Music / Previews
Metal & Prog Picks: February 2019
We’ve got another splendidly mixed bag of black metal, death metal, sleaze rock, classic rock and award-winning prog this month. Some intriguing new additions to the coming soons too. If the name Dave Bickler prompts a puzzled “Who he?”, as well it might, he’s the beret-wearing former Survivor frontman who sang Eye of the Tiger. Anyone with a taste for hard-edged Americana/Southern Rock should bag a ticket for that tasty triple bill at the Academy in September, which features Jason and the Scorchers, the great Dan Baird and the first Bristol show by veterans the Kentucky Headhunters, whose ranks include the dad of Black Stone Cherry’s drummer.
Marble Factory, Feb 6
is needed now More than ever
Finally – Poland’s greatest black/death metal band come to Bristol on their Ecclesia Diabolica Evropa tour, and they’re on something of a roll following the release of the two best albums of their lengthy career: The Satanist and I Loved You at Your Darkest. Erudite frontman Adam ‘Nergal’ Darski published his memoir Confessions of a Heretic a couple of years ago and is something of a mainstream celeb back home, appearing as a coach on the Polish TV version of The Voice. But tearing up Bibles (“a book of lies”) on stage and denouncing the Catholic Church as “the most murderous cult on the planet” hasn’t gone down too well, so this history graduate and qualified museum curator (no, really) has repeatedly found himself in court for blasphemy, successfully defending himself on grounds of artistic freedom. But never mind all that, the big question is: will they be bringing their Wolf Ov Siberia beer? Support comes from Swedish death metal veterans At the Gates (who actually played the Full Moon pub on Stokes Croft in its pre-hipster days way back in 1996) and US black metallers Wolves in the Throne Room.
O2 Academy, Feb 6
Arriving a decade late to the sleaze rock party sparked by Guns n’ Roses, Josh Todd’s authentically degenerate Californian combo still managed to notch up a couple of suitably disgraceful hits (Lit Up, the Grammy nominated Crazy Bitch). They release their eighth album, Warpaint, this year. Yep, the name’s a corruption of Chuck Berry. This show is billed as a co-headliner with the even more oddly named Hoobastank, who’ve charted a course from ska and funk-metal to more melodic alternative rock/post-grunge over the years.
Old England, Feb 9
An outbreak of prog at the Old E, thanks to those lovely Snuff Lane folks. Madrid instrumentalists Toundra’s fourth album – and first major label release – IV entered the Spanish charts at number two. Their latest one, Vortex, is out on Inside Out and holds plenty of appeal to those who enjoy the band’s musical fellow travellers Long Distance Calling. Oh, and you can always describe them as ‘post-rock’ rather than ‘prog’ if you’re daft enough to be concerned about appearing cool. Keeping things instrumental, support comes from local post-doomsters Cegvera.
Bath Forum, Feb 11
Aptly enough, ever-popular Britrockers Thunder have chosen a seated venue for this date on their 30th anniversary Please Remain Seated tour. Having succeeded in becoming even more popular since leaving EMI and taking control of their own destiny (their previous album Rip It Up reached number three in the UK charts and their previous show round these parts at the Colston Hall sold out months in advance), they could be forgiven for coasting. Instead, they’ve chosen to re-record a bunch of songs from their back catalogue. These ain’t just acoustic versions, in familiar unplugged format, but radical re-workings in blues, jazz, soul and – ulp! – reggae style. It’s a risky gambit which has, perhaps predictably, divided fans, but the album followed its predecessor into the top ten. Support tonight comes from the great Dan Reed, in suitably acoustic solo mode after his rockin’ show at the Fleece last year.
Fleece, Feb 17
Buoyed no doubt by having the excellent Vector selected as album of the year by Prog magazine’s critics, ace Brit prog-metallers Haken return to the Fleece for the first time in nearly three years. Expect complex contemporary prog with breathtaking multi-part Gentle Giant-style vocals. But grab those tickets pronto if you’re thinking of going. There were only a handful left last time we checked.
Thekla, Feb 18
You may recall that this show by the Polish technical death metallers was originally scheduled for last November. But then they were all charged with kidnapping and gang rape in the US, prompting a predictable social media eruption. As we said at the time, one of a handful of sensible comments came from a fan posting on the band’s Facebook page: “If they did not do it, I hope they are freed. If they did it, I hope they get what they deserve.” Last month all charges were dropped, so the tour to promote Decapitated’s 2017 Anticult album is back on again. It’s their first show in Bristol since that rather topsy-turvy bill with Sylosis at the Marble Factory back in 2016.
SWX, Feb 22
There are those who hail The Struts as the future of rock’n’roll and Bristol’s very own Luke Spiller as the new Freddie Mercury – or, at the very least, the new Justin Hawkins. Even those of us who remain Struts agnostics have to admire their confidence, work ethic and impressive ability to date supermodels and pop singers, though they’ve yet to become quite as big as they clearly expect to be. New album Young & Dangerous hit number 77 in the hit parade like a rather slow-moving bullet last year. Still, they wasted no time in selling out SWX, which means you’ll have to wait until next time to form your own opinion if you haven’t got a ticket.
Blue Öyster Cult/The Temperance Movement
Anson Rooms, Feb 28
The first act to be dubbed “the thinking man’s heavy metal band” make an unexpected return to the UK for this eight-date tour. There’s no new album to promote (the last one was Curse of the Hidden Mirror 18 years ago) and the official BÖC website isn’t exactly a mine of useful information. But in addition to That Song, they’ve got an enviable catalogue of material to draw upon and have attracted an impressive bunch of outside lyricists including Michael Moorcock, Jim (The Basketball Diaries) Carroll, Eric Van Lustbader and Patti Smith (back when she was partnered-up with keyboard player Allen Lanier). Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma survive in the line-up from the classic era, with multi-instrumentalist whizzkid/producer Richie Castellano on keyboards and much more. Having The Temperance Movement on this bill is a huge bonus for punters if a tad puzzling as far as their career is concerned, given that they have no diffuculty pulling a crowd as a headline act – as they demonstrated during their two previous Bristol appearences at the Academy.
COMING SOON
Here’s our essential diary of upcoming gigs that should be of interest to anyone of a rockin’ disposition.
UFO, O2 Academy, March 7
Cats in Space, Thekla, March 8
Hayseed Dixie, Fleece, March 11
Dave Bickler, Thekla, March 12
Windhand, Exchange, March 12
The Lounge Kittens, Fleece, March 21
Riverside, SWX, March 21
The Pineapple Thief, SWX, March 24
Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs Pigs, Exchange, March 28
That Joe Payne/Doris Brendel, Exchange, March 31
The Black Dahlia Murder, Fleece, April 5
Massive Wagons, Thekla, April 6
In Flames, SWX, April 7
Monster Truck, O2 Academy, April 18
Devin Townsend, St. George’s, April 26
Wildhearts, SWX, May 7
The Picturebooks, Exchange, May 9
Gong, Thekla, May 24
Astral Festival, SWX/The Lanes/Rough Trade, July 6
Jason and the Scorchers/Dan Baird/Kentucky Headhunters, O2 Academy, Sept 8
Marillion, Bath Forum, Nov 9
Lacuna Coil/Eluveitie, SWX, Nov 15
Steve Hackett, Bath Forum, Nov 20
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