These New Puritans @ Cabaret Voltaire, 16 Apr

The dark, cavernous Cabaret Voltaire is an apt setting for a Friday evening in the company of These New Puritans, short of a forest clearing at midnight. Initiating their demonic set with the antagonistic We Want War, a horn-laced, apocalyptic call to arms, their much hyped 2010 offering, Hidden, is inflicted on an uncertain Edinburgh audience. "We are These New Puritans and always will be," echoes the monotonous voice of group visionary Jark Barnett before his band recommence their classically informed, gothic psychedelic/dancehall fusion, sparse yet layered with experimental percussion, synthesisers and woodwind (unfortunately sampled rather than live). They play with a sense of a savage pagan world, crashing against the extent of human progress, a conflict heard in the clink of colliding swords, the ear piercing shattering of glass and the awesome boom of double taiko drums (think Akira). Conquering the once sceptical crowd, These New Puritans hail the new age of pessimistic pop. [Rachel Bowles]