9th December 2025

Review: “Who Are You When No One’s Around” by Pincer+

“It’s about losing control, pulling yourself apart, and trying to figure out who you are. We found the title felt like a way to tie it all together – it’s a question for us as much as anyone else, about facing the parts of yourself that only show up when no one’s watching.” ~ Pincer+

Having developed something of a cult following with their “Hunting God Tapes“ EP series, Australians Pincer+ found themselves sharing stages with some serious heavy hitters including Kublai Khan, Stray From The Path and Justice For The Damned while exploring aggressive Hardcore sensibilities with a few eclectic influences. They return with fresh impetus, their new album “Who Ar You When No One’s Around” said to remain anchored to the roots of their 2022 debut single “Angeldust” while seeing line up changes through. Describing it as embracing a clean slate, this time out new vocalist Jaiden Higgon and bassist Isryan Shah joining Josh Ang and Jordan Burnon guitars and Jack Nelson on drums…

The band describe “Blue Light Overdose” as “written from a place of hate and utter disdain for those who continue to take, while providing no real benefit to anyone. It’s definitely one of the more aggressive and to-the-point songs on the album, and the closest in sound to our older material.”

Flirting with Nu-Metalcore sonic abrasions “Hard 2 Kill” gets the party started with a thump as armed with a fresh sense of self Pincer+ seek to set their stall out as a force to be reckoned with. An agitated angry anthem that warns of fearing nothing with a clenched fist and the steel punch of Robocop, the furious staccato riff breaks put bounce in the mosh pit before slowing things down for a distorted augmented reality finale in which you can get lost in the ether. Clunky bass and hard hitting chugs breathe life into “Cold Frame“, a track that sounds like its influenced by peers in Diesect, the quintet pushing churn and burn riffs over spacious percussion. The swirling dark atmospheric makes way for “Concrete Lullaby” features a guest vocal appearance by Noah Thomas of sace6 which is an absolute battering ram, slapping from left to right with violent turbulence as the breakdowns begin to pile up in dramatic fashion. An introspective lyrical narrative is accompanied by the odd sample as the band bludgeon the discerning listener to death with a skull scraping guitar tone and pummeling percussion. There is however a little respite in “Yours To Erase” which once again uses a sample but also has some passages of Post-Hardcore inspired expansive soundscapes between some technical lead guitars and pulverizing rhythms. Higgon screams his lungs out as the emotive nature of the song burns with a personal edge and you just can’t help but feel like this should put Pincer+ on a new level.

At 101 seconds you might not think that “Blue Light Overdose” had enough time to inflict any real damage but in truth its like a Gremlin after midnight in a swimming pool. A punchy, aggressive tune that has the power to unleash a horde of moshers on any given Sunday at any venue around the globe, it shatters the ear drums with a non stop barrage of percussion and down tuned guitars with electrifying dark energy. Another ridiculously catchy tune “e n d l e s s” lets Nelson drive the nails into the coffin with a clean vocal bridge over ethereal sounds a surprise moment in an otherwise brutal track that hits like a concrete slab to the skull. You could be forgiven for thinking that wouldn’t work and while on paper the idea sounds like it wouldn’t, somehow the band manage to pull it off in style and if you didn’t like it on the first spin, rest assured it grows on you with the fullness of time. “Defect” finds Jay Webster of UnityTX joining the party, the 911 call put in at the start a warning shot about the shape of whats to come. Front-loaded with mosh parts, this one finds the band play with tempo changes to keep you on your toes, making room for two steppers during the abrasive final moments. Webster adds depth and texture to the track, his role in accompanying Higgon’s screams after his initial solo verse well worked. The title track “Who Are You When No One’s Around” then takes a step back towards “e n d l e s s” by offering the same kind of ambient moments and clean vocal parts. Its like the band have been inspired into those by Deftones and cannot escape but works well in stark contrast to the heavy hitting surroundings [7.5/10]

Track Listing