The Scene Club, Swansea

Sat 4 Mar

If Swansea doesn’t have exclusive, empirical claim to be Hark’s home city, there’s still none more apt to host the launch gig for the quartet’s second album, Machinations. The band’s singer and guitarist Jimbob Isaac grew up there, formed his first band of note – Taint, a mighty and much-loved heavy rock three-piece who disbanded in 2010 – there, and in recent years has lived variously between Swansea and Bristol.

Machinations is the long-incubating follow-up to Crystalline, their 2014 debut album on French metal label Season Of Mist – who kept them on and have been rewarded with a superior product. A big factor here is Joe Harvatt, Hark’s second guitarist who joined after Crystalline and stamps his mark with a wealth of cheerfully indulgent solos. The Isaac/Harvatt dynamic, and often the sound, is similar to that of Chris Cornell and Kim Thayil in peak-era Soundgarden.

Speaking recently to former quality newspaper the Independent (who also took the unlikely but pleasing step of streaming the album ahead of release), Isaac spoke in guarded but passionate terms about an attempt to “physically, mentally and spiritually destroy me” that went on to provide lyrical inspiration. Accordingly, Machinations crunches with depth and emotion, but works just as well as a 47-minute blast of doomy hard rock heroism. This should be a belter, aided by support from Sigiriya and Vails, two similarly heavy outfits from Swansea way.

Tickets: £6. Info: [email protected]