next to take the stage was London hardcore vets Polar. It's been a few years since I saw them perform, the last time being at my local pub in Derby to about 15 people. They've been working hard the last few years, and it was great to see them perform to a near full room in a much bigger venue than a pub. They managed to get some movement from the crowd too, quickly getting the audience on side and encouraging mass headbanging and the occasional bit of pitting. Their sound was huge too; this was definitely the most polished and professional performance I've seen from them. They nicely warmed the crowd up for what was about to happen.

Counterparts (Photography by Thomas Smith)

And finally, the main event. Counterparts. They took to the stage and immediately burst into Bouquet, and the pace didn't slow down for the entire show. Littered with plenty of material off the new record You're Not You Anymore alongside some golden oldies such as Choke, Burn and The Disconnect, their set was unrelenting and perfectly structured. They played Thieves too, which is one of the heaviest tracks off the new record, and it was the musical version of being punched in the face by a bear. And the bear had worked out. It was so heavy, and more importantly, it was so together. Musically they were unbelievably tight throughout the show, and yet still managed to convey a sense of rawness and ferocity at all times. They had a bit of banter with the crowd too, and looked like they were having fun throughout the show. I love seeing bands having a good time. And the crowd were lapping it up, as was I. This was one of those shows that makes you feel, as a musician, completely void of talent and ability. But, at the same time, it instills you with a desire to be as good as that. To have that exact same impact on others. To put it simply, they absolutely smashed it, and I've left the show an even bigger fan of the band than I entered.

If you're reading this and you're based near any of the remaining dates, I fully recommend going to this show. Their level of musicianship is so high that it genuinely made me wonder why I even bother trying to make music. Even if you aren't into the supports that much, the ticket price is worth paying for Counterparts alone. Do the right thing. Go and do a bit of a mosh to some solid melodic hardcore from one of the best bands in the scene.

D.S

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Loathe - The Maze, Nottingham, 28/08/17

At the time of writing this post, it’s just turned midnight, I’ve had 4 pints of beer and I’ve just witnessed one of the best musical performances I’ve ever seen. I bought one of the beers because there was a picture of a sheep on the pump and it was called “Nah Then”. I obviously ordered the beer in an accent. “Nah then, I’ll ‘av a Nah Then”. But the beer doesn’t matter. I won’t talk about beer again in this whole post. This isn’t an account of how good the beer was, although it was lovely. I’m here to talk about the gig. I need to talk about it now whilst it’s fresh in my mind and I’m still buzzing from it. I’m here to talk about what I’ve come away from that show thinking. To talk about what I now know.

Loathe are one of the best, if not THE best metal band in the UK right now. Without question.

Let me backtrack, if I may, and start at the beginning. I’d been looking forward to this show for a while, because it was lining up to be an absolute mate-fest. My very good friends and recent touring partners The Cartographer were the opening band. Derby/Nottingham tech metallers and all round good guys Taken By The Tide were in the middle of the bill. And, last but not least, Loathe were top of the bill. Skies have played shows with Loathe in the past, around a year or so ago, and Shayne (Loathe bassist) used to be in a band called Fed To The Ocean who we have toured and played numerous shows with. Not only was the music going to be strong this evening, so was the company, and that is always a solid combination for a great gig.

I got to The Maze at about 6.20, roughly 20 or 30 minutes before the first band. It gave me time to get beer number one in (ok NOW I won't mention beer again) and an opportunity to socialise with some of my friends before the loud distorted noise kicked off. But when it did, it didn’t half slap me in the face and demand my attention. The Cartographer are hands down one of the most exciting and enjoyable bands in our local scene. They’ve been around a few years now, but looking at them now compared to when they first emerged, they’ve come on leaps and bounds. Their tone has got better. Their movement and stage presence has got better. Their solidarity and tightness as a musical unit has got better. They are constantly on the up, and I feel like every time I watch them, they improve. I’m very proud of the lads for continuously pushing forwards, allowing them to bag shows like this. Pallets were mentioned during the set, which I won’t delve into too far. But it’s a reference to our tour when a Scottish man living in Swansea wanted to take us to the beach and burn things. Long story.

Next up was Miscreant, who I hadn’t heard of before. Occasionally, I feel you can pre-empt how a band is going to sound based on what their logo looks like. Theirs was a sort of death metal esque logo, bordering on being difficult to make out. The sort of logo that, if it was any more elaborate, would've looked like a distorted and fuzzy optical illusion. What I expected compared to what I heard and saw were sort of accurate. Sort of. They had death elements. Blast beats, dirty low vocals, that kind of thing. But what I wasn’t expecting was how unpredictable they were. Breakdowns and slam sections would appear out of nowhere. I’d predict a chorus or a bridge of some form and be musically punched in the face by a low low tone and one of the snappiest snares of the evening. I was massively impressed by their drummer too, who turned out to be a fill in drummer which blew my mind because he was so locked in with the band. The set flowed so well, picking up pace and slowing down all in the right places, never losing any weight. They won the crowd over quickly, and the room was full of appreciative nodding heads. I’d watch these again, for sure.

Taken By The Tide were the third band of the evening. Probably the most technically proficient band of the evening, playing around with time signatures like a childs toy, they were an undeniable force, as always. The last time I saw them perform, they only had one guitarist, Eric, who is an absolute musical genius and is one of those guys that’s annoyingly good at everything. I never considered what it’d be like to watch them with two guitarists. But that’s exactly what I was treated to tonight, and I have one thing to say. Flippin’ ‘eck. The extra guitar adds so much depth to their sound and tone, and the trade offs between guitars during particular sections completely adds to the impact of their set. Phil (vocalist) did a great job as always lurking across the stage and spitting venom at anyone brave enough to look him in the eye. As always, they were as tight as tight can be. The guitar work made me a little bit depressed inside because I’m not as good as either of the guitarists, the bassist has a 7 string bass and actually uses the entire range, and they displayed pure anger and attitude, which everyone in the room completely absorbed. They never let me down.

Harbinger were next up. I’d heard a lot about these guys from both social media and one of my house mates, Luke, who only likes his music if it’s low tuned and makes him want to fold in half when he hears it. Social media showed me they were going to be a very destructive force. An absolute powerhouse of a band. Luke told me that they were going to be heavy and tight and if I spent too much time watching the guitarists I’d get sad. Luke was also in attendance tonight, and ensured me this would be the case. I didn’t really know what to expect. But. All of it was accurate. From the very first chords and blast beats, I could tell that this was going to blow me away. And it did. Their stage presence was menacing, their musical technicalities were mind numbing (especially the solos, most of which made me want to go home and set fire to all of my guitars), the vocals were disgustingly good, and some of the breakdowns were so dirty that they turned Luke into a polar ice cap and he started to melt. If Luke was a trifle, his head was the cream, his torso was the custard, and 100% his legs were the jelly. They reminded me of a cross between Lamb Of God, Pantera and The Acacia Strain. Pulsing, musically impressive, punishing metal. Impressed isn’t really a strong enough word.

Last, and very not least, Loathe. I literally don’t really know how to verbally explain what I witnessed. I’ve seen Loathe before when we’ve played with them, and they were all about the atmosphere. They used to have two guys stand on stage with them, completely motionless in dirty t-shirts with their hands firmly clasped in front of them and with pillow cases/sacks covering their heads, completely oblivious to the chaos happening around them. Both visually and musically they were a sight to behold a year ago. But the band I saw tonight was not the same band. Not in the slightest. What I saw tonight was leaps and bounds not just above what I saw a year ago, but above the vast majority of the UK metal scene as a whole. The two pillowcase operatives (not their official title) had been replaced by TV screens, which had a movie playing that synced with the entire set. The lights had been programmed to be red and red only. The mask that Kadeem (vocalist) used to don was only used during the bands approach to the stage. Before they even played one note, I could tell this wasn’t just going to be any old show. A couple of songs into the set I was completely speechless. I felt like I was nervous, which I wasn’t, I just had adrenaline coursing through me. They were flawless. Everything was perfect. The vocals, both sung and screamed, were performed with ease and accuracy. The guitar tone for both guitars complimented each other, and complete with the bass created an enormous wall of aggression. The drummer was basically a robot. It was like watching them record the album, that’s how tight it was. As for the show they put on, they were more energetic than bands I’ve paid more than twice as much to see. I can’t name one single fault of their performance. Not a single fault. Nothing. The set ended and I was left hungry. I’d told myself I wasn’t going to buy any merch because I need to save money, but you know what? They earned my money. They deserved it. I haven’t watched a show that’s made me feel like that in a long time. Especially not a show in a venue that small. I’ve come away completely inspired and astounded. I also left wanting to give up on music a little bit because I don’t think I’ll ever be that good, but I'm hoping the positives I've left with outweigh that in the long run. Loathe are completely in a league of their own right now, and if they don’t blow up soon I’ll be very surprised.

If you haven’t checked Loathe out before, go and check out The Cold Sun, which is available in all the usual online places, as well as HMV in the good old faithful metal section. Check out the Prepare Consume Proceed EP too. Both absolutely SLAY and are so worth your time. Combine Slipknot and your favourite horror movie, and you’re sort of on your way to picturing how Loathe sound.

Nottingham was day 6 of their tour with Harbinger. If you were considering attending one of the remaining dates, stop considering. Go. You need to see this. You won’t regret it.

D.S
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How To Step Up Your Bands Live Set In One Very, Very Long Day

I had a very productive day yesterday. VERY productive. Also a very long day, where I was out of the house for about 15 hours, but it was fully worth it. I nearly had the most recent Game Of Thrones episode spoiled for me, I spilt some tea on my leg and briefly locked myself inside a toilet, but these are merely tiny imprints on an otherwise smooth day. Mainly because a large chunk of the day was spent making the Skies In Motion set more professional.

I woke up at 9am, feeling fresh (ish, not a morning person), had a bowl of fruit and fibre and a cuppa, and headed over to the Heroic Audio headquarters. Heroic Audio is an audio production and recording company ran by a very good friend of mine, Ben Gaines. An aural wizard, idea generator, ginger viking and also the brother of my drummer, Sam. He recorded our album (did I mention we're releasing an album that's OUT NEXT FRIDAY ON SEPTEMBER 1ST), gave us a TON of good advice throughout the recording process and made it sound better than we could have ever imagined. We frustrated him so much throughout the process by being difficult and picky and very hard to work with at times, and he has openly admitted he hates us on numerous occasions, but he is still willing to work with us which is good of him. I mean he loves us really, if he really hated us we'd all be chopped up and thrown in bins across Derby right now. Anyway, I digress. I went to visit Ben to create a bunch of interludes to integrate into our live set. And for good reason.

Every time I go to watch a band, I'd say 8 or 9 times out of 10 that band has a backing track of some form leading in or out of songs. Often both. This is generally done in a couple of ways. The band, or at very least the drummer, will be playing along to click track that will be triggered at the very beginning of their set. A backing track will be running in the background, and the band follow the click track to make sure what they're playing is completely in time with the backing, which sounds SUPER tight. Or, one of the band will trigger pre made intros and outros as a way of leading us in and out of songs, which if done right and crafted properly, sounds so slick and polished. The latter is what we'll be doing. We currently don't do this. We used to, and our set was so so polished, and we used to get complimented on our professionalism so often. Now, I'm not saying we don't now, as we still get good feedback and comments on our shows, but I think if we re-introduced this element, we could really become a force to be reckoned with. So there I was. Re-introducing.

We've been playing the same set for the last couple of years, with the addition of one or two songs here and there. It is time for change. Not just to make things more exciting for the people watching us, but to breathe a bit of life back into the set for us. So we started. The song we started the set with is no longer in the set at all. I wanted to completely changed everything. I do not want to spoil it, but our set is starting with something really cool. It has impact, it's memorable, and most importantly, it's nostalgic. I won't say any more about it. You just gotta trust me it's cool. Then the fun started. A few of the intros required a small amount of composing to be done. Tiny compositions to lead us into songs in the set. Ben has more sounds in his recording software than you've probably come across in life, and knows the library like the back of his hand. We spent hours writing, crafting, scrapping, reshuffling, adding, taking away, drinking tea, talking about Game Of Thrones and telling him to shut up because I haven't seen the newest episode yet, more writing and crafting. And at the end of the day, we had everything we needed for a new set. Everything I had envisioned for our set to make it more professional. We nailed it out in about 8 hours. Perfect timing too, as we had a band practice almost straight after, so I had my opportunity to pitch the new set and the interludes to the rest of the band.

I had no idea if they'd like the changes or not. We are all very different people and in turn that makes us all individually very difficult to predict and read. Legit they might have said "Yo Dave are you high, this set is awful and those interludes sound like an aural version of a dirty nappy". But luckily for me, everybody was on board. Completely on board. We played through the set with the interludes, and it felt like it flowed better than what we'd been playing until now. I think we all agreed, we were all on the same page. Mission accomplished. Now, to test it out at a show.

We'll be debuting our new set at Macmillan Festival in Nottingham on September 2nd. A great day of music for an even greater cause. There's so many good acts playing all day, so much variety. We've been a part of this festival in the past, and regardless of whether we've been on the bill or not, we've always been in attendance. This will double up as our album release show, so it's gonna be a good one. Come and party with us. To grab a ticket, click here.

See you in the pit. Well, I won't I'll be on stage, but I'll be able to see you in the pit.

Actually, thinking about it, I won't be wearing my glasses on stage, so I probably won't know if you're in the pit at all. I might not even know you're there.

See you at some point during the festival.

Thank you for reading. I'm gonna go and listen to the new Neck Deep album and do adult things like washing and cleaning.

D.S

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