Opening today are Tilburg locals Autarkh, whom I first discovered playing the 2021 Roadburn Redux show. Eclectic and heavy, the band mix electronics with metal elements, so much that Encyclopedia Metalum (a.k.a Metal Archives) doesn’t even consider them metal enough. Tonight, though, the band have a live drummer with them, who plays the angular beats with relish. Frontman and guitarist Michel Nienhuis (formerly Dodecahedron) is clearly very much in the groove. A groove expertly set by their temping bassist, who learned the complex material in only a week. It’s very hard to stick a genre on what Autarkh make, but I’d call them Avant-Garde Math Metal. Continue reading →