Sleepmakeswaves Review

by Daniel Jaramillo

Instrumental rock bands have hardly ever caught the attention of mainstream media or have received any air time on commercial radio stations, in Sydney however there is an emerging scene of bands who love to play long pieces of music that take the listener on a journey. This music is heavily inspired by Progressive rock/metal and Post Punk bands. 

Sleepmakeswaves is at the forefront of this movement and are gaining more fans every time they announce a headline show or when they open up for bands like Opeth, Cog, Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus and Bosnian Rainbows.  They also have been nominated for an ARIA and have toured in Europe, Asia, UK and New Zealand. I was at their headline show in Sydney at the Metro Theatre and joining them was Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, The Contortionist, and Dumbsaint.

When you arrive at a concert you normally don’t see all the punters outside of the venue but when I arrived to the Metro Theatre I saw every one outside and I was later informed that a fire alarm had gone off in the venue making everyone exit the building. It only turned out to be a false alarm and after that ordeal everyone came back into the venue and were ready to see Sleepmakeswaves. When they came on stage a loud applause was heard and the band was ready to get the audience straight back into the show. They told the audience that they were happy to see everyone come back inside and that they would give us a 110% performance. That was exactly what they did from the opening song To You They Are Birds, To Me They Are Voices In the Forest and then with other standout tracks from their catalogue. Their stage presence was infectious and they made the crowd get right into their long instrumental passages. The audience did not need to start mosh pitting as they were simply standing or sitting, admiring the music.

Sleepmakeswaves create some amazing melodies and they mix in electronic soundscapes into the heavy rock riffs which makes the music sound contemporary and fresh. Their repertoire comprised of new and old songs and many of their fans could instantly recognize nearly every song they played. Dumbsaint was the other instrumental band of the night but Sleepmakeswaves deserved their spot as the headliner and although I only caught the end of Tangled Thoughts of Leaving they certainly were menacing and put a lot of effort into their performance.

Sleepmakeswaves is a band that is waving the flag for exciting new music in Australia that is authentic and sophisticated for an audience that listens to a wide range of bands.