The Grace Islington, London, UK8th May 2026
Poly-Math & Support: Opensight
Tonight we have two bands who are showcasing tracks from new albums. POLY-MATH’s album was released back in April and is called ‘Something Deeply Hidden’; OPENSIGHT’s album ‘The Outfit’ on the other hand is to be released on the 15th of May on Inertial Music. What we get tonight is a mix of Prog Metal instrumental film scores with interesting hooks, gyrations and phrasings that give the assembled and decent crowd something to chew on.
The venue which I’ve not been to since before Covid has been rebranded and given a makeover. Instead of going upstairs via an outside door you now enter the downstairs bar and go up the stairs at the side of the bar. The venue seems cleaner than I remember, there’s a better selection of alcohol-free beers and the bar area looks fresher. The usual full-strength beers and spirits still dominate the eyeline along with Beavertown fare.
The Venue has been upgraded as well. There’s a more economical use of space than before. The bar at the back looks fresher with newer beers like the bar downstairs. There’s a curved metal / wood partition to separate it off from the dance / gig space. To the left is a cloakroom. The stage is centre front, toilets to the right and access to the backstage / downstairs club on the left. It’s a nice space. And, the sound was very good, clearer, more professional. And it got better the further into the sets we got.
Opensight
OPENSIGHT are a band that have been in existence with various line-ups since the early 2000s Most of their early output was “human experience” orientated but morphed into a more cinematic film score Metal vibe around 2010. Their current line-up has been a stable mix of UK musicians fronted by Columbian guitarist / vocalist Ivan David Amaya. ‘The Outfit’ is their third album but they do have an extensive back catalogue of EPs and singles. You can check them out here: https://www.opensightband.com / https://www.facebook.com/opensightmusic
Music & Performance
The performance was a tight one, with one exception which I’ll get to in a moment, aided by the decent sound coming from the mixing desk. The sound separation was not as good as on the album but it was up there. I could hear each instrument and didn’t have to strain too much to pick phrases, lines and filigrees out. Each member of the band was suited and tied with red shirts to accentuate. They looked like a cross between hoodlums from a Tarantino movie or 70s cops crossed with a Prog Metal KRAFTWERK. And I think that that colour scheme was accentuated by the line of the stage.
“What are you talking about?” I hear you ask. Well, the lines of the edge of the stage and the lines of the monitors and PA all seemed to have symmetry the lines of the suit lapels and the ties. ‘Killer Outfit’ chugged away with its prog vibe and brassy spaghetti sounds chicken scratched wah-wah. ‘In Plain Sight’ still has jauntiness you feel on the album and that IRON MAIDEN style noodling that soars upwards. There’s a man wearing a CARDIACS T-Shirt standing at the front, you can’t tell whether he’s enjoying it but then there’s very subtle head nod, and there it goes again. I think he is trying his hardest to not show it.
‘Stained Remains’ comes from the previous album ‘Mundo Fiction’. It starts with pumping tribal drums and pulsing metallic pitter patter guitars. It’s played with commitment and energy and the glottal gloopy bass carries things through to conclusion in snake fashion. ‘Primitive Principle’ and ‘Plot Twist’ are also from ‘Mundo Fiction’. The vibe is mix of chug staccato, the crowd head nod, some women sway their hips and the man in the CARDIACS T-shirt still stands front and centre trying not look like he’s enthused as the guitars meander around each other.
The set is now coming to a close, just three tracks to go. ‘Broken Vow’ has guitars that meander and ebullient drumming, staccato pieces interspersed with sinewy riffing. The movements in the crowd are a bit more fluid now. The venue is not packed but there are a fair few people in to give the band plenty to feed off without the venue turning into a packed sweaty claustrophobic hell. ‘Defying Eye’ and ‘Plot Twist’ close out the set to appreciative applause from the crowd, most wearing OPENSIGHT T-Shirts and holding aloft newly bought vinyl. The chap in the CARDIACS T-Shirts finally claps and offers an appreciative nod.
All in all, it was good tight set musically. But my only critique is one I have after many gigs with other bands. I’m not a fan of between song waffle. I prefer the track to be played, a quick “thanks” and then move onto the next track because it keeps things tight and it keeps things moving. And also, if there’s an atmosphere or tension or whatever the talking breaks the focus or spell. But as I said, everything else was spot on.
Setlist
01. Procesion De La Muerte
02. Killer Outfit
03. In Plain Sight
04. Stained Remains
05. Primitive Principle
06. Broken Vow
07. Defying Eye
08. Plot Twist
Poly-Math
The band has been around since 2013 and released five albums including ‘Reptiles’ (2015), ‘House Of Wisdom’ (2018), ‘The Cadaver Tomb’ Pt1 and Pt2, ‘Zenith’ and the just released ‘Something Deeply Hidden’. Their vibe is a Prog Jazz Metal experimental one and I saw them briefly at a festival in London a few years ago. So, my knowledge of them and their output is not that extensive if I’m honest so I’ll not be waxing lyrical on the intricacies and minutiae of their back catalogue. What I do know is that a polymath is someone who is an expert at many things across different fields and disciplines. Or what they called “Know it alls” when I was at school. And they would probably have been bullied unless the polymath also did TaeKwonDo or boxing, or if the bully had the awareness that a polymath could be an asset of usefulness. You can check them out here: https://www.poly-math.net / https://www.facebook.com/wearepolymath
Music & Performance
Anyway, as I stated above I’ve seen them before somewhere. I think it was at The Dome in Tufnell Park at a festival. Let’s be honest, they are a so-so band for me. I don’t know, I find them interesting, intriguing, clever, entertaining and a bit annoying. I don’t know why. Is it the quirky gyrations of the bassist who conjures out of the instrument some really good sounds? They don’t look like musicians or Rock stars, they look “bookish”. I can imagine them sitting in a room full of books (or as they call it, a library) and pouring through many weighty tomes on bass and guitar finger techniques through the ages whilst supping up all and every piece of knowledge on chord shapes and tonal / modal manipulations, and the intricacies of quantum physics and applied mathematics.
I don’t know, there’s a fusion within me of fascinated enjoyment where i am head nodding to the progginess. My foot taps to the chaotic blockiness of ‘The Universe Is An Engine’ and at the same time I contort my face like I’ve just put a lime into my mouth that was previously in the bin. The bass rolls down a hill, I follow aware that I may crack my head. And then there’s ‘No Such Thing as Now’ I feel like I just got up after falling down the hill and walk off pretending nothing happened. The single ‘Alchemy’ which is not on the album is absorbed jazz, the bassist reminds of Andy McCluskey in the early days. ‘Terror Management Theory’ sound tracks a dream I’m conjuring whilst watching them.
It’s frenetic and shadowy, the drums are slapped like fish dropping into a bucket. It goes on like this, my inner voice saying “nice, wtf, hmmm, nah, ooohh”. The jury is still out for me in regards to POLY-MATH, not really my thing but they have got me thinking. The crowd were into them though. There’s a mixture of younger and older people, eyes closed, head twitching and nodding, a few having a twiddle on their air guitars as a throng of photographers flitted from one side of the stage to the other. I remember at one point when an allusion to the previous days local elections was brought up and I exclaimed “For fuck’s sake, here we go!” No one heard me though.
In summary, POLY-MATH played a tight energetic jazzy metallic set. The bassist reminded me of a small child enveloped in a moment of pure absorption and Andy McCluskey, in fact both bass and guitar did. It was alright, but it’s not really up my street. It may be in the future. Others bands I’ve not been sure of I ended up liking, these guys may do as well, who knows. If I don’t the world won’t stop spinning. If you like Metal, Jazz, CAMEL maybe KING CRIMSON you’ll like this.
Setlist
01. The Universe Is An Engine
02. Alchemy
03. Chronostesia
04. Castrovalva
05. Terror Management Theory
06. No Such Thing As Now
07. Spectral Dis/Order
08. Medicine
10. The Halting Problem
All Photos by Claudia Black
