Ding ding, the bar is open… the Singles Club is in business once again and it’s time to see what examples of the short form have been demolishing the death decks at ÜRHQ and earning a coveted stool at the bar. We had more than 100 applicants for these hard-earned spots, but the wheat has been whittled from the chaff and those deemed worthy of a sip from one of our bottles of appreciation have been selected…
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Every once in a while, it seems that certain artists make a timely entrance into the public gaze in order to cogently and sincerely speak on behalf of a specific group of people – be that through words, sounds or images. The universe is kind in that way. A recent prophetic arrival on the Belfast music scene has been the punk four-piece, Problem Patterns, who in an extraordinarily short amount of time has proven to be one of the most exciting musical prospects this country has to offer right now. Managing a deft balance between instigating much needed discourse on a number of weighty societal issues as well as being one of the most fun current live acts in the alternative scene, the band has dug its colours into this land’s cultural zeitgeist.
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Electro-industrial metal crüe Combichrist have just released a video for the track ‘Understand’, taken from their forthcoming ninth album, ‘One Fire’, which will drop on 7 June via Out Of Line Music.
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With not only a dreaded gig clash, but two album launch shows some 50 miles or so apart, the ÜRHQ team had no choice but to split themselves in two, with The Dark Queen flying solo and heading into the hills of County Antrim to see if Gasoline Outlaws could light up a dark and dreary Saturday evening,never mind her world…
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Monk has great admiration for bands who make the conscious decision not to make things easy for themselves but opt instead to push themselves to the limits. It would be so easy at the likes of, say, an album launch show, to assemble a relatively safe and staid undercard, in order to make you look as absolutely good as possible. But, Ketos have always striven to take themselves to the next level, and so it was no surprise that they brought along two of the most consistently intense and impressive live acts on the island of Ireland to make this one of THE “must see” metal bills of the year in this corner of the Überverse.
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