By Jase Walker
I’m here, I’m finally here. What was the absolute highlight of 2018 and 2019 for me has finally returned after so long and I’m here. I’ve seen so many friends I’ve not seen for so long and I’m wasting no time in getting back into the thick of it with Ballius up first on the Thursday.
A project headed up by guitar virtuoso, Matt Ball, there couldn’t be a better way to say “We are back, Tech-Fest” than this. Sporting his headless strandberg, and right at the forefront of the stage screaming into the mix, I’m struggling to not feel overwhelmed with joy to be back. Not a single six string guitar in sight (Well, except the bass and the odd change), complex time signatures and fat fucking riffs out the wazoo. God I’ve missed this.
It’s not just all fat riffs and chugs though, there’s some tasty guitar playing and chilled moments dotted throughout as well. When the going hits, it goes hard, and this sums up in a nutshell the sort of variety here, it’s not all heaviness and screaming, but a widely spread mix of light and shade. Ballius puts on show the many facets of Tech-Fest, and the hype for the weekend is certainly here.
No stopping here, it’s all aboard the moving train now as I jump over to the main stage for Blight Town! I’ve been recommended these heavily by friends of mine and it’s pretty evident why, a bit of prog metal with that math rock flair and poppy vocals. Yeah, I think I’m right at home here, no doubt about it. Some great movement on stage as well, very animated which is always pretty important to me when it comes to live shows. Their singers got a hell of a range too, hearing him go straight up in pitch works incredibly well with the bright guitars backing him.
This is a real slice of fun and uplifting stuff to listen to, I mean I love math rock, I love proggy metal and BlightTown are a great combination of the two. I wonder what they consider themselves as primarily? Suppose I’ll have to find out! I’ll be looking forward to having a chat with them later on (note: this ended up corrupted sadly!). Rhythmically they’re spot on and super tight, fantastic stop, start, sections in between sparkly guitar playing, top stuff.
Now back to the second stage briefly for a band I’ve seen before and refer to as “Rush plays Kirby music”, Lost In Lavender Town. I got to see these in Manchester a short while back and they absolutely blew my head off so there wasn’t a chance I’d miss this. Mixing up a sound of class prog metal with Chiptune, they’re quite the unique experience to listen to. These guys are straight up melody incarnate, there’s constantly something going on with the melodies all the way through their set.
I’m looking around and seeing friends that haven’t seen these before having the exact same reaction as I did the first time, just gawping at them in disbelief. One moment we’re listening to an extended shred guitar solo that’d make Nick Johnston blush and the next we’ve got the best hits of music from NES games, incredible and sometimes a little silly but excellent all the same.
A bit of a food and rest break before getting back into the main stage for Rosen Bridge. I’ve missed a stupid amount of chances to see these in Manchester with friends of mine so Tech-Fest as my first show seems appropriate! The meaty sound of Rosen Bridge thunders through my chest, every single hit of the bass drum and bass guitar shakes my ribcage. With synthy overtones and singing that reminds me quite a lot of Northlane, I’m sold on this right from the start of the show.
The audience at Tech-Fest is starting to build now with a steady stream of people arriving as the afternoon moves on. The clash of clean vocals against djenty goodness is complete bait for me, I love this stuff. Everyone’s moving around the stage while kicking out grooves that just don’t stop, and their singers on-stage personality is magnetic. Will definitely be keeping my eyes out for more of their shows in Manchester.
Back over to the second stage for my buds in Sertraline: not entirely content with seeing them at Download, I’ve gotta see them here too! I don’t regret it for a second because they sound massive on this stage, Si’s drums hit my stomach, their backing tracks thunder through, Tom and Mike’s guitars both ring through and Ben’s vocals dead centre. It’s pretty clear they’re getting properly comfortable with the new lineup and Ben’s capitalising on it getting his teeth into the audience, remember, do not pit (actually, please do).
The now-four-piece come across very confidently on stage on the home turf of Tech-Fest, Mike and Tom content to do their thing while Ben directs the crowd and keeps the focus on him throughout the show. Ben’s uncleans and stage presence adds so much to the live show, constantly moving, constantly making his persona known. Chunky riffs throughout, with the backing of Si beating the ever living shit out of his kit, Sertraline consistently put on a great performance and it’s easy to see how they’ve built up the following they’ve got.
After a bit of a break, it’s time to gurn. Drewsif doing his solo work featuring some of the GreyLotus crew, opening up with a Journey intro while getting the crowd to chant “fuck!” to the beat. Oh, it’s not just an intro, is an actual cover of “Separate Ways” except *really* bloody heavy, don’t think I could have envisioned the chorus done in growls but here we are! Drewsif’s own stuff is crushing though, massive grooves that hit you straight in the chest. Those open eight-string “bowww” type bits thunder through the main stage hangar of Tech-Fest, love it.
The three of them really lean into the Tech-Fest meta with messing around on stage and constantly getting the crowd to explode into a chorus of “Woo!” – if you heard that at Download, we did it first, sorry that’s just a fact. Drewsif’s stage presence is larger than life, and I can assure you if you watch any of his content, he’s every bit as wacky live as he is on his videos.
A little bit later on for the next main stage show, we’ve got Artificial Language. The sound is a little heavy on the bass drum but it’s not totally drowning the guitars out which is good, it’s pounding the hell out of my chest like! The dual virtuoso guitar playing sings across Tech-Fest’s main stage, and a singer that reminds me a lot of Leprous’s Einar with his ability to reach great highs. The initial sound issues look to have been dialled back a bunch shortly into the set and have a much better balance and Artificial Language are killing it.
Each guitar player is bouncing off each other, through a cycle of riffs, sweep picked arpeggios, and grooves. We’ve already had our first rowing pit of the weekend, standard. Artificial Language are intensely melodic, there’s rarely a section where there isn’t something going on. Ebbs and flows throughout scales and octaves, all tastefully used and never overdone. I’d love to see these playing alongside the likes of Plini or Nick Johnston, a full show of artful guitar playing, fingers crossed one day eh? Beautiful stuff.
And finally today, well for the daytime shows anyway, our Thursday headliners, Exist Immortal. A firm favourite of mine and they’re wasting zero time going right to the top and they’re backed by an incredibly bright light show. It’s fantastic being able to see these on a stage that isn’t Satan’s Hollow in Manchester, Tech-Fest main stage is a well-deserved spot. The bass drops blast my head with incredible force throughout the show, and even up close there’s no muddiness to the sound. It’s rare that you find sound that’s worked well to the point where not only do you feel the bass guitar, you can easily hear all the little runs and nuance.
Barring the drummer obviously, every member of Exist Immortal is constantly moving around the stage and leaning into the crowd or stepping on the monitors. Having these headlining the Thursday was a fantastic choice, despite having big shoes to fill by replacing Slice The Cake. Exist Immortal haven’t taken this slot for granted and show no sign of hesitation using this stage to its full potential. They announce they’ve just finished a brand new album, so tonight we’re getting a brand new song, and what a show to unveil it on! After pestering them for months (not kidding), I got my wish of hearing them play “In Hindsight” live, my favourite song of theirs and it was worth the wait. Exist Immortal have done a great job closing out the Thursday daytime sets, now just to wait a bit to see Neshiima at 1am!
It’s not surprising that a lot have gone to bed but I’m here to hydrate (with cider) with Neshiima so here we go! It’s been a pretty damn long time since I’ve seen these at Download festivals boardie takeover so I’m keen to get a lot of their new stuff in my ears! Liam rocking some classy drip tonight too similar to the Hydrate music video, ever the classy man. Looking around I can spot most of the hard core of Tech-Fest here, not totally surprised they’re still down to party!
There’s a number of fantastic acts over the weekend on the after parties and Neshiima are one of them, the Glaswegians kicking out some loud, meaty riffs and Liam right at the barriers getting in people’s faces. I’ll no doubt be feeling the ringing in my ears tomorrow morning. Class show lads.