Live Review | Orchards, Blank Atlas and Hamartia | The Louisiana, Bristol | 11/10/2024
After a turbulent few years, math pop trailblazers Orchards made their triumphant return to Bristol alongside a pair of local legends for one of the year's most cathartic nights. With anthemic rock trio Blank Atlas and up and coming four-piece Hamartia.
Hamartia
Seamlessly blending soaring power-pop vocals with ferocious post-hardcore inspired riffs, south west based four-piece Hamartia turned The Louisiana into their own personal hard riffing, trauma dumping therapy session. Having already done plenty to prove themselves, earning support slots with Mallavora, Dream State and Lake Malice, the quartet have carved out a small but extremely dedicated fanbase.
Led by vocalist Sophie Smith, Hamartia blazed through both their back catalogue of storming alternative hits and a selection of brand new anthems with latest single ‘Is This It?’ making a huge impact on the packed crowd with its driving bassline and forceful vocal performance. Smith displays natural talent as a live performer, bringing both genuine emotional weight and a dazzling sense of drama to the band’s set.
A highlight of the set was the single ‘Homesick’ which allowed the band to stretch their creative legs while delivering a huge sing-along chorus and ambient lead lines from guitarist Matt Shiels. Ending on ‘Yellow’, a wonderfully uplifting single blending Smith’s lilting vocals with chugging post-hardcore style guitars clashing against tender, atmospheric verses, Hamartia once again prove themselves to be one of the UK’s most promising alternative bands.
Blank Atlas
Bristol alternative Trio Blank Atlas are breaking free of their local mainstay status, branching out to become one of the UK’s most exciting rising stars. Off the back of their debut album Dawn Chorus the three-piece, consisting of brothers Dan and Tom Thould on guitar and drums with bassist Chris Simpson, have taken their “Meshuggah meets McFly” blend of catchy choruses, three part vocal harmonies and chunky alt-metal riffs to festivals such as 2000 Trees, Burn It Down and Noizzefest.
Lacking a traditional frontperson, all three members take on a symbiotic relationship, bouncing vocal melodies off each other while leaping around the stage in an impressive acrobatic display. Mainly sticking to the material from their debut album Dawn Chorus the trio also dug into the album’s bonus track ‘Hope’, a memorable and uplifting track that acts as a fitting cap to the first act of their career.
The band’s single ‘Beautiful Morning’ got the sold out crowd teary eyed with its melancholic verses and all-out sing-along chorus while the final, thunderous track ‘Better Off Dead‘, with its chugging djent inspired guitar riff and ruthless closing breakdown left a lasting impression. Blank Atlas continue to climb the ranks of the underground scene, throwing together hench riffs and dense harmonies for stunning results.
Orchards
After dropping their critically acclaimed debut Lovecore directly before the dark days of the Covid-19 pandemic things looked bleak for math-pop quartet Orchards, powering through, they’ve proven unstoppable with a determined attitude to sell out their first headline shows in over two years.
Opening on new single ‘Sweetie Pie’, Orchards make a memorable impression from the get go with their seamless blend of off-kilter math rock inspired beats and upbeat pop fun. Guitarist Sam Rushton elevates the band’s sound with intricate, tapped riffs without ever stealing the spotlight from charismatic frontwoman Lucy Evers who embodies a classic pop diva, revelling the mathy chaos going on around her while balancing the band’s higher-brow instrumentals with a cheeky smile and sing-along vocals.
With tracks like ‘Sweetie Pie’ and brand new single ‘Good For You Good For Me’ taking on more of an upbeat indie energy than the band’s more complex, mathy material, Orchards showed that they hadn’t lost their experimental edge with hit single ‘Peggy’ centering itself around a virtuosic Midwest emo style guitar line. Orchards live show has to be seen to be believed, effortlessly flexing their chops on tracks like ‘Be Here’ while coming across as buoyant and lively instead of devolving into self-obsessed noodling like many math influenced acts.
Slowing down their breakneck pace for their latest single ‘Mug Song’, Orchards displayed a slightly more melancholy side to their typically sunny sound before breaking into one of their most aggressively cheery tracks, ‘I Feel Terrible’, a synth and fuzzy bass driven anthem perfectly formulated to pick up even the most miserable person in attendance. Closing out on a pair of fan favourites, the driving, mosh starter ‘History’ and the noisy, jumpy math of ‘Luv You 2’, Orchards’ sold out trip to Bristol won’t soon be forgotten.
