Metal & Prog Picks: February 2017

There’s no getting away from the fact that things have taken a turn for the silly this month, with dressing up box metal acts Evil Scarecrow and Galactic Empire playing within days of one another. For those who prefer classic rock, there’s a rare local show by the brilliant Glenn Hughes and the intriguing prospect of The Answer’s – ulp! – change of direction. Anyone who favours the heavier stuff and couldn’t get a ticket for Anthrax’s long sold-out show at the Academy should take a gander at a couple of fine underground metal double-bills coming to the Stag & Hounds: Mare/Sonance and ((OHHMS)) with the wonderfully named Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard. Scroll down for lots of tasty new stuff in the coming soon section, including Paul Rodgers and Procol Harum at the Colston Hall (not together, obviously), the return of the great King’s X to the Bierkeller, classy doom metal aboard the Thekla from Pallbearer, the magnificent Katatonia at the Marble Factory,  veteran prog-folkies Tir na nOg at the Salt Café and a welcome addition to the city’s festival scene in the form of the Effigy alternative metal weekender.

Mare/Sonance

Stag & Hounds, Feb 1

Another of those bands who were booked to play the cancelled Temples fest last year finally pitch up under their own steam. Signed to Hydra Head, Canucks Mare emerged from the Toronto death metal/tech-metal scene to create, it says here rather grandly, “a menacing composite of styles and forms – sludge-metal, math-rock, classic prog idioms, and the diaphonic harmonies from Bulgarian chorals.” They actually split up for a while because of “a lack of motivation to write and record more material for the project,” but have obviously overcome this now as they put out a self-titled LP late last year. Support comes from Bristolian atmospheric doomsters Sonance.

Glenn Hughes

Fleece, Feb 2

A bona fide rock legend who’s been a member of Black Sabbath and Deep Purple and is widely regarded as one of the all-time great vocalists, which is presumably why the KLF dubbed him The Voice of Rock and recruited him to sing on America: What Time is Love? It’s also why the likes of former Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusicante and drummer Chad Smith queue up to appear on his solo albums. Unlike most rock vocalists, Glenn Hughes’s background is in soul and funk. Actually, there’s been rather too much funk on some of his recent releases for those of us of a more rockin’ disposition, so it’s a pleasure to report that his new one, Resonate, rocks most satisfyingly. (Check out the vid for Heavy, above, and observe how Chad Smith appears to be turning into Will Ferrell.) He’s promising a fair bit from it tonight in a career-spanning set that goes right back to Trapeze, Purple and that great Hughes/Thrall album. Apparently, he’s patched things up with Joe Bonamassa, which means he’ll be soon playing arenas again with Black Country Communion. So this is likely to be the last time we’ll see him is such a small venue for quite a while. Fascinating factoid: Glenn once shared a house with David Bowie. There’s a sitcom in there somewhere…

Evil Scarecrow

Thekla, Feb 4

Jolly dressing up box metal from an act who’ve been billed as “the finest parody metal band from Nottingham to have written a song about a robot.”  Dr. Rabid Hell, Brother Dimitri Pain, Kraven Morrdeth, Princess Luxury and Ringmaster Monty Blitzfist have released two albums thus far – Crowcifiction and Sixty Six Minutes Past Six – and moved Metal Hammer to hail them as “an affable blend of Pythonesque absurdity, artfully drawn from an evident love of metal”. Check out their rather clever single take video for Hurricanado (above).

Galactic Empire

Fleece, Feb 6

A fully costumed band playing John Williams’ Star Wars music in a heavy metal stylee? What’s not to love? Billing themselves as “a heavy metal band comprised of the most sinister villains in the universe”, Galactic Empire crowdfunded an impressive $61,000 to finance the recording of their eponymous debut album. That won’t be released until Feb 3, but they’ve decided to head out on the road in the wake of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, giving us an opportunity to find out whether they can really cut it live and how long it takes for the joke to wear thin. That line-up in full: Boba Sett (drums), Bass Commander (bass), Dark Vader (lead guitar), Shadow Ranger (guitar) and Red Guard (guitar). They’re hiding their real identities, but the whole thing is the brainchild of Grant McFarland and Carson Slovak of Pennsylvania metal recording studio Atrium Audio. Look closely and you’ll observe that all the costumes have been tweaked to avoid landing a fucking great lawsuit from Disney and LucasFilm.

Anthrax

O2 Academy, Feb 11

Those with long memories undamaged by decades of volume abuse will recall that Anthrax became the first major thrash metal act to play Bristol when they reached the Colston Hall back in 1987. (Remember those hordes of nervous-looking bouncers and all the ‘No stage-diving!’ signs?) Indeed, Megadeth are the only other Big Four thrash band to ever play Bristol, as Slayer and Metallica by-passed the city altogether. For those sad enough to actually give a flying fuck about such things, the New Yorkers were also the only Big Four band to enjoy any critical cred back in the day, on account of their 2000AD/Public Enemy connections. Anyhoo, the album that Anthrax were here to promote back in the mists of time, Among the Living, celebrates its 30th anniversary this year (where does the time go, eh?). So naturally they’re playing it in full tonight along with stuff from their latest release, For All Kings – the band’s first Billboard top 10 album in 23 years, which earned a four-star review in the increasingly metal-friendly Grauniad. Interestingly, although Anthrax have undergone several personnel changes over the years, frontman Joey Belladonna and bassist Frank Bello have both now returned to the fold. So the line-up playing the Academy is the same as the one that played the Colston Hall, but for new guitarist Jonathan Donais.

((OHHMS))/Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard

Stag & Hounds, Feb 15

Swiftly returning to town after last June’s gig as part of the Fleece’s rescheduled Temples series, Canterbury’s ((OHHMS)) specialise in hard-edged sludge/doom epics. Check out the vid for The Anchor (above), which was filmed at Temples 2015. Support comes from magnificently named Wrexham prog/doomsters Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard – “three ape descendants and an astral seraphim combining their powers to generate colossal interstellar arias of plutonium weight,” no less. Even more magnificently, they cite Hawkwind and John Carpenter as influences and are determined to keep their native tongue alive with new album Y Proffwyd Dwyll (that’s False Prophet, apparently).

The Answer

Fleece, Feb 28

“Hope you like our new direction!” It’s a phrase guaranteed to send a shudder down the spine. But talented Downpatrick quartet The Answer have failed to make any real commercial progress over the last 12 years or so, despite winning a Classic Rock Award for best new band, counting Jimmy Page among their fans and enjoying the enviable showcase of a world tour supporting AC/DC. So they’ve taken the bold step of revamping their sound for new album Solas, moving away from Zeppelin-style classic rock. It’s certainly more brooding and, perhaps, commercial in places. Reviews have been kind, but Solas ranks as their lowest charting album since their 2005 debut. Still, Answer fans are loyal and it’s a safe bet that most of them will be open-minded enough to give them a fair hearing. Fascinating factoid: unless I’m very much mistaken, this is their first gig at the Fleece. Previous Bristol shows have been at the Thekla, Trinity and Academy.

COMING SOON

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

Bristol Heavy Rock Explosion Charity Show: Stampede, Lautrec, Stormtrooper, Exchange, March 11

Devin Townsend Project/TesseracT/Leprous, Colston Hall, March 12

Monster Truck, Marble Factory, March 15

Black Star Riders/Backyard Babies/Gun, O2 Academy, March 16

Mortiis, Fleece, March 16

LA Guns, Bierkeller, March 17

Sonata Arctica, Marble Factory, March 18

Gojira, Academy, March 18

Tir na nOg, Salt Café, March 22

Suicide Silence, Marble Factory, March 23

Jizzy Pearl’s Love/Hate, Thunderbolt, March 24

Crowbar, Bierkeller, March 25

Ill Nino, Fleece, March 26

Steve’n’Seagulls, Fleece, March 28

Broken Witt Rebels/Bad Touch, Tunnels, March 30

Effigy Festival: Big Business, Bossk, etc., Exchange/Stag & Hounds, March 31-April 1

John Coghlan’s Quo, Fleece, April 1

Wolf People, Exchange, April 5

Blackberry Smoke, O2 Academy, April 6

Pallbearer, Thekla, April 8

Acid Reign, Exchange, April 9

Hellyeah, Thekla, April 14

Bristol Deathfest: Vader, Immolation, etc., Bierkeller, April 15-16

Hayseed Dixie, Fleece, April 19

The Quireboys, Thekla, April 27

Black Spiders, Thekla, May 1

Steve Hackett, Colston Hall, May 4

Katatonia, Marble Factory, May 8

Paul Rodgers, Colston Hall, May 10

Damo Suzuki, Exchange, May 12

Procol Harum, Colston Hall, May 16

Hawkwind, O2 Academy, May 24

Skunk Anansie, Academy, May 25

KMFDM, Fleece, May 25

King’s X, Bierkeller, June 12

WASP, O2 Academy, Oct 25

Fish, O2 Academy, Dec 13