大象传媒

Blessed are the Noise-mongers! For they shall inherit the earth! More Than Conquerors open the proceedings, unleashing their increasingly accomplished brand of guitar rock to a hungry audience. The youthful 4-piece have come along in leaps and bounds in recent months, and are starting to sound like they are ready to take their sound to a bigger audience. The charisma projected by every member of the band is infectious, and if one were to offer criticism, it would be that several of their songs fall into a formula, repeating the same "quiet-loud" dynamics. But on the strength of this, we're only seeing the beginning of what these guys have to offer.

A blur of kinetic energy, Kasper Rosa hurl themselves around the stage, ready to explode out of their own bodies at any point. Their intricate instrumental rock has seen them branded ASIWYFA copyists, but the comparisons are only superficial. Relying far more on guitar explorations and subtle shifts in tone, Kasper Rosa meld an accomplished, progressive sound to an explosive performing style. However, whilst the band's recorded output may revel in such subtle shifts on tone and texture, much of this is lost in a live setting, with the lack of many obvious big hooks to hang it all upon becoming a serious handicap.

The band's music rewards repeated listening, and their live set could benefit from a real killer tune to hold it all together. But with the captivating sight of bassist Dave Shannon almost playing the audience as another instrument whilst the rest of the band thunders on behind him, Kasper Rosa display ample proof that they have everything required to make that great leap forward.

Adebisi Shank are part of the initial wave of bands kick-starting this recent batch of noiseniks, and the Wexford three-piece have an extremely partisan crowd out in force to see them. And despite their reputation for their extreme live shows, it's an oddly unmoving experience. Sequencers squirt and burble, triggering off all manner of pre-programmed guitar effects, which are endlessly soloed over. And ultimately, very little else happens. Once again, any subtlety is lost in the moment, and any hint of emotional connection is completely ignored.

After a while, the endless fret-melting starts to become extraordinarily uninteresting, and the fact that hooded bassist Vinny's actual movements have little (or nothing) to do with what is coming through the PA leads to the attention beginning to wander. By the end, it starts to feel as if we're watching the art-rock equivalent of a Steve Vai concert, where virtuoso guitarist Lar endlessly shows us how fast he can play, and how many of the notes he can play at once (all of them).

Ultimately, we may be exploring the new noize, but until we find out what to do with it, perhaps the experiments are best conducted away from the public eye?

Steven Rainey