“What listening to metal on a fairground ride in outer space must feel like” – Metal Hammer
Astrohenge were a brutal piano-driven London metal four-piece featuring Oliver’s ornate Beethoven / Slayer / Chas ’n’ Dave keyboard skills.
Formed in 2008, Astrohenge released two albums on the Eyes of Sound label – their 2010 self-titled debut and its follow-up, II in 2011. They played support slots with Burnt by the Sun, Karma to Burn, Cannabis Corpse, Between the Buried and Me, Shels and Monotonix. In 2011 they made their festival debut at Leeds Damnation and followed this up with an appearance at the London 2012 DesertFest. Other notable appearances were their 2013 tour with Finnish folk-metal band Turisas and their 2014 slot at ArcTanGent festival in Somerset.
Astrohenge have been featured in Metal Hammer, Rock Sound, Prog Rock and Terrorizer magazines and on BBC Radio 1, Sveriges Radio P3 Rock and Total Rock Radio, London.
“Scraping in at just over half an hour, Astrohenge’s sophomore effort does what a lot of prog-metal acts struggle horrifically with; getting to the point. Rather brilliantly, the point in question here seems to be making a completely bonkers yet ultimately satisfying load of riff-drenched noise. Whether it’s the enormous-sounding doom chords that kick in on ‘Goodbye’ or the juddering math-metal screech of ‘My Life, She Is Over’, Astrohenge seem to have a firm grip on their instruments but perhaps less so their sanity. If, as they claim, this is the sound of going on holiday to a planet of strange women, then an invite would be appreciated the next time they set out on this trip.” – Terrorizer
“It shouldn’t be hard to pigeonhole an instrumental band with a strong Black Sabbath influence, yet Astrohenge remain difficult to pin down. Though their tongue remains firmly in cheek, on ‘II’ they’ve added some classic progressive rock into the mix to sit besides their previous trademark blend of sluggish stoner rock and aggressive thrash metal. Opener proper ‘Space Honky’ takes itself very seriously despite it’s name, double-kick patterns resolving in a deliciously heavy coda. ‘Tomb of the Mummy’, on the other hand, initially oversteps the fine line into outright silliness before righting itself with some determined riffing and prog noodling. Album highlight ’My Life, She is Over’ hints at modern rock trends – math and djent to name two – for approximately 20 seconds before it cuts loose into a minute and a half of what may be the most gleeful rock ‘n roll ever written; the strongest remaining cuts are fun and self-indulgent in almost equal measure. Though Astrohenge have shown a willingness here to experiment with prog, there’s still remarkably scant pretention to be found on the record. Moreover, there’s little not to like about the brilliant racket that they produce.” – Prog Rock Magazine
“Astrohenge are beyond tight, in fact they are closed – there is no higher plane of ability, and they have proved their worth on this astonishingly brutal yet oddly beautiful CD. If the genre of Fairground Doom wasn’t secured by their debut, it certainly is now, long live the insane genius of Astrohenge!” – thesleepingshaman.com
“…the night’s most determinedly sarcastic keyboard playing…” – Terrorizer
“A supremely satisfying journey into groovy oblivion” – Rock Sound
“Astrohenge seem more vital, more necessary a band to have in your music collection than I feel I’m capable to explaining with words alone.” – Thrash Hits.com
“…one of the UK’s best-kept secrets” – John Doran, Metal Hammer
“[Astrohenge] give credence to the Faith No More rule (if a band’s members barely look like they belong on the same planet, they’re probably awesome)” – Terrorizer
“Bat-shit bonkers conkers, multi-genre experts with duel-fuel guitar-attack, 27,648 pedals, doom-organ and probably the best drum work of the weekend.” – Ninehertz.co.uk
“Astrohenge are fucking unhinged and fucking good. Experimental, but not in a wanky, navel gazing, introspective way, they are experimental in a ‘what the fuck am I hearing it’s really good oh its changed but it’s still good’ way.” – Downtuned.net
“Crashing down all known barriers of the heavy metal template with their dual-guitar, dual-keyboard, schizo-drum set-up, Astrohenge are the notorious gangsters of omni-metal tomfoolery at large in this ‘ere town. Oli Weeks meddles with his keys like some sort of King-Crimson-meets-Harry-Potter timelord as Hugh Harvey and Matthew Rozeik bring the meanest, ugliest, silliest riffs spewing from their Les Pauls.” – thesleepingshaman.com
“Equal parts post-rock and full-on riff dementia, it’s as if Mastodon piped a jam session through the ruins of haunted churches instead of amplifiers… This band deserves you to do more than just hunch around their MySpace in the hope it will give you an idea about what they are about; get your bony, filesharing arse out the house and down to one of their gigs sharpish.” – Thrash Hits.com