LIVE REVIEW: Nordic Giants @ Clwb Ifor Bach, Cardiff
With their cinematic blend of piano led melodies and dense soundscapes, the mysterious post-rock duo NORDIC GIANTS mesmerised a packed crowd at Cardiff’s Clwb Ifor Bach. With local instrumental rockers FORT in tow, NORDIC GIANTS led a masterclass in visual and musical storytelling.
Cardiff-based post-rockers FORT have been making significant waves in the South West’s thriving experimental music scene since their inception back in 2018. Balancing lush layers of guitar based atmosphere with a driving sense of urgency, the quartet have stunned audiences at ArcTanGent and shared stages with heavy hitters such as DIN OF CELESTIAL BIRDS and PIJN.
While post-rock can often be associated with the understated ambience of acts like MONO and GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, FORT find the sweet spot between hard rocking energy and eclectic experimentation. With bassist Craig Prosser taking point as the band’s de-facto leader, providing a driving, distorted low end creating a uniquely energetic rhythm section alongside drummer Matthew Moore, guitarists Gavin O’Driscoll and Ben Hooper are left free to waver between delay-driven clean lines and roaring, overdriven leads. Reminding us all that post-rock doesn’t have to be built around impenetrable, self-serving jam sessions, FORT make an excellent starting point for newcomers to the genre and a vital name to watch for existing fans.
Rating: 7/10
Mysterious instrumental duo NORDIC GIANTS have made just as significant a name for themselves with their legendary live show and ethereal aesthetics as they have with their cinematic blend of piano centric art rock and instrumental post-rock. With the band’s two members facing off in front of neon, pagan inspired set dressing and dramatic screens, the packed Clwb Ifor Bach was buzzing with anticipation before the first note was played.
Concealing themselves behind a theatre style curtain before beginning their set, NORDIC GIANTS made a shocking entrance dressed in elaborate fairytale inspired costumes, appearing only as moving trees obscured by a thick haze. Opening on the iconic Martin Luther King Jr speech which accompanies their single Together, the duo stormed directly into a set full of experimental yet melodic and driven keyboard led post-rock backed by beautifully surreal and moving science fiction inspired short-films projected behind and between the two musicians making the show feel more like a living art gallery than a rock gig.
While NORDIC GIANTS make a spectacle of their staging and live performance the band’s dramatic blend of experimental genres is enough to spellbind even without their dramatic visuals. With multi-instrumentalist Loki building dense layers of synth focused ambience on top of dramatic piano melodies and drummer Rôka providing intricate, precise percussion bringing a sense of momentum to their sound alongside sampled anti-materialist speeches and ethereal vocals, NORDIC GIANTS are anything but just a visual gimmick. The track Dark Clouds Mean War, which builds itself around a speech from actor Rob Steiger’s iconic speech in the 1970 film Napoleon, stood out as especially moving with an excellent sense of dramatic tension.
Clwb Ifor Bach’s packed crowd remained transfixed through NORDIC GIANTS’ entire set, stuck in a trance by both the genre-bending soundtrack and the breathtaking visuals. Whether you’ve been with the band since the very beginning or you’re going in blind, NORDIC GIANTS put on a show that’ll leave you spellbound.
Rating: 8/10
Check out our photo gallery of the night’s action in Cardiff from Tom Bruce here:
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