ROLO TOMASSI
Sheffield’s experimental metallers released a careerdefining album, played their biggest headliner to date and showed everyone why they still rule the UK underground
“This year has been incredible for us,” beams Rolo Tomassi vocalist Eva Spence. “It was definitely one of my favourite years that we have had as a band, off the back of our new record and how well it has done for us.”
Rolo Tomassi have been constant figures in British hardcore for more than a decade. Since forming in 2005, they’ve released five albums, toured with fellow countrymen such as Architects and While She Sleeps, and decimated countless festivals. Their career has followed a steady upward trajectory, the release of fifth album Time Will Die And Love Will Bury It in March pushing them ever higher.
“I feel good with every album we’ve done, but this one is amazing!” says Eva. “It really felt like the next step. We had been trying to write this record for a long time and tried so hard. It just feels complete.”
To make the album, the band stepped out of their comfort zone and tried a new way of writing. “James [Spence, vocals and keyboards] and I usually write the lyrics together,” Eva explains. “But on this one, he wanted to be more focused on the music. Since [previous album] Grievances, I have been through quite a lot and
I was definitely in the right frame of mind to be writing a lot more. It felt like a very natural thing; I had a lot to get out.”
She wrote almost all the lyrics, resulting in their most thematically consistent work yet. “I definitely feel like it’s more of a complete piece. I wanted to make sure that everything flowed and connected. There was a lot about grief and loss, but it also covered relationships and progressing, which is really what this record felt like for us.”
While Eva strived for lyrical cohesion, the band finely crafted some of the most diverse music of their career; elements of hardcore, metal, rock, prog and ambient music were all integrated into Rolo Tomassi’s packed soundscape.
“We listen to such a variety of music individually that I think we all borrow aspects from different sounds. It’s just a bit of everything we like,” she says. “I don’t know what genre we would fit into, but it does feel very natural.”
Rolo Tomassi quickly hit the road, touring the UK in April before spending the summer at such festivals as ArcTanGent and Resurrection Fest. They closed the year with a second British tour, which was something of a victory lap.
“We really stepped it up in London: we did the [600-capacity] Garage the first time and then [the 1,145-capacity] Scala the last time round,” smiles Eva. “That was the biggest headline show we ever played in the UK, so it was really special! It was a testament showing we have made a huge step up.”
With such a profile-elevating year behind them, Rolo Tomassi plan to keep up their momentum. “We’ve already started booking some tours and we’re starting to get ideas together and forming songs,” Eva concludes. “We’re all feeling very inspired, especially after the last record and how it’s been received. We’re all in a very good place.”
“we tried to write tHis record for a long time”