Hidden Mothers are a band that really should be bigger than they are. Describing them as blackened post-hardcore is only to scratch the surface of what they deliver. It’s progressive, bluesy, expansive and emotive as much as anything else. Tonight we get to catch them playing songs of their debut album ‘Erosion/Avulsion’ on a bill with other northern bands in what is yet another coup for local promoters No Play.

First off we have Liverpool’s very own Wispmother. They’ve already started the set by the time we make our way out into the crowd having interviewed headliners Hidden Mothers prior to the gig (watch it here). They’re a lively mix of punk and metal, and clearly aren’t afraid to play around with genres and experiment with their sound. There’s plenty here to keep fans of The Locust and Frontierer interested – the violent syncopated stabs on bass and guitar, skitterish drums that somehow hold everything together, abrupt intense vocals and unexpected diversions in song structure.

Second on stage we have Pleiades from Manchester. Despite too much bass in the mix, the dynamics of their sound and style are plain to see. The heavier segments are drastically chaotic, while the lighter passages are very sparse indeed. It’s arguably very mid-west emo at its core, but when they click you get a sense of Blood Brothers or Feed The Rhino. They mix post-hardcore with emo and at times it really does work. There’s some interesting jaggedly crisp guitars hidden behind the bass and, even though that bass drives the songs along, it’s a shame they aren’t more to the forefront of the sound.

The main support for tonight’s gig are Nylon from Sheffield. They are about as classic a hardcore band as you could hope to see, and they don’t mess about in delivering every glorious aspect of that genre in this live setting. Everything that’s great about raw, two-step hardcore is on display with Nylon in a confident and assured manner. Their frontman, complete with a wide-eyed and piercing stare, delivers with an intense presence. He barks directly at the already dancing and arm wheeling crowd down the front. They continue to piledrive their sound throughout the set, making for a highly professional yet charged set. Special mention needs to go to the delicious overdriven bass sound that lays a perfect base for every track. Their authenticity to the hardcore sound and musicality shines through. Fans of Grove Street, Great American Ghost and Cro-Mags really do need to check these guys out.

And so to our headliners, the mighty Hidden Mothers from Sheffield. This is their headline tour for debut album ‘Erosion/Avulsion’, and while they have played many of these songs live before recording them, this tour is their first chance to deliver the tracks to a crowd that knows them intimately. They confidently set themselves up on stage before unleashing their stunningly impressive take on blackened post-hardcore. Think of acts like Alcest, Deafheaven and LLNN and you’re in the right ball-park. Their sound is thick with lush, heavy soundscapes intertwined with melodic beauty and gritty almost bluesy tones.

It’s in this mix of styles that I can hear Thrice, and not least in the clean vocals of Luke Scrivens. His voice is so much like that of Dustin Kensrue, which is one of the highest complements I can pay. It’s a sumptuous mix of gravelly-soulful yet hardcore driven vocals which is immensely emotive and distinct. Bassist Liam Knowles has stepped-up to deliver the harsher dirty vocals and does a supreme job of dovetailing with Luke’s sound to great effect. Meanwhile you’ve guitarist Ari Malekpour’s textured and sweeping guitars that equally interlink perfectly with Luke’s guitar work – both of them adding a progressive and technical edge to the band’s sound while never over-elaborating unnecessarily. And the glue that binds them all together is the dynamic stickwork of drummer Adam Kossowicz, which leans into the same variety of styles the whole band deliver holistically. There’s so much to savour and enjoy in both Hidden Mothers’ recorded material and live performances that I’d suggest anyone and everyone seeks them out sooner rather than later.

Check the “In The Flesh” page for more photos!
Hidden Mothers + Nylon + Pleiades + Wispmother