Not One Step Back 2

Not One Step Back Fest returns for another round, presenting you with the very best in left-field, genre-bending bands floating at the top of the murky pools of Post-Punk, Noise-Rock and various flavours of Hardcore.

God alone (Math/Noise-Rock - Cork IE)

God Alone is a five-piece Irish math/noise rock band from Cork, known for their genre-bending sound that fuses intense post-metal, hardcore, and black metal with avant-garde elements, danceable indie, and jazz, creating chaotic yet energetic music with complex rhythms, heavy riffs, and abstract themes of nothingness, often compared to Talking Heads meets Dillinger Escape Plan, with vibrant live performances and dynamic shifts from heavy sludge to electronic chaos.

Kill Mirror Image (Post-Punk - Bath UK)

Kill Mirror Image is a fast, loose, post-punk/art-rock trio from Bath, UK, formed in 2020, known for their energetic, unpredictable performances blending math rock, new wave, jazz, and punk, with influences from Gang of Four, Talking Heads, and the CBGB scene, tackling themes of modern life with a raw, chaotic energy and improvisational flair, often described as musical agoraphobia

dUAS sEMIcOLCHEIAS iNVERTIDAS (Noise-Rock/Free-Jazz/Experimental - Lisbon PT)

The band dUAS sEMIcOLCHEIAS iNVERTIDAS (dSCi) is a Portuguese group from Lisbon that blends noise-rock, post-rock, post-punk, and free-jazz into an intense, energetic, and fierce sound.
The name translates to "two inverted semiquavers" in English. Their musical style has been described as a mix between Black Flag and Soft Machine.

Codex Serafini (Ritualistic Psych/Doom/Prog - Sussex UK)

Codex Serafini are a UK-based psychedelic, space-rock, ritualistic band known for immersive soundscapes blending doom, jazz, prog, and experimental elements, creating expansive, otherworldly music often featuring prominent saxophone and deep grooves to explore themes of subconscious and reality, with live shows featuring masks and robes for collective experience. They describe themselves as a "Saturnian Ritualistic" collective from outer space, influenced by the surreal Codex Seraphinianus book.

The Higher Line (Post Hardcore/Noise Rock - London, UK)

Formed in late 2019, The Higher Line's members - David Wortrich (bass/synth), Andrew Price (guitar) and Sebastian Durkin (drums/synth) - have long orbited London's noise and math rock worlds, playing and recording in the likes of Cherry But No Cake, Company Training, Awkward Body, Man Matters and most recently Sverker Clern.