Brendan Telford, Journalist

There is something in the classic rock tropes that this youngster harnesses that seems truly effortless.

"I thought we might even be a punk band by now. We’re trying to find a way for our sound to morph into something else,” threatens Mount Kimbie's Kai Campos.

Instrumental killer Serotonin allows the engine room to hold sway, something that is overlooked with the guitar solos and hero worship.

It’s taken all this time to feel confident that we have an original sound, and I think now we finally do.

Bemis is still an intriguing figure, yet Anarchy, My Dear proves a glaring reminder that intrigue means nothing without focused talent.

In fact, Secular sounds like a band emancipated from the restraints that a genre can inadvertently provide, and by shirking those tropes have creatively broken through the glass ceiling. A brave move that has more than paid off

Let’s hope they have the strength to wipe the slate clean and find their inner rebel once more.

The virtuoso brutality on display on De Vermis Mysteriis is something that has rarely been touched upon.

Not that any of this is bad by any stretch of the imagination – Bear In Heaven’s coup is the juxtaposition of originality and familiarity – it merely becomes a soundscape rather than a suite of discernible songs.

Lloyd Swanton of legendary Australian jazz ensemble The Necks admits the band do occasionally rely on some tricks of the trade.

Noisy trio No Anchor ratcheted up the tension last year with the release of their Brutal double album. And now, as they tell Brendan Telford, they’re not pussyfootin’ around.