Twelve Foot Ninja

Specializing in a propulsive and hard-to-shoehorn mix of searing alternative metal and shape-shifting, experimental rock with progressive tendencies, Aussie quintet Twelve Foot Ninja fall somewhere between the decibel-pounding onslaught of bands like Periphery and Between the Buried and Me, and the kitchen-sink eclecticism of Mr. Bungle. Formed in Melbourne in 2008 around the talents of Kin Etik, Shane Russell, Steve Mackay, Damon McKinnon, and Rohan Hayes, the band released a flurry of singles and EPs between 2008 and 2011 before issuing their debut long-player, Silent Machine, in 2012. The band spent the next three years touring heavily -- Silent Machine was released in America in 2014 -- but eventually returned to the studio to begin work on album number two. The resulting Outlier dropped in August, 2016, and quickly shot to the top of Australian Artist Charts. ~ James Christopher Monger