Ten bands worth catching at Soundwave 2012

13 February 2012

by Poppy Reid

Forget the headliners, TMN have put together our top picks for punters who don’t mind sacrificing a toilet break or ditching the drink line to catch a band that’s slightly under the radar but well worth your time.

Chimaira

The Ohio sextet are one of the most tenacious bands in classic American metal. 12 years together spawned five albums and some of the most brutally unique live shows the genre has ever seen. Those who caught them in 2010 when they headlined a national tour will know only too well the visual assault awaiting Soundwave attendees.

Attack! Attack!
The Welsh four-piece with the spectacled frontman make their Soundwave debut this month with their dogmatic concoction of surging guitar lines and radio-ready choruses.

Neil Starr (lead vocals, guitar), Will Davies (bass), Ryan Day (guitar, vocals) and Mike Griffiths (drums) released their sophomore effort The Latest Fashion in September 2010 so true zealots will know every single line without any awkward hangs of the head in the parts not remembered verbatim.

Hellyeah

This is one supergroup to catch if your idea of metal is the by-product of that creepy beardo who consistently threatened to commit suicide on his MySpace account.

The Baltimore five-piece started as a side project for members of Pantera, Mudvayne, Damageplan and Nothingface who chased a new path with spirit-lifting hard rock. Hellyeah were first famed for being the band that got drummer Vinnie Paul back behind the kit (in 2004 Paul lost his brother and Pantera guitarist Dimebag Darrell after he was shot onstage), but now it’s their shows that draw the most attention.

Guitarist Tom Maxwell put it quite nicely when he said: “We want them to walk away saying, ‘We just saw Hellyeah on a Monday night but it felt like a fucking Friday. It’s Tuesday morning, I feel like shit, I’m hungover, I don’t know who this chick is in my bed, and their fucking music is still ringing in my ears’!”

Times Of Grace

Take the old-school aggression from Killswitch Engage, mix in beautifully emotive guitar lines written from a hospital bed and you have New York duo Times Of Grace.

Killswitch’s guitarist Adam Duktiewicz called upon the band’s former vocalist Jesse Leach while recovering from emergency back surgery in 2007. Asking him to sing and write lyrics for the time-killer project resulted in newly-birthed debut The Hymn Of A Broken Man. It’s catchier than their common thread’s releases but still hits you like a punch in the jugular on a Sunday morning. Whether you’re a Killswitch fan or your eyes are seeking a new view, this band is well worth an early rise on Soundwave morning.

Thursday

Whether you spent the noughties listening to the seminal post-punk from Thursday or you just see Understanding In A Car Crash as a guilty pleasure, if you don’t catch their set this Soundwave or at their sideshow with Circa Survive, you’ll never see them live again. After thirteen years and six albums the New Jersey outfit are calling it quits.

Dream On Dreamer

The Melbourne six-piece have done well to follow in the footsteps of fellow Australian band the Amity Affliction; their take on post-hardcore weaved with keyboard synths and clean choruses has earned them support tours with the likes of Emmure, Deez Nuts and more recently Avenged Sevenfold. Anticipate a tight set from these boys for it’s their live shows that are now turning heads.

Steel Panther

It’s not an easy feat mixing heavy metal with comedy, but these spandex-donning sleazeballs are set to cover the best in hair metal as well as a few even more ridiculous originals.

Onstage strippers, harnessed crowd surfing and Spinal Tap-esque hair-metal solos will make for one of the most visually satiating performances of the day. Steer clear if you’re feeling sensitive however, Steel Panther will most definitely pull out a few sly digs at Aussie culture – but mockery is the highest form of flattery in this case.

You Me At Six

Meeting the demands of their Australian pop-punk-loving fans, You Me At Six have been taking regular sojourns from their hometown of Surrey for years now. Their latest album Sinners Never Sleep made our very own top 30 in the charts and their single Loverboy has been a mainstay on Radar Radio since its October release. Seamless vocals, lyrics sans world issues and pure, early post-hardcore riffs will make for one of the most fun 40 minutes of your afternoon.

Circa Survive

Circa Survive were backed by blind faith from the very beginning; signed to Atlantic Records before they had even played a show, the Pennsylvanian quintet have since proved the risk’s payoff tenfold.

Beginning as a project of revolt to the major label corporations, Saosin’s Anthony Green was bound for the Universal Music offices to ink a record deal when he decided to take a less commercial route.

Touring their psychedelic prog-rock with the likes of Vans Warped Tour and Coachella, Circa Survive now have four albums and hundreds of shows under their belt; all whilst sticking it to the proverbial man. This is one band worth a look in if only to applaud them for their integrity, oh, and to thank them for not choosing previously rejected band name Cicada Survive. 

Enter Shikari

This English four-piece come in handy for that time in the day when you want to mix metal, dubstep and your anti-government aggression (around 9ish). Set to premiere new tracks from forthcoming album A Flash Flood Of Colour, this band is opinionated, destructive and ear-drum destroying; what more could you want from a band while you inhale a dirty slice of over-priced pizza in the dark?