IST IST Sharpen The Blade At Intimate Dagger Launch Show
- Toni Slater
- 9 hours ago
- 2 min read
The Met, Bury – February 8th 2026
WORDS AND IMAGES TONI SLATER
There’s something fitting about seeing IST IST unveil Dagger in a room like The Met. Intimate, unfussy and built for connection rather than spectacle, the Bury venue mirrors the band’s own stripped-back, confrontational approach. With its accessible balcony, open foyer and a crowd packed in close, the setting feels less like a launch party and more like a proving ground.
This is the second date in a run of five album launch shows, following the previous night’s Leeds opener, and IST IST arrive with purpose. There’s no support act, no easing in. Instead, they walk straight onstage and cut into I Am The Fear, the opening track from Dagger, with a cold efficiency that immediately grips the room.
Sonically, IST IST operate in that fertile space between post-punk discipline and industrial menace. Basslines throb with tension, guitars slice rather than soar, and the rhythm section drives everything forward with mechanical precision. Frontman Adam Houghton delivers his vocals like warnings rather than invitations — stark, urgent and unflinching — giving the songs a confrontational edge that never slips into theatrics.
Clocking in at just 31 minutes, Dagger is performed in full and without pause. Tracks like Warning Signs and Burning hit with a relentless momentum, their bleak atmospheres offset by the band’s tight control. There are clear nods to post-punk forebears — shades of Joy Division’s monochrome intensity linger — but IST IST avoid nostalgia, pushing their sound into something harder, colder and unmistakably current.
Despite the album having been released only two days earlier, the crowd is already deeply invested. Lyrics are shouted back word for word, with fans hanging on every line Houghton spits into the room. It’s a testament to the band’s reputation: IST IST don’t just attract listeners, they cultivate commitment. Many in attendance are clearly repeat visitors, following the band across dates whenever they tour.
The album closes with Ambition, its final notes landing with a sense of resolve rather than release. The band briefly dip into earlier material — Fat Cats and Stamp You Out — reminding everyone that Dagger is part of a longer, steadily sharpening body of work. The full set barely reaches 40 minutes, but it never feels short; it feels precise.
Then it’s over. No encore, no dramatic exit. IST IST leave the stage and, within minutes, reappear in the foyer, meeting fans, signing records and posing for photos. It’s a low-key gesture that feels entirely in keeping with a band who let the music do the talking.
Describing themselves as “punk, with a bit of industrial thrown in”, IST IST continue to blur genre boundaries, drawing in goths, alternative kids, indie fans and older post-punk devotees alike. On the strength of Dagger and nights like this, their appeal feels less like hype and more like inevitability.
Setlist
I Am The Fear
Makes No Difference
Warning Signs
Burning
The Echo
Encouragement
I Remember Everything
Obligations
Song for Someone
Ambition
Fat Cats
Stamp You Out
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