SMOTE, once a solo endeavor by Daniel Foggin, now expanded to a fuller ensemble, blends traditional instrumentation — creaking strings, funeral drums, somber winds — with thunderous synth work and desolate guitar to craft drone and dirge. Smote’s austerity is one that refreshingly escapes the usual trappings of avant-garde music, simply by the force of its elemental vitality and its grounding of negative aural space. Its overpowering wall of sound still holds enough natural grace that it escapes the oppressive abusiveness of, say, Swans, and yet it is relentless in its forward thrust.
Known for their powerful live performances and critically acclaimed releases, Smote conjures a deeply immersive sonic experience that feels both timeless and ferociously present
With support from The Heavenly Bodes, Isaack I. Ockenden and pangur
