Among the most influential and unique acts in British metal, Sikth ended their seven-year slumber this June.
With their original line-up intact, the boundary-pushing sextet returned to an old seaside haunt on Tuesday night.
Heart Of A Coward got things underway with 30 minutes of sheer, percussive force. It was a very modern take on groove metal, potent if knowingly one dimensional.
That’s not something you could accuse the headliners of, their unpredictable, ultra-technical style as striking as ever.
Mikee Goodman and Justin Hill’s Jekyll and Hyde vocal partnership was always distinctive, and the results proved typically compelling throughout. Mikee even snuck in one of his stream of consciousness poems, When Will The Forest Speak...?
Unearthing choice cuts from both of their albums, they seemed on fine form; band and audience both rising to the occasion. Even the overtly melodic Peep Show, often a divisive choice, went down a storm.
It was a performance of complexity and consummate skill, the instrumentalists eerily in sync. Bassist James Leach celebrated his birthday onstage, met with an impromptu rendition of Happy Birthday.
An encore of Pussyfoot and Skies Of Millennium Night rounded the evening off in spectacular fashion. A welcome return, indeed.
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