Figures - Band in Fairfield VIC

SEEKING

Drums.

ABOUT

The alternative music scene in Melbourne, Australia in the 2010’s has been dominated by two major genres: Old school hard rocking Acca-Dacca Aussie rock, and the new kid on the block: Progressive Rock. Thanks in the latter to the major success of Aussie-prog aficionados Karnivool, a variable horde of local bands with Themata surging through their veins and gushing out of their guitars was unleashed. They sought to take that magic, forge their own scene and saturate it. Out of this new breed of local musos arose the wayward souls who would soon find each other and become Figures. But the newly formed quintet’s musical barometer quickly shifted in a different direction, towards a heavier and happier time in their collective music history: the Alternative metal scene of the glorious 90’s, where band favourites Deftones, Nine Inch Nails and Rage Against the Machine were King.

After six years, two EPs, one single and a commanding presence in the Melbourne live music scene, 2020 saw the release of their freshman album, Operating In Unsafe Mode. The band’s distinctive take on melodic alternative metal is familiar, but OIUM violently ramps the intensity up to 11, with equal parts soaring melodies, blistering riffs and rage. Their Alternative rock and metal influences are all unabashedly on display with a subtle but noticeable peppering of prog to keep the more refined local gig-going connoisseurs coming back for seconds.

Where Figures’ 2016 Self Titled EP and their 2017 follow-up, Chronos, explored themes of time, existentialism and an introspective analysis of age and the fear of failure, OIUM traverses ideas of dehumanisation, isolation, oppression and mass media manipulation, making it by far their most political and unreserved record to date. An obvious play on that classic Microsoft Windows reset screen in the album's title, it also reflects the bands view on our current social climate, being one of technological reliance with seemingly no safe option of resetting.

Singer Mark Tronson says, “I never thought of us as a political band, I always try to write personally and introspectively, but sometimes things just bubble to the surface. We’re living in some truly frustrating times and it really came out in the album.”

Heavy songs require even heavier production, so producer and engineer Luke Cincotta was brought back to meet the challenge and up the stakes from his incredible work on Chronos. The vision was to create a modern, big polished sound while maintaining that visceral and agitated intensity reminiscent of the very early works of Deftones: Around The Fur and Nine Inch Nails: The Fragile, both of which were massive inspirations.

“We talked about themes of artificial intelligence as a concept for the album,” says Tronson, “but as the writing became more aggressive, dense with chromatic movements and dark progressions it provoked more of a sense of malfunctioning machinery which felt visceral and damaged. We wanted it to sound huge and unhinged, even broken.”

Opening single, Underpaid Machinery, punctuates this perfectly, highlighting the victims of modern working class slavery. Follow up single, Someone Uninvited, extends the concept. An onslaught of a song, it lyrically pertains to the idea of major life defining decisions being unsympathetically left in the hands of those who have next to nothing to do with you or your community. It was inspired in part by the equal marriage rights plebiscite that was happening in Australia at the time. Both songs represent an album packed with crushing guitars, venomous bass, rage infused vocals and a freight train of heavy drumming. This stampede of sound will give you enough energy to replace your coke habit and when the party’s over and the message penetrates, you’ll slump back in your chair, defeated, and calmly exhale. fu*k. Everyone.

On the release of 2020’s Operating In Unsafe Mode, Metal Hammer UK said:

“Combining scintillating melodies, a pummelling percussive sound and soaring vocals, ‘Operating In Unsafe Mode’ is impassioned and densely packed... These Aussie exports continue to lead the alt-metal charge.”
8/10 - Metal Hammer UK

With a live resumé featuring an LA showcase, opening for international acts Hed (p.e.) and Pop Evil, local legends Mammal, Voyager and Twelve Foot Ninja, as well as being PROGFEST regulars and headlining 2018’s AMPED Festival, the band has distinguished themselves as leaders in a new wave of heavy Aussie exports. You can experience the new sound of the Melbourne underground together with Figures on stage as the band ambitiously tours Operating In Unsafe Mode to the nation in 2021.