Tonight feels like a very exciting occasional down at Boom in Leeds. We know a lot of these bands well from our excursions around the festivals and venues of the north and beyond, and there’s a real community vibe that’s wonderfully heartwarming and bodes well for the coming week at Bristol’s celebration of the leftfield, ArcTanGent Festival.
The warm-up for the ArcTanGent festival kicks off with A-Sun Amissa, a trio that brings a unique blend of lush ambient soundscapes, a guitar-led drone, and a jazzy freeform woodwind. Their performance sets the tone for the night, immersing us in a feeling of abstraction and a taste for the leftfield.
Pleiades, known for their high-energy performances, deliver once again. Their incredible melodies, enhanced by a fantastic front-of-house mix, fill the venue with a vibrant atmosphere. With singer Adam’s rabble-rousing form on and offstage and tracks like ‘Honeyguide II’, ‘Siberian’, ‘Universal’, and the brilliant ‘No Living Thing’, Pleiades are set to make a memorable appearance on Thursday.
Din Of Celestial Birds are another band that leaves jaws on the floor everywhere they go. Plundering their brand of majestic three guitar, bass and drum instrumental glory from their utterly incredible ‘The Night Is For Dreamers’ opus. They utterly soar on tracks like ‘Utopia’ and ‘Junebug’. No one quite hits those skyscraping highs quite like Din Of Celestial Birds. Another band opts for the on and offstage approach, giving this northern mate’s fest an excellent all-inclusive feel in this intimate setting. They are simply glorious!! It’s hard not to feel emotional when they break into ‘MMEC’ (we may be biased towards this track, but that’s a secret for now). That’s the kind of heart-wrenching show you get with these guys, and it’ll floor you every single time.
Underdark’s performance is confrontational, with singer Abi prowling the floor and screaming with feral vitriol over the band’s blackened charge. The epic and hardcore-leaning sound, punctuated by frostbitten blast beats and tremolo-picked leads, is a startling jolt to the system. Underdark’s uncompromising and terrifying performance is a testament to the tremendous buzz surrounding them.
Finally, Hundred Year Old Man takes to the stage in their customary back-lit moody tones and explodes with the energy of a newly released caged animal. This feels like a statement of intent for their upcoming ArcTanGent big-stage festival performance. The band are on fire tonight, with David attacking the microphone with every fiber of his being whilst Helen whips her hair and bass guitar around in the moody, atmospheric surroundings of the Boom stage. Once again, we get treated to one brand new song and a plundering of their tried and tested venue levelers from their incredible ‘Sleep In Light’ and ‘Breaching’ albums. This is the sight and sound of a band ready to take on ArcTanGent this summer and the entire scene in 2025, utterly devastating!
Tonight’s bill proves that this breed of mostly northern talent is a mate’s fest and a coalition of post-everything primed to make its mark and step up to the next level over the next twelve months. We wander into the crisp Leeds night, safe in the knowledge that the future of forward-thinking post-metal and rock is in very safe hands.
Review & Photography By George Miller – https://www.facebook.com/oneflamemedia
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