Metalhead Series: 7 Post Metal bands from Ireland
Had enough of mainstream heavy metal? Listen to these seven incredible post metal bands from Ireland.
If you are not a fan of the hard guitar riffs, screams and growls associated with the more “heavy” metal, then this will probably be something for you. Post metal is still seen as a subgenre of metal, using its darkness and intensity, but puts more emphasis on the atmosphere created by the music than the vocals themselves. Because of that, post metal is often instrumental.
The 4-piece Post Black Metal band Demeter is made up of members and former members of notable Cork bands such as Molde, Kawtiks, Slugbait,Soothsayer and Dominus. The band released their debut demo Blight on 7 December 2016, the day before their live debut in Cork’s Fred Zeppelins supporting Soothsayer. Blight features some raw examples of their sound, which have a certain dark and twisted energy. The reception of their self-titled demo has been incredibly positive and the band followed it up with their first EP Bound by Roots in 2017. They also played at the Urban Assault festival in Cork in the same year.
Recommended Album:
Blight (Demo, 2016)
Arcade Messiah is an instrumental progressive rock/metal project by John Bassett from Sligo, Ireland. It was formed by him in 2014 and incorporates a host of different styles (Post-Metal, Progressive Rock, Doom Metal, Grunge, etc.). Through this mixture of styles, his songs possess a distinctive instrumental sound. Since its inception, Arcade Messiah has released three albums, the most recent one, Diagnosis, only last year. Arcade Messiah isn’t John Bassett’s only project. His other projects include KingBathmat, a more progressive rock/metal project and Sacred Ape, a Electronic Retrowave/Synthwave project.
Recommended Album:
Diagnosis (2019)
God Alone
God Alone are a 5-piece post-metal band from Cork that are almost impossible to miss when you’re a metal fan in Ireland. They combine the atmospheric elements of post metal with parts of drone, hardcore, rock, electronic and other genres. Despite being a rather young band with ages around their early 20s, they have found a place in almost every lineup for different metal festivals in the country. The band released their debut EP in 2017, only a year after the band’s creation and have been touring ever since.
Recommended Album:
God Alone (EP, 2019)
Ilenkus first formed in 2003 under the name Fubar in Galway. Under that name they recorded two EPs, the first in 2004 and the second in 2006. But in 2010, they decided a name change was in order to move their band forward and thus Ilenkus was born. Their first EP Rule By Thieves certainly shows their own local Galway Hardcore influence. No two songs sound the same, with members switching often. While working on their second EP The Crossing, which was released in 2014, they toured Ireland, the UK and even the Netherlands.
Recommended Album:
The Crossing (EP, 2014)
Partholón
After the split-up of the doom/sludge metal band Five Will Die, core members Daniel Howard, Alex Hayes and Alan Setter, together with the addition of Inciser bassist and frontman Dillon Bean formed the post metal band Partholón in 2015. They spent a whole year working on their debut EP Follow Me Through Body, which was recorded with Shaun Cadogan at Last Light Recordings. They sound pretty amazing on track, but the band is truly at their best when playing live. So if the opportunity presents itself, try to catch the band live.
Recommended Album:
Follow Me Through Body (EP, 2016)
Raum Kingdom started out in late 2013 from the east coast of Ireland. The members of Raum Kingdom have a great passion for all genres of music and you can feel that in their self-titled and self-released debut EP of the same name from 2014. Since then, they have played many different gigs and participated in different metal festivals all over Ireland, such as the Siege of Limerick in 2015. They released their first full-length album Everything & Nothing in 2018.
Recommended Album:
Everything & Nothing (2018)
The Irish post-metal band Third Island formed in 2015 and aim to create a unique sound by blending their incredible guitar sounds with dark atmospheres. They draw inspiration from many different genres, including doom, post rock, sludge and stoner rock. Each of their albums, be it an EP or full-length, possess a certain theme, which makes listening to them so interesting. Their debut EP Dusk (2016) is based on themes of nightmares and sleep disorders, while their newest full-length album is themed around a selection of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, where each song follows a different story lyrically.
Recommended Album:
Unspeakable (2019)
Two honourable mentions: Metalcore band Here We Stand and the Gothic Metal band Unkindness of Ravens can be seen as up and coming post metal bands from Ireland as well.
Have you seen any of these incredible post metal bands from Ireland live? Or do you have any other recommendations? Let us know in the comments below!
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Jacqueline Russe
Jacqueline is a German journalist and editor for Babylon Radio who likes comics, manga and video games. She is a state-certified translator for both English and German, currently working on her Bachelor's in Technical Translation.