Manchester hard rock duo The Hyena Kill released their latest EP Spun (reviewed by Ross) on Monday and headed out on five-date UK tour to support its release. I went along to the London show at The Old Blue Last in Shoreditch to check out the new tracks.
First to take to the stage were Sun Arcana from Essex whose alt-rock sound was the perfect way to begin the evening. These guys had a great sound and the crowd seemed to be really into their music and their energy on stage. I hadn’t expected the inclusion of falsetto and vibrato vocals from Tom, but it worked brilliantly with their sound, as well as the backing vocals from his bandmates Harry, Ryan and Jules. The four-piece played tracks from their latest EP Take A Breath (released 9th March – definitely worth checking out), my favourite of which was “Oxygen”. The band also played brand new track “Call You Home” which, considering it was the first time they had ever performed it live, was brilliant.
Next up were rock trio Bad Sign from Croydon. As a South London girl myself (I grew up in Morden) I instantly warmed to these guys, and they had fantastic stage presence. Guitarist Jonathan, in particular, had some great moves and was very entertaining to watch, as well as being a brilliant musician. At one point he spotted three girls glued to their phones in the corner of the room so he jumped down off the stage – still playing his guitar – and went to stand right in front of them until they realised how rude they were being and paid him the attention he deserved and apparently included him in their Snapchat story – young people, eh?! Bassist and vocalist Joe mentioned that the trio hadn’t played together live for a while but it didn’t show as their set was tight and full of energy throughout. I really enjoyed the mammoth riffs and catchy melodies that created their heavy melodic alt-rock sound, and will definitely be having a listen to their debut album Live & Learn which was released last year.
Last to take to the stage were tonight’s headliners The Hyena Kill, who I last saw back in November when they supported Stereo Juggernaut at The Dev. I have been listening to Spun on my *popular music streaming service* ever since it was released on Monday and have been looking forward to hearing the new tracks live all week – I was certainly not disappointed! It is hard to describe the sound of The Hyena Kill, but for me it touches on everything from alt-rock to metalcore; with big groovy riffs, huge drum beats and visceral vocals. If you shut your eyes at one of their gigs you could be forgiven for thinking that 3, 4 or even more people were stood on the stage in front of you judging by the huge sound, but The Hyena Kill is just two slick musicians; Lorna Blundell on drums and Steven Dobb on guitar. The complex music is ferocious, loud and thrashy…and it is brilliant! You can see that they both put 110% into their live performance and the energy and passion they put into their live shows is really something to behold. If you are heading to Download Festival this year make sure you go check them out on the Dogtooth stage on the Sunday.
The Hyena Kill: official | facebook | twitter | instagram | youtube | bandcamp
Bad Sign: facebook | twitter | instagram
Sun Arcana: official | facebook | twitter | instagram
