"Heavy Spaghetti": Hertfordshire's Sentient Invite You To Try Their Signature Dish

Sentient: (L-R) JB, Ricky, Tom and ... Tom [photo: Riley Edmett]

Hertfordshire metal band Sentient are slowly but surely making a name for themselves in the scene. Metal 2 The Masses winners in 2023, and releasing their first EP the same year, the band are hungry for more. Tonight, I have the pleasure of catching these guys live, and I'm able to have a quick discussion with them about their journey and their plans for the new year.

I'm outside The Lounge in St Ives, a small little town in Cambridgeshire. It's cold, but luckily has stopped raining.

Every month, The Lounge transforms from a quiet bar/club venue to a lively hub for the local rock and metal acts, for Metal At The Lounge. Each month, a double bill of metal bands play the venue, giving gig goers a good night of loud, heavy music. These are 'free entry' nights as well - everyone coming out is doing so to support their local scene.

"It's hard to pigeonhole us ... you just have to come along and see for yourselves"

Tonight's double bill is Before The Sirens and Sentient, the latter I've only recently become familiar with. Formed in 2018, Sentient are still going strong, with two EPs already released and a third one being produced. Combine this with the radioplay and gigs they have achieved, it's not bad at all for a small Hertfordshire metal band. There's a reason these guys are considered one of the fiercest live acts in the area.

There's some time between their soundcheck and them starting, and so I'm able to catch the guys for a quick chat. First on the list - what is Sentient?

"Noodly riffs, beefy breakdowns, served by Randy Blythe with a cold," vocalist JB describes themselves. "Heavy spaghetti. That's our elevator pitch."

"We've also been called muscular metalcore, muscular metal, post hardcore..." Ricky, the band's drummer, adds, listing the various subgenres people have given Sentient over the years. "It's hard to pigeonhole us," JB concludes, "You just have to come along and see for yourselves."

Tom, the band's new bassist (who's first show with them is coincidentally tonight) adds: "Metal. Just metal," rather deadpan.

Sums it up enough.

Today's menu? "Noodly riffs" and "beefy breakdowns" [photo: Riley Edmett]

"[Ricky] put an advert out [on Join My Band] for something that was along the lines of Architects, Monuments, and Meshuggah," JB recounts when asked about how the band started. "I reached out and said 'let's go for a jam', and then we met up, had a jam."

"You ghosted me for two weeks!" Ricky laughs. JB laughs back, correcting himself, "I said 'let's go for a jam' and then I didn't speak to him. Then we arranged for a practice without really talking, and I turned up. They [Ricky and the previous guitarists] were very surprised I actually turned up!"

"And then six years later, here we are."

In the six year's since the band's inauguration, Sentient have hit some impressive milestones: 2023 saw the band win Bloodstock competition Metal 2 The Masses at Club 85 in Hitchin - "It's given us something to give to venues and promoters," guitarist Tom describes. "It feels pretty good." ; The band also released their EP 'Sentient Is Dead', and the single 'Gaslighter' was showcased on BBC Radio 1's Rock and Metal show with Alyx Holcombe, and through BBC Introducing.

"It was very cool to hear Alyx Holcombe say 'crushing stuff from Sentient'," JB describes, "it gave me a very warm feeling in my belly."

Ricky laughs, joking about the radioplay creating a 'fan favourite' track that they feel they always have to play live. "We're getting a little glimpse of what it's like to be Metallica!".

But tonight isn't about the Bloodstock stages or the high profile radioplay, tonight is all about the smaller, more underground shows. The hot, sweaty grassroots venues every band has grown to love. Sentient are no different.

"It's cool to play places like [The Lounge] that aren't necessarily just packed out because of who's playing," JB starts, "it's cool when it's like a designated hangout spot."

"It was very cool to hear Alyx Holcombe say 'crushing stuff from Sentient' ... it gave me a very warm feeling"

Tonight is the first of three gigs Sentient are lined up for before the year's end. The other gigs include The Dev in London, and a return to Hitchin at Club 85. After that, though?

"We're in the throes of recording the latest EP, 'Long Live Sentient', the follow up to 2023's 'Sentient Is Dead'," JB tells me, before outlining which parts are still waiting to be recorded (a lead part there, a bass part here, etc). "And then I think off the back of that the plan is to just gig, gig and gig. So as many venues as we can."

Do the roar! [photo: Riley Edmett]

Cautious of the time, I wrap up and the guys head back inside to play their set. A quick trip back to the car to drop something off, and I head inside myself.

I get to see what this "heavy spaghetti" is all about. I quickly decide that this is a dish I'll happily have again.

Sentient play The Dev in Camden on Saturday 23rd November

Sentient play Club 85 in Hitchin on Friday 29th November. Tickets available here

Sentient play Club 85 on Friday 29th November

'Sentient Is Dead' is out now on streaming platforms