Returning We Hear the Larks

Returning We Hear the Larks was the Progressive Metal solo project of Jack Noble, a student from Bristol, UK from 2006 to 2013. The name is taken from the poem by Isaac Rosenberg. Noble began writing and recording Pop Punk music in 2005 with his younger brother George. He soon began experimenting with his own Hard Rock music and releasing it online under his own name. He released a short debut album in the spring of 2006 entitled Asphyxiation, which is still available online in a few locations. In October 2006, he took up rhythm guitar for the local Metalcore band Anathematize, consisting of close friends of his. After the band lost various singers, Noble assumed the position of front man as well as second guitarist. After going through personal troubles in early 2007, Noble relaunched his solo project anonymously under the name MurderOnTheDancefloor (initially written with spaces, until it was changed due to a dispute with the US Deathcore band of the same name). Influenced heavily by the music of his teenage years, Noble performed a fusion of Deathcore and Trance under this name. His music typically consisted of fast-paced Death Metal riffage, combined with breakdowns and Trance synth melody lines, and often featuring violent and angst-ridden screamed lyrics. Noble labelled this style as 'Death Disco'. An eponymously-titled EP was released under this name, as well as a compilation of demo tracks entitled Before Copyright Became an Issue (in reference to his dispute with the US band of the same name, as well as regular use of unauthorised samples in his music). Both of these releases are available for free download on Noble's current BandCamp. In 2008, Noble's musical direction changed and he began working on Experimental Metal/Deathcore under the name Sins of the Watchmen. The name is a reference to the biblical extraterrestrial race known as the Annunaki and their supposed home-planet of Nibiru, a subject that Noble was studying in depth at the time. Two EPs were released under this name; The Soundtrack to the Apocalypse and The Download EP (the former of which was also heavily themed around the Annunaki). These releases are available for free download on Noble's current BandCamp. During 2008, his band Anathematize played a number of shows in the Bristol and Bath region before breaking up in the summer. Once again in early 2009, Noble chose to take his music in a more experimental direction. Inspired by his visit to Belgium and the battlegrounds of the First World War, the project was named Returning We Hear the Larks. He immediately released the Langemark EP, themed around his experiences in Belgium, and began the development of his debut album. The Hidden World: I, a Harry Potter-themed EP, was also released in 2009. By this time, Noble was heavily influenced by Progressive Metal bands such as Meshuggah, Gojira and Bulb. He discovered the beginnings of the Djent scene and, with the release of his Of Marduk EP, became one of the first bands on Got-Djent, which has since become a very important part of the Djent scene. It was through his presence on this site, as well as Jamendo, that Noble gained a fanbase amongst the underground/online community. His increase in listeners generated significant hype for the eventual release of his debut WW1-themed full-length Ypres in summer 2010. The album exceeded 1000 downloads on the night of its release. Noble's final EP to date, Proud England, was released in March 2011. Around this time, Noble began the Melodic Death Metal project Red Horizons with his cousin Josh, releasing their debut album Angelic in October of the same year. He also replaced Ash Gollings as the vocalist of UK-based Technical Death Metal band Fractals in the autumn of 2011, releasing an EP entitled Corridors with them in December and currently working on the band's second full-length release. A new single entitled Line-Trap was released in April 2012 and demonstrated a partial change in style; incorporating autotuned sung vocals and jarring, 8-string riffs reminiscent of bands such as Vildhjarta. After over a year since Line-Trap and three years since the release of his album Ypres, Noble released his second full-length entitled Far-Stepper/Of Wide Sea for free download on June 25th, 2013. Along with this release, he stated that the project had reached its conclusion and that this would be the last full Returning We Hear the Larks album. Despite this however, Noble is expected to release a covers album as well as a collection of demos (as with Ypres) as a farewell to the project. All of Noble's releases (including releases under the name Sins of the Watchmen and MurderOnTheDancefloor are available for free (with the exception of Proud England) from his BandCamp page. He also frequently uploads free demos and previews on his SoundCloud account. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.