Metal & Prog Picks: February 2016

There’s absolutely nothing for the likes of us in the BBC6 Music Festival. But that’s no great surprise. The good news is that after a quiet January, the metal and prog season really kicks into gear this month, with everything from supergroups (The Winery Dogs) and ace young proggers (TesseracT) to prog-metal (Symphony X), death metal (Kataklysm), aging pop-punk scamps (Bowling for Soup), folk-metal (Ensiferum) and more than a few old lags. As ever, there are some annoying clashes. It’s also perhaps worth noting that this month brings bands from as far afield as Tunisia, France, Belgium, Canada, the USA, Greece, Finland and Estonia. It’s like a louder WOMAD without all the yurts and gyrating Earth Mothers. Be warned that some people still haven’t received the memo telling them that they’re not permitted to enjoy this stuff, so the shows by TessaracT, Bowling for Soup, Thunder and The Cult are already sold out. That’s why we keep the ‘coming soon’ section as up-to-date as we can possibly make it, so you need never miss out on a rocking opportunity. Beautiful, huh?

The Winery Dogs

Academy, Feb 2

What do you get when you add Dream Theater’s former drummer to past and current members of Mr. Big (’80s US hard rock band, not ’70s UK pop version)? Actually, pretty much what you might expect. There’s no shortage of technical virtuosity here, but it’s all in service of the supergroup power trio’s catchy and melodic songs, which means there’s a lot more to them than muso drool fodder. That line-up in full: whizz-kid guitarist/vocalist Richie Kotzen is probably the only person alive who’s collaborated with jazz-fusion legend Stanley Clarke and played in Poison. Amusingly, he was kicked out of the latter for shagging the drummer’s fiancee. Billy Sheehan has been voted Best Bass Player in the Known Universe by Bass Nerd magazine for 150 consecutive years and was last on stage at the Academy with Mr. Big back in 2011. Drummer Mike Portnoy has so many projects on the go at any one time (Flying Colours, Transatlantic, etc) that it’s remarkable he’s found time to record two albums with The Winery Dogs and tour with them too. Impressive newie Hot Streak made the US Top 30 last October.

TesseracT

Thekla, Feb 3

They’ve had enough merry-go-rounds in the vocalist department to finish off a lesser band (as of five minutes ago, former singer Daniel Tomkins had returned to replace his, er, replacement), but Brit prog-metallers TesseracT are going from strength to strength. Having signed to Kscope – home of Anathema, Steven Wilson and Amplifier – they’ve ploughed a more prog than metal furrow of late, ditching most of the harsh vocals for their third album, Polaris. Judging by how quickly this show sold out, it’s a wise move.

Bowling For Soup

Academy, Feb 15

Here’s the key to understanding the enduring appeal of Texans Bowling for Soup. Superficially, they come across as yet another cookie cutter pop-punk act in the Blink-182/Alien Ant Farm vein. But peer under the bonnet and you’ll find their sturdy singalong songwriting has more in common with classy ’80s AOR than that of their forgettable peers. Add an infectious sense of fun and an exceedingly corpulent guitarist and they’ve carved out a nice big niche for themselves. It’s not perfect. All the on-stage banter can get a bit trying at times, as can the endless pop culture references in the lyrics. And anyone who bought a ticket for their Farewell UK Tour back in 2013 may be forgiven for feeling a little puzzled at the band’s unexpected reappearance.

Kataklysm

Fleece, Feb 15

Veteran Canadian death metallers Kataklysm are the sole exponents of  Northern Hyperblast – something to do with blast beats, apparently, and on no account to be confused with Northern Soul. Their twelfth (count ’em!) album Of Ghosts and Gods is a further refinement rather than a radical departure from their signature sound: dynamic, melodic death metal, with hyper-fast riffage and extraordinary drumming from the hugely impressive Oli Beaudoin. As usual with the Fleece’s big-value multi-national metal bills, there’s strong support from Greek symphonic metallers Septicflesh and brutal Belgian death metallers Aborted.

Thunder/Terrorvision/King King

Colston Hall, Feb 16

Poor old Thunder, eh? Each time they split up so singer Danny Bowes can go back to being a concert booker and carpet fitter (no, really), they only succeed in getting more popular and have to re-form to keep up with the demand. Those terrible ‘firework indie’ bands might be cooler, but you can be sure they’d kill for this kind of fanbase. Last year, Thunder released their first album in seven years, the excellent Wonder Days, which proved to be their biggest hit since 1995, entering the UK album charts at number nine, and this show sold out months ago. Expect top notch classic rock, with brilliant guitar playing by the great Luke Morley, plus superb vocals and embarrassing dad dancing by Danny. Support comes from Thunder’s peers Terrorvision and rising Scottish blues rockers King King, who return to headline the Fleece next month.

Symphony X/Myrath/Melted Space

Bierkeller, Feb 18

Three great gigs on one night? Why do the Metal Gods (not Rob Halford, obviously) torment us so? New Jersey prog-metallers Symphony X have never been afraid to tackle grand concepts with neo-classical overtures and ornate arrangements. Hell, they once released an album inspired by Milton’s Paradise Lost. Newie Underworld takes Dante’s Inferno and Orpheus in the Underworld as its inspiration. But they’ll have to be on top form to follow Tunisia’s magnificent Myrath, who are prime exponents of Middle-Eastern Metal, alongside the likes of Israel’s Orphaned Land. Their distinctive music incorporates Arabic melodies into the power/prog-metal template to very impressive effect, though they haven’t released an album since 2011’s Tales of the Sands. Get there early for opening act Melted Space, an intriguing opera/orchestral metal collective from France whose debut The Great Lie brings together the Prague Philharmonic with the likes of Mayhem/Sunn O)))) vocalist Attila Csihar. No idea who’ll be playing with them tonight, mind.

Ensiferum/Metsatoll

Marble Factory, Feb 18

Polish that plastic sword, slap on the woad and down several tankards of mead: it’s folk/Viking/battle metal time! Finland’s Ensiferum are touring their sixth album One Man Army on Metal Blade. Former Turisas accordion player Netta Skog guests on this, but she doesn’t appear to be joining the tour. The support is regular touring partners Metsatoll from Tallinn, who incorporate traditional melodies and instruments such as the torupill (Estonian bagpipes) into their stirring brand of folk-metal, which draws mainly on Estonian folklore. Expect a rollicking good time.

Therapy?

Thekla, Feb 18

Northern Ireland’s Therapy? were occasionally viewed with suspicion by metalheads on account of having been indie darlings for the first ten minutes of their career. Two million album sales and 25+ years on, they’ve outlived most of their peers and silenced the carpers with an impressive catalogue of melodic punk/metal. Tonight they’ll be playing 1994’s Infernal Love in its entirety, plus all kinds of B-sides and rarities.

Graham Bonnet

Bierkeller, Feb 19

Yeah, him: the short-haired bloke out of Rainbow, who incurred the wrath of feminists for singing those ungallant lyrics to All Night Long back in 1979. Impressively, Bonnet has worked with no less than three of rock’s most – how to put this delicately? – demanding guitarists: Ritchie Blackmore, Michael Schenker and Yngwie Malmsteen. Apparently, we can expect all the hits performed by his new band. Fascinating fact: 68-year-old Bonnet’s first hit was Only One Woman in 1968 as one-half of pop duo The Marbles. This, like most of his early material, was actually written by the Bee Gees. Don’t expect to hear it tonight, mind.

CJ Wildheart

Thekla, Feb 25

Conventional wisdom has it that CJ (Chris Jagdhar to his mum) was mainly responsible for the Wildhearts’ poppier side while Ginger brought the heavy stuff. But now Ginge has gone all power-pop with Hey! Hello! and CJ’s diverse and very impressive solo album Mable rocks very hard indeed in places. No doubt he’ll be playing much of it at this rare solo show, along with tracks from the follow-up Robot, but hopefully he’ll also find time to dig back further to the CJ & the Satellites album as well as Honeycrack – his under-appreciated mid-’90s band with Willie Dowling. If you want to tease him, shout out for something by short-lived ’80s hair metal also-rans The Tattooed Love Boys, in whose ranks he lurked beneath a gravity-defying bouffant. Support is from Bristol band Flowerpot.

The Cult

Colston Hall, February 25

Yes, they’re back. The old goths who cleaned up in the US by welding sturdy AC/DC riffage to mystical Native American bollocks, with a little help from Rick Rubin and Bob Rock, have just completed album number 10, Hidden City. They’re still fronted by Ian Astbury, with Billy Duffy on guitar. The latter has promised that the new one will be “more guitar-heavy” than its predecessors. They’ve already done the ‘touring the classic album’ thing with Electric a couple of years back, but it’s a safe bet that you’ll still hear Love Removal Machine at some point in the proceedings.

Further Ahead 

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

Decapitated, Marble Factory, March 2

Reckless Love, Thekla, March 4

Stiff Little Fingers/Ricky Warwick, Academy, March 6

Sabaton/Alestorm, Academy, March 8

Exodus, Fleece, March 9

Purson, Louisiana, March 9

Deafheaven/Myrkur, Fleece, March 13

Fleshgod Apocalypse, Fleece, March 16

Hard Rock Hell Tour: Quireboys/Faster Pussycat/Bonafide, Academy, March 18

The Enid, Redgrave Theatre, March 18

Amorphis, Fleece, March 18

Soft Machine, The Lantern, March 20

Ozric Tentacles, Fleece, March 20

Trivium, Academy, March 23

Tracer, Thekla, March 24

The Von Hertzen Brothers, Fleece, March 24

Mushroomhead/American Head Charge/Sanguine, Marble Factory, March 26

Antimatter/Allnight Chemists, Exchange, March 27

Overkill, Fleece, April 12

Conan, Stag & Hounds, April 15

Dub War, Fleece, April 15

Hey! Hello!, Fleece, April 26

Anneke Van Giersbergen, Exchange, April 26

Korpiklaani/Moonsorrow, Fleece, April 27

Chris Cornell, Colston Hall, April 30

Yes, Colston Hall, May 4

Steak Number Eight, Stag & Hounds, May 13

Gov’t Mule, Academy, May 13

Magnum, Academy, May 29

Mortiis, Fleece, May 29

Temples Festival, Motion, June 2-5

Panic Room, Fleece, June 23

Joe Bonamassa, Colston Hall, July 5

Frost*, Thekla, July 29

Y&T, Academy, Nov 6