...LIVE REVIEWS...
"Letting loose with a mixture of hypnotic shoegaze-like droning rhythms and ethereal alt vocal melodies, less a set and more a ritual.
Taking a fuzzy approach to moody post-punk rhythms, the band feel like a lighter counterpart to Swans, which is by no means a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination."
- Uber Rock
"This is homecoming for support band Thought Forms as this is where they reside most of the year when not touring. As one of Invada Records earliest signings (Geoff Barrow of Portishead’s label), Thought Forms have toured the world in support of Portishead – an incredible opportunity that has helped them no end in developing into the formidable band we have here today. Their brand new album, ‘Songs About Drowning’ is a culmination of years of focus and development the band have worked incredibly hard to create. It is without doubt their finest work and will surely peak the interest of a potentially wider audience for them hopefully. They certainly deserve it.
Five of the seven song set are from the new album with the addition of ‘Landing’ and the inordinately loud and penetrating instrumental track, ‘Burn Me Clean’ from their 2013 album, ‘Ghost Mountain’. The tempos and slow and driving, the bass is low and fuzzy especially on opener, ‘Woolf Music’ which sounds like Goat on Codeine rather than their preferred psychedelics. The spectre of Sonic Youth is certainly strong on the next song, ‘Missouri’, as it is for much of their catalogue, but Thought Forms have enough of their own dynamic to make it an influence and not a burden. The new songs are more intoxicating than their older material partly I believe, because of the addition of Bassist Jim Barr (Get The Blessing, Portishead) who produced and recorded the album. Although Jim played on the album, Bass duties tonight and for this tour are being handled by Mardt Clancy of fellow Bristol band, Vena Cava.
Two of my favourite tracks off the new album ‘The Bridge’ and ‘The Lake’ sound incredible through the massive PA tonight. ‘The Bridge’ with it’s thrashing, visceral melody and arresting vocals from Singer/Guitarist Charlie Romijn. ‘The Lake’ with the doubling of vocals of Romijn and the band’s other Singer/Guitarist Deej Dharwal as well as it’s rising and falling tempo, masterfully handled by Drummer Guy Metcalfe. The last song of the set is the aforementioned, ‘Burn Me Clean’ which sees them turn up the bass frequencies to core shaking levels whilst the band take matters in a far more experimental direction. It’s an astounding finale that would be hard to follow."
- Louder Than War
Thought Forms kick off proceedings with a distortion and reverb-drenched squall of grungy, post-rock noise. With their dual guitars and alternating male and female vocals, the Bristol trio evoke Sonic Youth on a shoegaze binge – a solid set of effectively-realised sonic chaos.
- The Skinny
Thought Forms were a noise ridden joy. Deej Dhariwal stole beautiful crumbling chord progressions and screeching feedback loops from a series of abused guitars. Charlie Romijn, swapping between cello and guitar, conjured waves of heavy drones and sheets of rippling noise as Guy Metcalfe anchored everything with ecstatic drumming. The razor sharp melodies turned inside out with molten effects and febrile black tar effects. Smears of grime spread across the fragile motifs. Shades of the Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Pain Jerks and Yellow Swans pulse through the dark heart of the band. The set climaxed with the ripping of strings from guitars and the slamming of effects pedals; a gloriously chaotic ending, the band sending broken shards of sound spinning into the wintery night.
- Music OMH
Unconventional, sometimes uncomfortable, yet engaging and original. The sounds that erupted from the stage were something I hadn’t heard live, the combined vocals of Romijn and Dhariwal were beautiful and haunted, the sweetness of Romijn’s melodies provided juxtaposition to the abusive and arid landscape created by the three-piece.
- Bristol Live Magazine
Accompanying Portishead were Thought Forms… The band ripped into a powerful set of a slightly shoegazy, heavily psychedelic sounds that one could even equate to post-rock. Regardless of musical definition, what we got was a delightful opener for the main acts that just seemed to make sense the more you watched and listened. It was being confirmed for us that this was definitely for real, pure music in its truest art form. With meaningful melodies and mesmerizing transitions, they almost made the audience forget who they were there to see.
- Spinning Platters
The captivating threesome put in a stellar headline set to end the tour on an explosive high. Kicking off with the heaving drone of ‘Landing’, it’s a howling, crushing entrance to roughly 40 minutes of downtuned distortion, high impact contrasts, post-rock soundscapes and vicious guitar treatment. As the beautifully panoramic ‘Ghost Mountain You And Me’ rings out into the night, the other side to the group is showcased, a soaring, shoegaze-esque sound that transports the assembled crowd to a vast, scenic high point far away from these rainy streets of Bristol. Watching the bare footed Deej Dhariwal play is fascinating, turning his attention to his array of fx pedals at the most effective moments, and gently picking out delicate melodic notes one minute before subjecting his strings to a ferocious assault moments later.
The chemistry and tight-knit alliance between Dhariwal, the super-cool Charlie Romijn and explosive drummer Guy Metcalfe is something truly special to witness both on stage and on record. Tonight they seem louder and fiercer than ever, and yet you could have heard a pin drop during the immaculate opening section of ‘O’, which rages into chaos towards the end after a precise, suspense-fuelled build-up. What a way to end the night. Their recent ‘Ghost Mountain’ LP is an absolute revelation.
- God Is In The Tv Zine
Taking a fuzzy approach to moody post-punk rhythms, the band feel like a lighter counterpart to Swans, which is by no means a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination."
- Uber Rock
"This is homecoming for support band Thought Forms as this is where they reside most of the year when not touring. As one of Invada Records earliest signings (Geoff Barrow of Portishead’s label), Thought Forms have toured the world in support of Portishead – an incredible opportunity that has helped them no end in developing into the formidable band we have here today. Their brand new album, ‘Songs About Drowning’ is a culmination of years of focus and development the band have worked incredibly hard to create. It is without doubt their finest work and will surely peak the interest of a potentially wider audience for them hopefully. They certainly deserve it.
Five of the seven song set are from the new album with the addition of ‘Landing’ and the inordinately loud and penetrating instrumental track, ‘Burn Me Clean’ from their 2013 album, ‘Ghost Mountain’. The tempos and slow and driving, the bass is low and fuzzy especially on opener, ‘Woolf Music’ which sounds like Goat on Codeine rather than their preferred psychedelics. The spectre of Sonic Youth is certainly strong on the next song, ‘Missouri’, as it is for much of their catalogue, but Thought Forms have enough of their own dynamic to make it an influence and not a burden. The new songs are more intoxicating than their older material partly I believe, because of the addition of Bassist Jim Barr (Get The Blessing, Portishead) who produced and recorded the album. Although Jim played on the album, Bass duties tonight and for this tour are being handled by Mardt Clancy of fellow Bristol band, Vena Cava.
Two of my favourite tracks off the new album ‘The Bridge’ and ‘The Lake’ sound incredible through the massive PA tonight. ‘The Bridge’ with it’s thrashing, visceral melody and arresting vocals from Singer/Guitarist Charlie Romijn. ‘The Lake’ with the doubling of vocals of Romijn and the band’s other Singer/Guitarist Deej Dharwal as well as it’s rising and falling tempo, masterfully handled by Drummer Guy Metcalfe. The last song of the set is the aforementioned, ‘Burn Me Clean’ which sees them turn up the bass frequencies to core shaking levels whilst the band take matters in a far more experimental direction. It’s an astounding finale that would be hard to follow."
- Louder Than War
Thought Forms kick off proceedings with a distortion and reverb-drenched squall of grungy, post-rock noise. With their dual guitars and alternating male and female vocals, the Bristol trio evoke Sonic Youth on a shoegaze binge – a solid set of effectively-realised sonic chaos.
- The Skinny
Thought Forms were a noise ridden joy. Deej Dhariwal stole beautiful crumbling chord progressions and screeching feedback loops from a series of abused guitars. Charlie Romijn, swapping between cello and guitar, conjured waves of heavy drones and sheets of rippling noise as Guy Metcalfe anchored everything with ecstatic drumming. The razor sharp melodies turned inside out with molten effects and febrile black tar effects. Smears of grime spread across the fragile motifs. Shades of the Velvet Underground, My Bloody Valentine, Pain Jerks and Yellow Swans pulse through the dark heart of the band. The set climaxed with the ripping of strings from guitars and the slamming of effects pedals; a gloriously chaotic ending, the band sending broken shards of sound spinning into the wintery night.
- Music OMH
Unconventional, sometimes uncomfortable, yet engaging and original. The sounds that erupted from the stage were something I hadn’t heard live, the combined vocals of Romijn and Dhariwal were beautiful and haunted, the sweetness of Romijn’s melodies provided juxtaposition to the abusive and arid landscape created by the three-piece.
- Bristol Live Magazine
Accompanying Portishead were Thought Forms… The band ripped into a powerful set of a slightly shoegazy, heavily psychedelic sounds that one could even equate to post-rock. Regardless of musical definition, what we got was a delightful opener for the main acts that just seemed to make sense the more you watched and listened. It was being confirmed for us that this was definitely for real, pure music in its truest art form. With meaningful melodies and mesmerizing transitions, they almost made the audience forget who they were there to see.
- Spinning Platters
The captivating threesome put in a stellar headline set to end the tour on an explosive high. Kicking off with the heaving drone of ‘Landing’, it’s a howling, crushing entrance to roughly 40 minutes of downtuned distortion, high impact contrasts, post-rock soundscapes and vicious guitar treatment. As the beautifully panoramic ‘Ghost Mountain You And Me’ rings out into the night, the other side to the group is showcased, a soaring, shoegaze-esque sound that transports the assembled crowd to a vast, scenic high point far away from these rainy streets of Bristol. Watching the bare footed Deej Dhariwal play is fascinating, turning his attention to his array of fx pedals at the most effective moments, and gently picking out delicate melodic notes one minute before subjecting his strings to a ferocious assault moments later.
The chemistry and tight-knit alliance between Dhariwal, the super-cool Charlie Romijn and explosive drummer Guy Metcalfe is something truly special to witness both on stage and on record. Tonight they seem louder and fiercer than ever, and yet you could have heard a pin drop during the immaculate opening section of ‘O’, which rages into chaos towards the end after a precise, suspense-fuelled build-up. What a way to end the night. Their recent ‘Ghost Mountain’ LP is an absolute revelation.
- God Is In The Tv Zine