Radar Festival - Saturday
Victoria Warehouse opened its doors on the Saturday of Radar Festival to a substantially calmer crowd without the hysteria of Sleep Token looming large. The folks behind Radar had made a huge statement with their booking this year, especially with key three on the main stage, Thornhill, Pertubator & Igorrr, there was insane variety for an indoor city festival, alongside rolling set times so there were only two breaks between any bands today.
Crushed by Waves & Modern Error
The arrangement is the exact same with the Stransburg guitars stage kicking things off with hometown boys Crushed By Waves, who in their own words “had their hearts melted”. The response from the early diehards was “fucking awesome” before unfortunately running over on their time. You can find their recently dropped track ‘Nothing Left’ on Spotify for anyone wanting more. They were followed immediately on the Prog Stage by Modern Error arriving to fanfare in very dramatic fashion and then proceeded to be one of the heavier and more impressive daytime acts. This set was a serious show of intent from the Cambridgeshire mob; I look forward to seeing them with Hot Milk & Witch Fever in November
Tiberius, Allt & Profiler
We experienced Scottish bruisers Tiberius on Saturday who really attacked the Strandberg Stage by being in the photo pit and perched on the barrier within the first song. The gents in this five piece are clearly counting steps though as Grant Barclay on vocals & Chris Foster on guitar spend a number of songs in the crowd itself. This included time spent enlisting the crowd at the second stage to do their signature “goblin dance" as well as take part in the safest, politest circle pit in festival history. The Strandberg Stage certainly belonged to Tiberius, with the crown interaction second to none, as he belted out "I belong to you, feed me please my Oracle" from key track 'Tip of the Spear'. From here the map shifted from Scotland to Sweden. The oft impeccable Allt were next to grace the Prog Stage but were unfortunately marred by tech issues and illness to frontman Robin Malmgren. For a band dangerously close to pulling out of the slot, they still battered tracks like ‘Paralysed’ and recent release ‘Emanate’ with a finale of ‘Blindside’. These would be an excellent choice for Radar ‘24 as a means of righting something that was out of their control this year, but they supplied a great set nonetheless. Bristol trio Profiler were the ones to follow the gutsy effort, and are very reminiscent of an early Linkin Park. The three-piece were a refreshing change of pace with the Nu-Metal influence and commanding Rapcore vocal stylings.
Pupil Slicer & Thornhill
Not to be out done in terms of bands that can provide something different for the palette, Pupil Slicer rise onto the Prog Stage, with Kate Davies (Vocals/Guitar) loudly proclaiming “We are Pupil Slicer, and we play Rock and Roll”. They provide an equally confident performance in the same slot as Unprocessed did the day before, entering the fray with track ‘No Temple’. Though that quote may have been a throwback to the legendary Lemmy, we are graced with something more recent. Playing in support of their recent album, Blossom. they try out new track ‘Departure in Solitude‘ which Kate mentions they haven’t played before live. The new material features a nice blend of clean vocals and an intense breakdown of the musical talent Pupil Slicer have at their disposal. They mention the occasion of playing Radar for the first time and dedicate said new track to that fact, as well as touch on the necessary point of issues that bands face in this economy.
Moving forward with main stage acts, Thornhill may look like the Aussie version of Arctic Monkeys, but they bang like a barn door. Vocalist Jacob Charlton is completely full of swagger and is on an almost Oli Sykes level of “Cool Frontman”. This set should be seen as a particular accolade considering Thornhill’s last UK tour was solely club venues. They amass something that wasn’t not a wall of death (where signage says bands requesting one is totally forbidden),during ‘Lily & The Moon’ and aside from brief fears of a shutdown on that front this set goes off without a hitch. With some completely electric energy throughout, this is a serious case of a band totally fitting their slot on the bill, but having every potential of a future headliner as they clatter through ‘Where We Go When We Die’ From 2019’s The Dark Pool. Thornhill looks perfectly at home on this stage when ironically they almost couldn’t be further away for the Aussie four piece.
Dreamstate & Pertubator
In the other room, immediately following Thornhill's set, Dreamstate continued the trend of bands who've been waiting years for the Radar stage. And they wasted no time doing everything they could do over-achieve in the spot. Jessie Powell spent this set absolutely leathering their voice whilst also beaming with gratitude. This is a major show for a lineup that is barely a year old, and they commemorate that with a split of the crowd that is explicitly “NOT a wall of death”. Jessie also gushes about the magnitude of having opened a show for Heart of a Coward years prior, now the main support for them. The setlist is rammed with hits such ‘Monsters’, ‘Chain reactions’, ‘White lies’ and this line-up’s first release, ‘Taunt me’. Jessie gives a heartfelt thank you to every staffed position in the building, security, merch staff, photographers, and anyone in between. This set really comes across as a huge moment for the group. That said, with a set that was all heart, there must also be a set that is all business. Enter Pertubator. This is a highly anticipated exhibition from James Kent having recently come off a headline slot on Download’s Dogtooth stage. There could easily have been a dead swap in terms of headliner between these and Igorrr. Pertubator certainly had the presentation to warrant top slot, with an apocalyptic lights show especially prevalent in ‘Neo Tokyo’ that travelled across a demonic structure of a backdrop with an intense aura. The always pinpoint music ability of Kent & live drummer Dylan Hyard made this set a totally relentless hour that was not for the faint of heart.
Heart of a Coward
The booking of this year's Strandberg Stage has been a complete master stroke, as all three headliners of the second room had played almost consecutive to one another at the 2019 instalment. Vocalist Kaan Tasan had been on deck at the festival all weekend as part of the masterclass functions on offer, but made time for an exceptional run out with band mates in HoaC. Opening with ‘Collapse’ is an obvious show of intent as they kicked Strandberg Stage into gear, followed by a comparative deep cut of ‘Shade’ from 2012’s Hope & Hinderance. We are also treated to the debut of latest single, ‘Decay’. This set is a perfect spread of material old and new. Moving down the line into ‘Hollow’ from 2015’s Deliverance, before the two hit combo of ‘Monstro’ & ‘Deadweight’ from the Severance album, which has just celebrated its 10th year. Heart of a Coward are expecting their 5th album This Place Brings Only Death out September 11th. They’re also touring across the UK and Europe with ThisCityIsOurs & Ghost Iris (EU Only) in October where it’s imagined that the same level of bruising metalcore will hit various cities
Vid below!
Check out our interview with HOACs Chris here
Igorrr
From Sleep Token’s transcendence of genre, and Periphery’s satirical Djent Is Not a Genre, the headliner between the two, Igorrr, instead just says “Fuck genre”. Electric and eclectic is the order of the day as Igorrr absolutely attacks the senses, and somehow it’s brilliant. This was without a doubt an act that will have drawn certain fans to Radar as a main attraction, and for some this will be a hidden gem.
Beginning with ‘Paranoid Bulldozer Italiano’, where only Igorrr is on stage, brought with it expectations of some kind of rave set. To the passing ear, it had genuine elements of the type of music anyone on Youtube might create, but Igorrr has genuine talent that cannot be overstated. An ear bleeding breakdown follows as the live band join him on stage and immediately drop into the track. Unclean vocalist JB Le Bail has a brutal tone to his voice managing to bridge the gap between bands of the day from Pupil Slicer to Pertubator. What follows, naturally, is some stunning classical vocal talent from Marthe Alexandre in ‘Nervous Waltz’ and ‘Downgrade Desert’. The set is an absolute melting pot of the talents of Le Bail and Alexandre to the point it seems a disservice to just consider them additional musicians in Igorrr’s project. Everyone on stage has that edge.
The introduction of ‘Camel Dancefloor’ seems like the set might have peaked in terms of its absurdity, but Gautier Serre’s avant-garde track is actually one of the best in the show. The track seems to circumvent any sense of taste, it’s just catchy, amazingly performed and excellently mixed. Obviously a good bulk of the set is devoted to 2020’s release, Spirituality and Distortion, but the French troup does allow for a few trips into their back catalogue, a visit to 2017’s Savage Sinusoid for elements of “bal musette” with ‘Cheval’. The atmosphere in Victoria warehouse during this feature is unlike anything most will have ever experienced, the amber/gold lighting combined with the accordion soaked track have a regality to them. The exposed brick, beer soaked floor and large vents aside, this feels like a ballroom for at least a moment.
The set is an absolute bungee cord of styles that has the Igorrr faithful carrying it and winning a substantial amount of the Saturday crowd over with it as they go. There are more ‘traditional’ metal tracks like ‘Parpaing’ (Literally meaning “Breeze block”) which was recorded with Cannibal Corpse’s George Fisher. Very at home at Radar. ‘Spaghetti Forever’, though absurd in name, is world-endingly heavy and well constructed of live performances. Contrastingly, tracks ‘Robert’ and set-ender ‘Very Noise’ are incredibly flurries in dubstep/drum & bass that Igorrr has choreographed himself to for the live crowd. At the conclusion of ‘Very Noise’, each musician comes out to join Igorrr on stage, take a bow, and thank the Manchester crowd.
This may be Igorrr’s “project” but these are an incredible unit together.
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