By Jase Walker
My hype levels are set at absolute maximum for tonight’s show. I cannot overstate how much I not only love SikTh but also tonight’s support act, Palm Reader. SikTh are a band that,alongside Meshuggah, essentially wrote the rule book for modern progressive metal so not only getting to see them, but also as the original line-up is incredible in its own right.
Palm Reader opted for a slow and ambient introduction as the seven member band barely fits on the pretty large Academy 2 stage. But this isn’t something they hang onto for very long before their signature hypnotic melodies and crushingly heavy riffs set in and I’m screaming the chorus back at them. ‘Stay Down’, with easily one of the meatiest riffs they’ve ever written, builds tension in its verses before erupting with its massive chorus and I can hear voices behind me screaming the words to the chorus. Midway through the set they hit ‘Hold/Release’, easily my favourite song off ‘Sleepless’, with its busy drums and dreamy chorus. I love it, and it gets better every time I see it played, an immense song.
Palm Reader have an outrageous live energy, and despite the short set they’ve smashed it once again. Finishing with their dark “A Bird And Its Feathers’, which seems to be their new choice of finisher, I really can’t wait for another headline tour from them!
IT’S SIKTH TIME.
Opening with ‘Scent Of The Obscene’ this gets stuff kicked off in absolutely the right way. It’s time for a fan voted rollercoaster along their biggest songs and I am right in the thick of it! I’ve never seen a pint so enthusiastically launched at the roof, straight down on some poor sods head but I don’t think they really registered it. James Leech’s bass slapping never sounded finer, it’s punching through the maelstrom of SikTh’s incredibly busy music. So early in the set is one of my absolute favourite songs they’ve ever done, ‘Philistine Philosophies’, a song that marked a triumphant return of SikTh, it’s all about that immense chorus and unbelievable breakdown, perfect SikTh.
‘Summer Rain’ provokes an absolutely gigantic moshpit a few rows in front of me as I’ve opted to be a bit further out the “splash zone”. Again it’s another song where James Leech’s playing really stands out to me because of the rhythmically intense slap bass playing. Seeing my absolute favourite song, ‘Peep Show’ in the set warms my heart too, it’s probably their least “SikTh song”, but is a wonderful song nonetheless!
One word rings out and the crowd instantly goes berserk, and SikTh fans know what that is:
“PUSSYFOOT!!”
They all instantly smash into each other at the cacophonous noise of one of their most intense and crazy songs. The pit has been relentless, essentially everything they’ve played has had so many people smashing into each other, waving their arms around and generally just having an amazing time! It’s not like people get the chance to do this particularly often due to SikTh’s sporadic live performances. At one point there’s a lady on someone’s shoulders running around in the circle pit and that’s pretty damn brave! They’ve even brought Joe on stage for ‘Sanguine Seas of Bigotry’, which is a real surprise! And by the looks of the faces of people around me, nobody else expected that either! All three vocalists on stage at the same time, this is quite literally something that will most likely never be seen again!
Lastly, arguably their biggest and most well known song, ‘Bland Street Bloom’. A veritable maelstrom of intense, dissonant melodies and noise. Truly bonkers and the crowd digs deep to give it their all on the last song. What a special experience it was and it’s been everything I could have hoped for, this is exactly why SikTh influenced far more bands than I could ever name. Spectacular.
- All content © Über Rock. Not to be reproduced in part or in whole without the express written permission of Über Rock.