The Toulouse trio Slift make heavy rock that’s not exactly groundbreaking, but still satisfying enough for when you feel the need for an angsty soundtrack. Brothers Jean and Remi Fossat share more than just DNA – they also share heavy duty riffage, while Canek Flores is an impressive, at times Bonham-esque thundering drummer.

Fantasia sees the trio continue with an album that is heavier than a three day hangover, but still full of contrasting light and shade. Fans of artists like Tool and Alice In Chains will find much to enjoy here, but so too will those who like the more intense drone-heavy avant-rock of Sunn O))), A Winged Victory For The Sullen etc. There’s a shared sense of malaise bubbling underneath, a refusal to compromise and soften into a more commercial sound.

In sharp contrast, ‘The Waiting Man’ is like a song for a modern western set in some dystopian shotgun town, a real slow- burner; whereas ‘The Day Of Execution’ is exactly as the title suggests, pure unadulterated fury. Closing track ‘Secret Mirror’ even wrong foots the listener by flirting with an epic synth sound, before erupting into urgent rock.

The fourth album is often time for an established band to settle down into one formulaic niche, but Slift are still finding new routes and crossing genres to address our many flawed political systems and cultural anxieties. It’s not perfect, but does the job effectively at just under fifty minutes.