Metal & Prog Picks: December 2017

“It’s Kerrriiistmas!” as a certain foghorn-voiced Black Country sage once observed. And that means panto. Who better to deliver this than top rock dame Justin Hawkins? Yep, The Darkness return to Bristol to play the Colston Hall this month. Elsewhere in a very mixed bag, we have Krautrock (experi)mentalists Faust, superior black metal from Wolves in the Throne Room, the never-ending farewell of Fish (will he really hang up his rockin’ shoes given that his shows keep selling out?), and ’90s funk-rockers Extreme with the long missing-in-action Dan Reed Network.

Faust

Fiddlers, Dec 1

Krautrockers Faust are assured of their place in rock history after becoming one of the first bands signed by Richard Branson to his new Virgin label back in 1973. Branson hit on the wizard ruse of releasing their third album, The Faust Tapes, for the price of a single – then just 48p. As a result, 50,000 hippies took a punt on them. Of these, approximately 49,500 exclaimed: “What the fuck’s this shit?” But those who embraced the more avant-garde end of Krautrock – including our friend Mr. Cope, obviously – were rather more enthusiastic. Despite their experimental credentials, Faust’s career has taken the same path as many a veteran rock act, with a mid-70s split followed by the creation of two different Fausts, band members keeling over and being replaced, and so on. Anyhoo, this is the Jean-Hervé Péron incarnation of the band who are touring a new album, Fresh Air, which continues their recent more accessible approach. Rumour has it, however, that they’re bringing the concrete mixer, so don’t go expecting an easy listening experience. Live knitting is also likely to take place.

Wolves in the Throne Room

Fleece, Dec 6

Like many a modern black metal act, Washington’s Wolves in the Throne Room refuse to be constrained by genre convention. They don’t wear corpse paint or sing about Mr. Beelzebub, for example, preferring to embrace folkloric and ecological themes. Occasionally, their experimentalism has risked alienating fans. In 2014, for example, they released the dark ambient album Celestite. This approach has led to crossover appeal to our cooler-than-thou hipster chums and the Wolves even played at All Tomorrow’s Parties back in 2010. But any fears that founding siblings Aaron and Nathan Weaver would abandon metal altogether are swiftly allayed by a listen to their aggressive new album, Thrice Woven. Anyone who enjoys Neurosis or the mighty Enslaved really ought to check them out.

SikTh

SWX, Dec 6

Last seen on the main stage at Download and at the ArcTanGent fest, reunited Brit prog/math-metallers and djent pioneers SikTh have been out on the road with everyone from Slipknot to Trivium. Now they finally embark on a full headline tour to promote their fourth album, The Future in Whose Eyes? Hailed by Prog magazine as a “whiteknuckle aural assault”, this is also the first SikTh album to feature a guest vocalist, Spencer Sotelo from Periphery joining Mikee W. Goodman on the track Cracks Of Light.

Broken Witt Rebels

Thekla, Dec 7

Making a swift return to town after their Tunnels show back in March, Brummie blues-rockers Broken Witt Rebels are one of what we might describe as a mini-scene of talented young rockers with interesting facial hair, whose ranks include Bad Touch and our very own Tax the Heat, all of whom are toiling hard against the usual mainstream media indifference in the hope of following the likes of Rival Sons and The Temperance Movement into bigger venues. They bagged Best Rock Act at last year’s inaugural Unsigned Music Awards, where they were also nominated as Best Live Act. The eponymous debut album has just been released on Snakefarm Records and this brief headlining jaunt comes on the back of a tour with the Cadillac Three.

Fish

O2 Academy, Dec 13

Monsieur Poisson has been threatening retirement for what seems like years now. But after 2015’s sold-out anniversary Misplaced Childhood tour, he’s back to do the same again to mark the 30th anniversary of his final Marillion album, the cocaine comedown classic Clutching at Straws (y’know – the one with Incommunicado, Sugar Mice and Warm Wet Circles). Initially, he’d hoped to premiere new material from his ‘farewell’ album, Weltschmerz (German for world-weariness, fact fans), but progress on this has been slower than he’d hoped. So instead we’re likely to be getting some rarely played stuff from his extensive solo catalogue, in addition to a full run-through of Clutching… Get there early to catch those amazing French proggers Lazuli, who supported him last time and also played a great show at the Fleece last November. Take enough cash to grab a copy of their excellent Nos âmes saoules album at the merch desk too. You won’t regret it.

The Darkness

Colston Hall, Dec 14

“We’re never gonna stop/Shitting out solid gold” promise Lowestoft’s finest as they embark on a panto season rampage around the nation’s city halls. After hawking that crowd-pleasing greatest hits set on the summer festival/outdoor event circuit (including Bristol’s now deceased burning corpsefest, Grillstock), they’ll hopefully play more of enjoyable fifth album Pinewood Smile, which propelled them back into the UK top ten for the first time since 2012’s Hot Cakes. Somewhat bizarrely, it also saw them become Billy Bragg’s labelmates on Cooking Vinyl. Pinewood Smile includes something of a world first in the form of Southern Trains – an expletive-laden rock protest song expressing solidarity with the downtrodden commuting classes. If drummer Rufus Tiger Taylor looks rather familiar, that’s because he’s the chip-off-the-old-block son of Queen’s Roger Taylor. Incidentally, while The Darkness’s attempt to grab a slice of the Noddy Holder pension pie with Christmas Time (Don’t Let the Bells End) and I Am Santa fell rather short, Justin Hawkins and his brother Dan will be giving it the full turkey on the Christmas edition of Pointless Celebrities.

Extreme/Dan Reed Network

O2 Academy, Dec 18

Let’s rock like the early ’90s! Here’s an interesting fact: when Extreme played the Bristol Bierkeller on May 29, 1991, they’d just been informed that More Than Words had reached the top of the US singles chart, becoming their biggest ever hit. Here’s another interesting fact: that moody monochrome promo video for the song was directed by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who went on to give us the Oscar-nominated Little Miss Sunshine and this year’s Battle of the Sexes. After that genre-defining 1990 funk-metal classic Pornografitti, however, it was all downhill rather swiftly for Extreme, and they disbanded in 1995. Frontman Gary Cherone subsequently joined the worst-ever Van Halen line-up for the woeful Van Halen III. But, hey, Nuno Bettencourt remains one of the all-time great guitarists, mostly earning a crust by touring with Rihanna. And as Extreme haven’t released any new material in nearly a decade, we can probably expect a hit-stuffed set tonight. Support comes from the mighty fine Dan Reed Network. Positioned somewhere between Prince and Bon Jovi, the multi-racial Network were poised to become huge back in the late ’80s and early ’90s, especially after the excellent, Nile Rodgers-produced Slam album, which led to support slots with David Bowie and the Rolling Stones. But Dan then had a spiritual meltdown, shaved off his waist-length hair, travelled to India to live in a Buddhist monastery and communed with the Dalai Lama, whom he interviewed for SPIN magazine. A slow return to live music culminated in the Network finally reforming, with aptly titled new album Fight Another Day out now on Frontiers. Welcome back, Dan!

COMING SOON

Here’s our essential diary of upcoming gigs that should be of interest to anyone of a rockin’ disposition.

Steel Panther/Inglorious/Wayward Sons, O2 Academy, Jan 27

Nazareth, Marble Factory, Jan 27

RavenEye, Exchange, Jan 30

Therion, Bierkeller, Feb 13

Arch Enemy, O2 Academy, Feb 14

Hayseed Dixie, Fleece, Feb 14

Amenra/Boris, Thekla, Feb 14

Paradise Lost, Thekla, Feb 17

Magnum, Trinity, Feb 20

The Temperance Movement, O2 Academy, Feb 22

Piratefest 2018: Alestorm/The Dread Crew of Oddwood/Rumahoy, Motion, Feb 24

Apocalyptica, Colston Hall, Feb 28

Stone Broken/Jared James Nichols/The Bad Flowers, Fleece, March 7

Sepultura, SWX, March 13

Yes, Colston Hall, March 13

Cannibal Corpse, Bierkeller, March 16

Skid Row, O2 Academy, March 20

Testament/Annihilator/Vader, Motion, March 29

Epica/Myrkur/Oceans of Slumber, O2 Academy, April 8

Jethro Tull, Colston Hall, April 9

Marillion, Colston Hall, April 17

Trivium, O2 Academy, April 19

Skindred, O2 Academy, April 25

G3 2018: Joe Satriani/John Petrucci/Uli Jon Roth, Colston Hall, April 26

Peter Hammill, The Lantern, April 29

Lionize/Planet of Zeus, Fleece, May 3

Machine Head, O2 Academy, May 15