Characteristically Powerful.
It's been a good couple of years now since Sikth made their triumphant return at Download Festival and judging by their performance supporting Trivium tonight, the flame is still burning incredibly strong. The last time we seen Sikth live was at 2000 trees festival where new vocalist Joe Rosser was still getting his feet under the table after the departure of Justin Hill. Their performance was of course strong on that day too and tonight at the Roundhouse they were a band perfectly in sync and looking like they're having a great time in the lead up to their first full length album release since 2006.
Opening with a track from the Opacities EP released in 2015, Philistine Philosophies instantly set the tone for a set filled with genuine brilliance laid out from start to finish. Technically and musically, Sikth were for sure ahead of their time throughout their first stint, but with the rising popularity for bands like Meshuggah and events like Tech-Fest, the band have a renewed and rejuvenated impact on heavy music which has brought with it a whole new pool of fans. Considering how different they are to tonight's headliners, it was excellent to see how much Sikth were embraced, whether that be via the continual pits in the middle of the floor or the gawping punters around the outskirts who may have never even listened to them before, Sikth entered the Roundhouse and duly dominated it.
As mentioned above, Joe Rosser has well and truly begun stamping his impact in the band, delivering duelling vocal lines with Mikee Goodman like he's been doing it for years. He brings a lot of energetic character to the stage, doing more than his bit to get sections of the crowd pumped up. Musically the band sound as tight as ever despite Graham "Pin" Pinney having to withdraw from the tour for personal reasons. So they're one guitarist down and still sound unbelievable? Yeah, exactly. The only real criticism you could point in the direction of this show was more a venue issue and that was merely the fact that it would've been nice to have it turned up a few more notches, but it wasn't quiet enough to really impact the show that much.
Overall then, judging by tonight's performance and the general energy shown by the band on this tour it promises an exciting and bright future. Needless to say, their forthcoming studio album is one of the most anticipated releases of the year, we cannot wait.