Rolo Tomassi
Rolo Tomassi are a British experimental mathcore band from Stocksbridge, Sh… Read Full Bio ↴Rolo Tomassi are a British experimental mathcore band from Stocksbridge, Sheffield.
Formed in 2005, they set their local scene alight by playing a synth-driven technical mix of styles and genres difficult to define in a single word. The band's name was taken from the movie L.A. Confidential. They are known for their strong DIY ethic and chaotic live performances.
The band is currently signed to MNRK Heavy. They released two albums on Hassle Records: Hysterics (2008) and the Diplo-produced Cosmology (2010). After creating their own record label called Destination Moon in 2011, they released Eternal Youth, a compilation album of B-sides, remixes, and rarities from throughout their career, and their third album, 21012’s Astraea, with the first line-up change in their career. They then released two albums on Holy Roar records: Grievances (2015) and Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It (2018).
Their music has been difficult to classify simply because of the band's resistance to being identified with one single genre. Described as "like a polished chrome King Crimson for the 21st Century" they have typically been acknowledged as being mathcore, a tag which summarises the theoretical complexity of their music, such as odd time signatures like 9/8 and 13/8 and polyrhythmic drumming. They have been identified as "falling somewhere between grindcore, progressive and alternative rock and have been categorised as experimental rock, post-metal, post-hardcore, progressive hardcore, progressive rock and screamo. The band utilises two vocalists in their music, a quality which "immediately creates a rich and textured sonic world". Eva Spence's vocal style was acknowledged by Michael Wilson of the BBC as bi-polar; swapping between "fragile lullabies to blood-curdling scowls". Her singing voice is in a soprano vocal range and has been compared to the stylings of Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp and Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins.
Their earlier work—such as Hysterics, Cosmology and their demos and extended plays—was known for its use of jazz breakdowns and swapping chaotically between explosive mathcore, calm atmospheric experimental music and acid jazz. Their music is also noted for sharing traits with Nintendocore in terms of chaos and sound for the use of 8-bit synthesizers. The compilation album Eternal Youth gave insight into their musical development from their 2005 demos to their latest b-side releases with Hassle records.
The band’s sound developed further into pop, ambient, shoegaze and space rock elements for their third album Astraea, and has been jokingly dubbed as cosmic-core. For one of the b-sides from the album—“Mezmerizer”—NME journalist Hamish MacBain classed it as a "space rock ballad". For the album, the band decided to base its name on the goddess of the same name, a reference to the Spence siblings’ admiration for Greek mythology and a desire to pick a title which made the album "sound big and like this proper body of work". The non-album single "Old Mystics" and the song from the album "The Scales of Balance" both make reference to the "Golden Age" declared by Astraea.
In contrast to the lighter tone developed on Astraea, their fourth album—Grievances—is frenetic and dark in its composition, utilising pianos and violins for a darker character.
Their fifth album, Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It— as described by James Spence—“continues in the vein of Grievances' darkness, but shouldn't be used to judge what all our new material sounds like."
The band's sixth album, Where Myth Becomes Memory, was released on 04 February 2022. Lyrically, it deals with "how the passage of time, miles on the road, bittersweet nostalgia and the inherent unreliability of human memory shape and reshape our experience of the art we make and the lives we live." Sonically, the music continues to "magnify the dynamic interplay between light and shade", moving from chaos to tranquility at the drop of a hat.
Current members:
Eva Korman – vocals (2005–present)
James Spence – vocals, synthesizer (2005–present)
Chris Cayford – guitar (2012–present)
Nathan Fairweather – bass guitar (2012–present)
Al Pott – drums (2018–present)
Formed in 2005, they set their local scene alight by playing a synth-driven technical mix of styles and genres difficult to define in a single word. The band's name was taken from the movie L.A. Confidential. They are known for their strong DIY ethic and chaotic live performances.
The band is currently signed to MNRK Heavy. They released two albums on Hassle Records: Hysterics (2008) and the Diplo-produced Cosmology (2010). After creating their own record label called Destination Moon in 2011, they released Eternal Youth, a compilation album of B-sides, remixes, and rarities from throughout their career, and their third album, 21012’s Astraea, with the first line-up change in their career. They then released two albums on Holy Roar records: Grievances (2015) and Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It (2018).
Their music has been difficult to classify simply because of the band's resistance to being identified with one single genre. Described as "like a polished chrome King Crimson for the 21st Century" they have typically been acknowledged as being mathcore, a tag which summarises the theoretical complexity of their music, such as odd time signatures like 9/8 and 13/8 and polyrhythmic drumming. They have been identified as "falling somewhere between grindcore, progressive and alternative rock and have been categorised as experimental rock, post-metal, post-hardcore, progressive hardcore, progressive rock and screamo. The band utilises two vocalists in their music, a quality which "immediately creates a rich and textured sonic world". Eva Spence's vocal style was acknowledged by Michael Wilson of the BBC as bi-polar; swapping between "fragile lullabies to blood-curdling scowls". Her singing voice is in a soprano vocal range and has been compared to the stylings of Alison Goldfrapp of Goldfrapp and Elizabeth Fraser of the Cocteau Twins.
Their earlier work—such as Hysterics, Cosmology and their demos and extended plays—was known for its use of jazz breakdowns and swapping chaotically between explosive mathcore, calm atmospheric experimental music and acid jazz. Their music is also noted for sharing traits with Nintendocore in terms of chaos and sound for the use of 8-bit synthesizers. The compilation album Eternal Youth gave insight into their musical development from their 2005 demos to their latest b-side releases with Hassle records.
The band’s sound developed further into pop, ambient, shoegaze and space rock elements for their third album Astraea, and has been jokingly dubbed as cosmic-core. For one of the b-sides from the album—“Mezmerizer”—NME journalist Hamish MacBain classed it as a "space rock ballad". For the album, the band decided to base its name on the goddess of the same name, a reference to the Spence siblings’ admiration for Greek mythology and a desire to pick a title which made the album "sound big and like this proper body of work". The non-album single "Old Mystics" and the song from the album "The Scales of Balance" both make reference to the "Golden Age" declared by Astraea.
In contrast to the lighter tone developed on Astraea, their fourth album—Grievances—is frenetic and dark in its composition, utilising pianos and violins for a darker character.
Their fifth album, Time Will Die and Love Will Bury It— as described by James Spence—“continues in the vein of Grievances' darkness, but shouldn't be used to judge what all our new material sounds like."
The band's sixth album, Where Myth Becomes Memory, was released on 04 February 2022. Lyrically, it deals with "how the passage of time, miles on the road, bittersweet nostalgia and the inherent unreliability of human memory shape and reshape our experience of the art we make and the lives we live." Sonically, the music continues to "magnify the dynamic interplay between light and shade", moving from chaos to tranquility at the drop of a hat.
Current members:
Eva Korman – vocals (2005–present)
James Spence – vocals, synthesizer (2005–present)
Chris Cayford – guitar (2012–present)
Nathan Fairweather – bass guitar (2012–present)
Al Pott – drums (2018–present)
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Rolo Tomassi Lyrics
01 Oh, Hello Ghost.wav Glorious facade, slick tongue persistence Syllable after syl…
A Flood of Light And I fall Into your open arms Soundly embraced here When I…
Abraxas Enter: fragments, cast offs, one offs Exposed from your ever…
Aftermath In practice past, I'm closing off Untethered by visions Unfa…
Agamemnon Quick to draw Not like before With these new habits In old h…
Alma Mater A finite line that's hard to see And it always moves…
Almost Always It's all returning to the start It could be different but…
Balancing the Dark Strike, illustrate Cease, every moment grey I concur Retrac…
Cloaked Ticking through decades, impaired and unchanged Move in the …
Closer Where to begin? How to fathom this? An endless beautiful sym…
Contretemps A hidden depth to burden endlessly Golden memories and saint…
Cosmology A romance to bleach the soul A restlessness beyond my contro…
Drip On the worst days it's growing, growing so slowly What to…
Ex Luna Scientia One mark of absent mindedness The harshness of loathing ski…
Film Noir Sparks light! Cameras flash! Sparks light! Cameras flash! …
Fofteen When do you think the search is over? Confusion kissed me…
French Motel There is no good Shake your head at me and I'll…
Gloam The reckless oaths of youth Our futures, shrouded with ghos…
House House Casanova Left in the dark with nothing to hold Backing away from…
I Love Turbulence An ideal existence Discovering a book perfectly written Mind…
Illuminare A tremulous motion of light Measure these flickers with a d…
Illunis The sheer disrespect of this To disregard and feign bliss …
Kasia Enchanting ourselves and trying to preserve The signals we t…
Mutual Ruin Intention within The elements of harnessing Igniting a spark…
Oh Hello Ghost Glorious facade Slick tongue persistence syllable after syll…
Oh, Hello Ghost Glorious facade, slick tongue persistence Syllable after syl…
Opalescent No measured mark of wit, wisdom or rhetoric could solve…
Party Wounds Smashed glass proceedings Wide open party wounds Tasteless m…
Prescience How could it get any better? Formed by anger, full of…
Risen That piercing longing Coarse within When all that's yearned …
Rituals This creation of doubt won't hold back Lulled by safety Lu…
Sakia I'm bringing it down now Ripping it down from corner to…
Scabs You end Where I begin Covered in lovers, Vainly chasing butt…
Stumbling Acts of delay Always the way It came to me Blindly Patterns…
The End Of Eternity Moments seem eternal Full of mistakes, words can't convey If…
The Hollow Hour If you knew what can cut through The terrible and pure What…
To Resist Forgetting The birthplace of creation To walk and not run through To re…
Tongue in Chic The truth is repulsive Utter imperfection Impulsive urges ca…
Unromance What say you we talk this over? Well honey you are…
Whispers Among Us Hoping to delay every exchange Altering state or staying the…