• Hornets – Witch Hunt

    Having spent the last few years establishing themselves around Belfast originally as a trio before expanding to become a quartet, the heft-laden hardcore act Hornets finally release their debut album, Witch Hunt on May 19. Witch Hunt will be the first release on newly established promotion & record label Solid Choice Industries – who have in just the last 2 months, brought Belfast rare shows from the likes of Russian Circles and Grails. Hornets’ latest release hugely broadens their scope and dynamic, taking blast-beat-led detours through visceral crust punk & cacophonic, harshly atmospheric black metal, without losing their trademark moments of Mastodon-esque gargantuan proportion.…

  • Watch: Robocobra Quartet – Witch Hunt (Live)

    From the release of their BOMBEP EP back in April, unveiling double-single Iwazaru/Mizaru in October and several memorable shows in Belfast and further afield, it’s safe to say 2015 has been something of a breakthrough year for Robocobra Quartet. A quick scan through our copious posts on the Chris Ryan-fronted band – before and after featuring them as one of our 15 For ’15 – reveals that we’ve called them: chamber punk, jazz-inflected rap-punk, rapjazz-punk, jazz-rap-punk, jazz-punk and (our current personal favourite) “four-piece”. At this juncture, then, it’s say to safe we’ve reached a descriptor Endgame when it comes to even flirting with the idea of summing up…

  • Stream: Robocobra Quartet – ‘Knotweed/Witch Hunt’

    We were going to post this yesterday but seeing as we featured the band in question in our latest live session – which you can and most certainly should watch here – this evening seems a little more opportune. A rather ingenuous hybrid of spoken-world punk, jazz and hip-hop, Belfast four-piece Robocobra Quartet have just let loose into the world their latest Double A-side: ‘Knotweed/Witch Hunt’. The former – featuring probably second most brilliantly abrupt intro in jazz-centric history – demonstrates the band’s more bold leanings, melting  shifting, shuddering rhythms, expertly atonal bass shapes and braying sax squeals with drummer/vocalist Chris…