Rising Sun Programming Director Graham Noel taps math rock, instrumental acoustic, black metal for Ears We Trust

Rising Sun Presents is one of the region’s most prolific concert production companies, and Graham Noel is one of their key figures who make it all happen.

As the company’s programming director and senior talent buyer, Noel’s got ears we trust so of course we hit him up to jump in on this week’s feature. His selections range from black metal to mathy emo, instrumental acoustic fingerstyle to ethereal darkwave.

Give these picks a listen below.

Hayden Pedigo — I’ll Be Waving As You Drive Away

Hayden has been my gateway into the hypnotic world of American primitive guitar. I first caught wind of his guitar playing last year through his collaborative album with Chat Pile, In the Earth Again. I developed an addiction to his most recent solo record. It’s become my first instinct to spin it on any occasion that necessitates a meditative state. His impressive virtuosity is balanced by an equally masterful command of silence. He often mentions during shows that the spacious pauses represent the rolling plains of his hometown of Amarillo, Texas. A third incredible 2025 record, Shallowater’s God’s Gonna Give You A Million Dollars, also features his guitar work, making him my 2025 musical MVP.

TTNG — Animals

I discovered this record as a senior in high school, shortly after I picked up guitar myself. From the first moments, the playing is a completely unique musical vocabulary that I have yet to hear emulated effectively anywhere else. The album rewards repeated listens.

I saw them live every time they came to the States, including two shows in one night co-headlining with my other favorite math rock band Tera Melos at The Fire in 2013. Both bands played different sets for the five-ish people who were at both shows. At one point, I was hoisted up by a stranger and crowd surfed to the back of the room against my will.

Last month, TTNG dropped a surprise EP and welcomed their original vocalist back into the band, and it’s every bit as spectacular as their early work.

Plebeian Grandstand — False Highs, True Lows

I couldn’t resist using this distinguished platform to talk about dissonant avant-garde metal—the subset of heavy music that inspired me to create Subterranean Dissonance Fest, which will be returning to Underground Arts in 2027. French band Plebeian Grandstand make such unrelentingly pummeling music that I’d highly recommend as the soundtrack for your next visit to your local endless void.

Chelsea Wolfe — “Abyss”

Chelsea’s incredible new album The Dark has once again led me down the gloomy path of her entire discography. While Abyss is one of her heaviest records, the menacing sadness of “Simple Death” transports me into another world.

Great Grandpa — Four of Arrows

This criminally underrated Seattle band has changed stylistically with every release from slacker-rock on their 2017 debut to Radiohead-influenced angular indie rock of 2025’s Patience, Moonbeam. They are all spectacular, but it’s hard to top Four of Arrows, which begins with my two favorite tracks from the band’s catalogue.