Uneven Structure & Voyager at Underworld, London - live review

VOYAGER [7] have serious sound problems tonight, and almost have to cut their set short. But the Aussie progsters’ good humour carries them through, and, when their kit is working, they sound out of this world. Ascension and Ghost Mile boast full-bodied, pristine pop melodies that gleam like galaxies, balanced by a meaty bottom-end and shape-shifting technicality. Even a progged-up, keytar cover of 90s trance track Sandstorm is glorious. UNEVEN STRUCTURE [8] however, are a much denser, more aggressive prospect. Tonight the technical prog metallers are playing their ambitious three-part concept album, La Partition, in full. Veering between mesmerising tenderness and claustrophobic brutality, they play in darkness, save for lights that silhouette the band in brooding blues and greens. Paired with their multi-layered polyrhythms and Matthieu Romarin’s hypnotic, powerful vocals, it’s an overwhelming, disorientating sensory experience that proves the Frenchmen have taken their craft to a new level.