The Hickey Underworld Live at Rotown Rotterdam

After ten years in cryosleep, Antwerp's **The Hickey Underworld** has reawakened. Their sound is rooted in guitar icons of the eighties and nineties — think Fugazi, Sonic Youth and The Jesus Lizard — but has been reformed into a layered, ferocious mix of post-punk and post-hardcore: vicious, dark and unmistakably loud. With Cold Sun, their fourth album, they make a triumphant return. The wait was long (their previous album dates from 2009), but they have not lost any of their sharpness. The comeback single _'Euromancer'_ showed that relentlessly. More mature, perhaps. Richer in sound, for sure. But above all: still uncompromisingly intense. After ten years in cryosleep, Antwerp’s The Hickey Underworld has awoken once more. Their sound, rooted in the guitar icons of the eighties and nineties — think Fugazi, Sonic Youth, and The Jesus Lizard — is reforged into a fierce, layered blend of post-punk and post-hardcore: venomous, dark, and unmistakably loud. With Cold Sun, their fourth album, they mark a triumphant return. It’s been a long wait (their previous record dates back to 2009), but they’ve lost none of their edge. The comeback single _‘Euromancer’_ made that brutally clear. More mature, perhaps. Richer in sound, certainly. But above all: still uncompromisingly intense.