I got a quick interview with their guitarist Simon Mather after their set:
1. If you could add any technical or progressive metal band to the festival to complete the line-up who would it be?
Simon: (quickly) The Contortionist.
2. Have you discovered any new bands from checking out the line-up?
Simon: Those guys (points over to the next merch table where members of Noise Trail Immersion are sitting).
3. Why do you think the tech metal scene is so strong in the UK compared to other places?
Simon: Sikth got it rolling really. I remember when they first started and no one really seemed to get it, first time I heard it I was like "What is this?" but I still saw them every time they passed through Scotland and now I love them.
4. When will the forest speak?
Simon: When the trees are dead and dried...I don't know!
5. This year we have Jon Gomm playing the festival and while he's not tech metal it's hard to deny the fact that the metal scene loves the guy. Is there anyone else, an outsider of sorts, that you could see fitting in at the festival in coming years?
Simon: Don't really know but I love Jon Gomm.
6: I was really happy to hear some stuff from I/O in your setlist, can you tell me anything about how you went about choosing what to play here?
Simon: It was pretty much a mix of old and new, some songs off of I/O, an abridged version of Rudy and an old song we just started playing again. We wrote it some time back to be this really fast, really technical song but after playing it a few times live people didn't seem that into it so we thought "It's really hard and no one seems to enjoy it so why bother?" but when we played it here people seemed to like it a lot so that was fun. When I started writing I just wanted to write music influenced by Sikth and Necrophagist (Editor's note: what a perfect set of influences!) but recently I've also been getting into these really heavy, wall of sound riffs. Bands like Gaza, Black Sheep Wall and such (Editor's note: it just get's better!) so that had quite an impact on the writing of The Life and Trials of Rudy Eugene.
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The Colour Pink is Gay have their albums available on Bandcamp in digital form but I really recommend trying to get your hands on the physical copies. The artwork is fantastic and the idea of releasing Rudy with a comic book (made by Donald MacLean) following the story behind the lyrics is brilliant. Buy their music, love it and keep an eye out for what will hopefully be a bright future for this Scottish five-piece.
After The Colour Pink is Gay had finished their set something completely different came on. That something was The Sun Explodes.
I heard TSE's latest release when researching the festival and I was very impressed with how accurately they managed to portray the recorded material in a live setting. Vocally they delivered on all fronts, lead vocals, backing growls and harmonies all coincided with tight instrumentation but topping that off was a fun, carefree stage presence leading to the lead vocalist stripping down to his underwear by the end of their short but sweet set.
Tech Fest: Day One Live Reviews and Mini Interviews Part 2
Jón Þór
*Unless otherwise noted all Tech Fest pictures are taken by me