Rolo Tomassi have released a live version of To Resist Forgetting.
The track, which originally appeared on the UK mathcore band’s 2022 album Where Myth Becomes Memory, is a taster of upcoming live release Live At The Electric Ballroom. The live album was recorded at the five-piece’s biggest-ever headline show in London in February 2023 and will come out via Mnrk Heavy on September 27.
When Live At The Electric Ballroom was announced last month, Rolo Tomassi released a live version of 2018 single Aftermath. Keyboardist/co-vocalist James Spence commented: “Since its release, this song has been an audience favourite along with a rare opportunity for a sing-along. It remains an outlier in our material, but in the context of a full set, it always feels like an elevated moment. Our band has always been about stark contrasts, and this is a perfect example of that.”
Rolo Tomassi, named after a character from 1997 neo-noir L.A. Confidential, were formed in 2005 by Spence and his sister, vocalist Eva Korman. The band’s second album, 2010’s Cosmology, was produced by venerated DJ Diplo.
Where Myth Becomes Memory, Rolo Tomassi’s sixth and latest album, was released to critical acclaim. Metal Hammer’s Dannii Leivers gave the album a glowing 9/10 review.
“While in the early days, Tomassi’s disorientating racket was powered by chaos, stitching together jazz, prog and classical influences with chunky, jagged threads, the fluidity between the various elements of their sound now feels natural and unforced,” she wrote.
“Towering single Cloaked is the most metal the band have ever sounded, with a darkly epic riff that bends around frenetic and celestial vocals from Eva Korman. Labyrinthine zig-zags between nightmarish tones and blissful relief, while closer The End Of Eternity is a blackgaze track woven tightly into a bright-eyed, post-rock dreamscape.
“Where Myth Becomes Memory feels like Rolo Tomassi have finally perfected their sound, but for a band dedicated to perpetual motion, it’s unlikely this spells the end of their progression.”
Rolo Tomassi appear to be in the studio working on album seven, according to a photo the band published on X (formerly Twitter) in April.
