Rapturefest 2

Last year, New-Noise went to Rapturefest. A two-day, all-day indoor gig that pulled a lengthy line-up of new, rising and already reputable underground British talent into the grimy, grey, back end of Reading. And it was awesome. Unfortunately Reading hasn’t changed much in 12 months, the infamous rock festival still the only thing that can pull a half-decent crowd into town, but thankfully neither has Rapturefest.

This year Winchester outfit Caesura open proceedings. And like some folks have been saying for a while now, their intelligent and emotional post-rock deserves much more attention than it gets. The feeling is that something has to happen for them soon or unfortunately it never will but right now that doesn’t stop songs like ‘Weight And Carriage’ from being utterly wonderful. And if theirs is something of a first-rate but subdued start then London trio Tubelord kick things off proper. Sounding like The Fall Of Troy with a distinctly English twist, the band are technical and frantic and conjure odd, addictive melodies from nowhere. Theirs might be a short and sweet set but it mesmerizes enough to be one of the best of the day.

Later and Norwich trio Battlements bash out bristling Biffy Clyro-esque rock, Capitals play high-pitched, high-octane post-hardcore, and Shapes rely on fidgety bass, off-kilter screams and quite literally tearing the roof off the place to get their point across. Well, quite literally, almost.

And sure it’s all exciting stuff, but by halfway through the afternoon things are starting to get difficult. With so many bands today displaying dizzying technical skills, weird and wonderful time signatures, and genre-defying structures there's nary a memorable chorus or simple sing-a-long to be heard and it’s all starting to blend together.

Shield Your Eyes don’t help either. They’ve been picking up major kudos recently but their set is more performance art than art rock - worth pricking your ears for only if hoarse screams, looping feedback, and messy, utterly meaningless noise make your day.

It’s left to HPR to rescue things and despite possessing plenty of intricacies of their own, damn do they do it in fine style. Okay, so they’re not quite life-changing, not yet, but instead of trying to pick the best bits off a pot of influences at the fastest possible speed, the band have got proper finished articles of songs to play with. ‘Fireworks…’ is great fun, ‘Yorkshire’ is a melodic treat and the new song they air is a stone cold belter, swirling jazzy pop into bone-crunching hardcore, only smart and brand new sounding at the same time.

The Surrey quintet are far and away the best band of the day. And their brilliance is catching too-  Colour defy possession of the dullest band name in history by sounding like The Mars Volta with Hot Hot Heat’s lead singer, and Blakfish batter things to a furious, fizzy fin.

Day two and things get a little heavier, a little easier to distinguish, and a lot better too. First on and Eta Carinae, despite being a last-minute addition to the line-up, are incredible. They stretch raw, emotional hardcore into post-rock epics and as soon as they work out how to put on a show at the same time as creating such wonderful noise they’ll be changing lives for sure.

Omerta are much less interesting. Oh sure they’re faster, uglier, and more menacing but despite being around for twice as long they just don’t have the songs to compete. Brighton bruisers Brides are better, their Norma Jean-style noise so intense that the speakers break.

Lavotchkin are so loud it's impossible to make out any of the details in their doomy hardcore, but that only makes it sound more like they’re conjuring up the end of the world. Meanwhile The Shitty Limits are an ultra refreshing blast of punk rock played just like its supposed to be.

After lunch and Manatees are the first act to properly push the limits of the Face Bar’s foundations. The Carlisle trio roll out bass notes that sound like falling bombs, bang drums so hard that it makes hearts skip beats and play songs that build and break and crash like a tsunami just rolled into Reading. It’s unbelievable that only three men are responsible for such dangerous volume.

After that Ella’s Glassjaw-esque rock should sound a little flat, but the Bristol band play a blinder. It might only be a select few folks awaiting their return (that debut EP came out, what five years ago boys?!) but plenty more soon won’t be able to ignore them if tonight is anything to go by. Sure older songs like ‘For The Shape’ are superb but there’s a surprising verve, vitality and rage to Ella today.

D-Rail too do the unexpected. On record the Leeds band have always been found wanting but inside the Face Bar they leave their recorded output in the dust. From the gritty, wild-eyed charge of ‘I Am A Timebomb’ to the big riffs and breakdowns of ‘Broken Bones’ theirs is feral hardcore that could start parties from a thousand paces.

The crowd has dwindled by the time Bossk arrive but this is a band capable of creating an atmosphere out of the barest ingredients. It helps that the weather turns and the lights dim right on cue but the Kent collective put in the sort of performance that has you wondering if the music world at large will ever get it right, if the movers, shakers, and tastemakers will ever open their eyes enough to see a band like this, or if the very best acts are destined to turn in awe-inspiring sets to only 30 people at a time.

No matter, within just three songs the weekend’s headliners cover hypnotic rock, droning waves of noise, and immense, intense, incense-flavoured post-everything ambience. And they’re also the other band that might have the Face Bar calling the surveyors to check structural safety in the morning. Hell, noise like this could kick the fucking planet off its axis. Fascinating, exciting, entrancing and definitely deafening, without really doing much at all, Bossk are brilliant.

All of which makes it so bitterly disappointing that this is to be the last Rapturefest. Now New-Noise might be a little selfishly upset because line-ups like this don’t exactly roll past our front door every day, but the biggest frustration has got to be that, despite the hard work of everyone at Rapture Parties and some seriously stellar bands, plenty more people won’t be feeling the same. Seriously, that other festival never had anything on this.