Brontide - Oslo Hackney, London 26/06/14

30 June 2014, 10:30 | Written by John Bell

(Live)

(Brontide)

Brontide are a band whose appeal lies in their exclusivity. That is not to say that if they played more their popularity would diminish ,but there is certainly an element of quality over quantity in the band’s aesthetic, and rightly so. Their appearance at last year’s ArcTanGent festival - a cornucopia for the math-rock fan - was unrelentingly fierce and was arguably the most polished set of the weekend. But it also gave the trio an opportunity to debut a couple of tracks from Artery, the very thing that has been keeping them locked away and occupied. Almost a year on, and Artery, the vessel of their heartfelt and hard work, is finished and set for release; tonight Brontide celebrate this with a launch show at Oslo in Hackney.

Opening the show tonight is Algiers, a duo with more northern charm than Sean Bean singing “Over the Hills and Far Away”. Their melodies are incredibly uplifting, and the granular guitar tones on tracks such as “Miles & Miles of Rosary Beads” give them grit and stop them from becoming too soppy. Although lacking a bassist - intentionally, that is - the pair have a huge, warm sound; in this sense they are a perfect support act because they give a glimpse of the sonic capabilities of the venue which we expect Brontide to thrive on. Before that however are Tangled Hair, who need no introducing to the demographic at Oslo tonight. They pack the room instantly, filling it with their jangly, jazzy licks. Their banter flits between the painfully awkward and the painfully hilarious, although I suspect this has something to do with their modesty that is at once necessary and yet bizarre in contrast to their ludicrous musicianship; indeed, some are practically left gawking at James Trood’s drum fills in “Yeah… It Does Look Like A Spider”.

This week Brontide made Artery available to stream over at Clash, and those who could not wait a week till its release will know that each song bleeds into each other, the end of one and the beginning of the next often indistinguishable. It is understandable, then, that the live set tonight almost completely replicates the LP track-listing. With an intro like “Tonitro”, you’d be silly to not start on it. Guitarist Tim Hancock is first onstage, using his characteristic looping pedal to create the canvas to paint on. Or perhaps explode would be a better choice of word, Jackson Pollock style. Explode captures the titanic force that the band are exerting behind every track, particularly “Tonitro” and “Bare My Bones”, which have some of the heavier influences that are far more permeable in the first album Sans Souci. “Kith and Kin” begins with a clean, old Minus the Bear-eque verse, and its outro sees the Bowerman-Fairweather rhythm section take to electronic pads; it’s delicate and a little saccharin, but its contrast to the more cut-throat counterparts is used to great effect and does not go unnoticed.

Titling songs without lyrics certainly adds more enigma, and the band have admitted that in certain cases it wasn’t an easy task, but there is no doubt that the disparity in live textures match the difference in sensory associations between names like “Knives” and “Caramel”. The way the rhythm section joins in the latter is scandalous, and with its tightly locked-in polyrhythms and capricious progressions, its the highlight of the set. Closing on “Sans Souci”, creating a wall of noise thats hits us like a huge air cannon, the three lads from Lincolnshire return for an encore with the familiar “Matador” and the closing track off the new record “Red Gold”, which is by far their most exultant number. Like their visual aesthetic - clean cut and brilliantined - their set is unblemished and almost impossible to fault.

Artery is released today via Holy Roar Records, and is available here.

Setlist:

Tonitro
Bare My Bones
Kith and Kin
Cabin
Arioso
Knives
Caramel
Sans Souci
Matador
Red Gold