Set On End – The Dark Beyond album review

Tech-natured Kiwis Set On End burst back from a seven-year cryosleep with a brand new album, reviewed here

Set On End, 'The Dark Beyond' album cover

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Don’t be fooled by their name, Set On End aren’t a bunch of pop-punk skater kids. Instead, the debut album from these Kiwi metallers sees the band return with new drummer Jeremy Suckling after a lengthy hiatus to serve up 10 furious chunks of technical groove metal.

Regardless of what went down in the interim, there’s a sense of vigour at work here. Iconoclast sees vocalist Jesse Cleaver raging over breathless guitar exchanges by guitarists Matt Borsos and Gerry Gunn and a blistering Cimmerian Shade takes its cues from Periphery. But it’s highlights Dissent and Claw At The Throne that make the biggest impression, melding djent-tinged riffs and dizzying polyrhythmic pummelling with piledriving grooves and memorable choruses. After a seven-year break, Set On End have found themselves to be a newly fresh and exciting prospect.

Dannii Leivers

Danniii Leivers writes for Classic Rock, Metal Hammer, Prog, The Guardian, NME, Alternative Press, Rock Sound, The Line Of Best Fit and more. She loves the 90s, and is happy where the sea is bluest.