Innovators, inventors and inspirations, Sikth are and have always been the full package. With this first full-length record since their reunion back in 2013, the band that launched a thousand other bands are in the form of their life. An infectious groove courses through ‘The Future In Whose Eyes?’, like poison through veins that clings to you like tar the minute it enters your ear canal. Daring and devastating in equal measure, the band show exactly why so many class them as such an influence.
Drifting between fantasy and reality with the flick of a riff, you never know just what is coming next as you let the brilliantly atmospheric ‘Weaver Of Woe’, punishing grit of ‘Vivid’ and radiantly battering ‘Riddles Of Humanity’ captivate and shock you. The level of storytelling that clashes against the vivid technicality of the instrumentation is unprecedented, leaving you open to either delve deeper into the folds or just simply bang your head into oblivion.
Even within the more reserved moments such as the bubbling ‘Golden Cufflinks’, there is a musical genius on an unprecedented scale to be uncovered and consumed greedily. It all makes for a record of immense detail and care that will reward the more time that it is given and one that will please the purists as much as it captures a whole new wave of moshers.
‘The Future In Whose Eyes?’ is the masterstroke that Sikth have been threatening to deliver since their victorious return. Surpassing the majesty of their early work and never sounding more relevant, the band show just why they are so revered the world over. Whoever was keeping the throne warm move over. The kings are well and truly back.
4/5
‘The Future In Whose Eyes?’ by Sikth is out now on Millennium Night.
Words by Jack Rogers (@JackMRog)
