This French quintet’s debut, The Astonishing Fury Of Mankind, was a stellar declaration of the band’s talent and hinted at the calibre of guitarwork still to come. Under The Painted Sky has taken four years to appear but proves just as fresh and poised.
Powered by grating vocals and huge riffs, their gruff metalcore complemented with groove and sensitivity is polished without losing credibility or urgency, and Vanished Gravity and Give Them Ropes swerve between heavy but ridiculously catchy.
I’m Seeking At Six, with its sticky sea of guitars and indulgent solo, makes it hard to remain passive from the start, while On Cloud 9 and Silent Wait Of Careless Streets highlight the effectiveness of Junior Rodriguez’s strong vocal style. Eighties influences are dominant, and there’s even an obligatory homage to mathcore courtesy of Dead Ends and White Retina.
