Metal & Prog Picks: August 2017

Bongs at the ready: it’s all about the stoners this month. Elder put a classy prog spin on the genre as they tour terrific new album Reflections of a Floating World. Radio Moscow are more of a classic power trio in the Blue Cheer vein. And veterans Electric Wizard can be guaranteed to get doomy on our asses. Should that not appeal, there’s great modern prog from Lonely Robot, playing one of just three UK gigs at the Thekla, and proper-job old-skool technical death metal from Suffocation. Oh, and if you enjoyed Cheap Trick at the Academy, give Ryan Hamilton and the Traitors a go. They operate in a similar field of catchy, smart-alecky pop-rock.

Elder

Fleece, Aug 6

This ace Boston trio are often lumped in to the stoner/doom bracket alongside the likes of Sleep. Sure, there are plenty of similarities in their early work, but, not unlike Arkansas’s equally splendid Pallbearer, they’ve been spiralling off in a much proggier direction of late. New album Reflections of a Floating World (note none-more-prog album title and cover art) continues the departure they began with 2015’s Lore, being a six-track collection packed with epics that combine heavy riffage with melodic, frequently psychedelic flights of fancy. It’s a trip, man, and this could well prove to be the gig of the month.

Radio Moscow/Groundhogs

Exchange, Aug 16

Not to be confused with the band of the same name that featured Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler, this Radio Moscow are an old-school blues-rock power trio from Iowa. They’ve been knocking around and honing their craft since 2003, touring with everyone from Graveyard and Witchcraft to Joe Bonamassa and Pentagram. They recently signed a deal with metal label Century Media (home of Voivod, Lacuna Coil and Arch Enemy), who release the band’s aptly titled fifth album, New Beginnings, in September. Support comes from the legendary Groundhogs. Alas, they no longer feature Tony McPhee, who’s unable to perform following a stroke. But original drummer (Bristol’s very own) Ken Pustelnik continues the band. Check out our review of them at this very venue back in 2015 here and read our interview with Ken here.

Electric Wizard/Angel Witch

Bierkeller, Aug 17

The gloomiest thing to come out of Dorset since Thomas Hardy, Jus Oborn’s veteran doom crew were last in town headlining the 2014 Temples Festival. They don’t bother much with the niceties of audience interaction. Each song flows into the next, creating one huge feedback-drenched slab of riffage. When they hit a groove, it works brilliantly, inspiring a sea of slow-motion headbanging. But it’s fair to say that some vociferous non-converts at Temples found them unutterably boring. Still, at least they always bring great support acts. This time it’s re-formed NWOBHM also-rans Angel Witch, still fronted by Kevin Heybourne, who’ve acquired something of a cult reputation among young ‘uns, having headlined the second stage at Bloodstock back in 2011. Their Baphomet merch remains highly covetable too.

Lonely Robot

Thekla, Aug 20

It’s the prog gig of the month. Actually, it’s the only prog gig of the month, though there’s some tasty stuff coming up in the autumn. For the uninitiated, Lonely Robot is actually just one fella – multi-instrumentalist and former It Bites frontman John Mitchell, who was last on stage at the Thekla a year ago with the magnificent Frost*. The Big Dream, his second album as Lonely Robot, continues the – oh, yes! – overarching concept of the journey of The Astronaut thusly: “The Astronaut wakes up from a cryogenic sleep but finds he’s no longer in space, and is instead in a woodland area surrounded by a group of strange people with animal heads. It’s a little surreal, a little Midsummer Night’s Dream to some extent. This is something of a solipsistic haze, for want of a better description.” Clearly, he can’t play everything himself on stage, so he’s recruited a top-notch band for this rare live performance: drummer Craig Blundell from Steven Wilson’s band, keyboard player Liam Holmes from Touchstone and Fish’s bassist Steve Vantsis. If you’re looking for a comparison, try such non-twiddly modern melodic prog acts as The Pineapple Thief.  Fascinating fact: as a producer at his own Outhouse Studios, Mitchell is responsible for helping such noisy bastards as Enter Shikari, You Me At Six, Architects and Funeral for a Friend to shape their sound. Vantsis is on double duty with support act Tilt, which also features his guitarist pal from Fish’s band, Robin Boult.

Ryan Hamilton & the Traitors

Thekla, Aug 24

If the name sounds familiar, that’s because Ginger Wildheart took Ryan and his band along as support on his last solo tour – and Ginge knows a thing or two about bashing out a catchy choon. As we remarked of their performance on that occasion: “They trade in that peculiarly American brand of catchy, sunny, witty pop-rock that succeeds in snaring the smart-alecky college crowd while keeping rockers onside, rather like a more rootsy Cheap Trick.” New album The Devil’s in the Detail is out now.

Suffocation

Bierkeller, Aug 27

Controversial opinion alert: the problem with much modern death metal is that it’s no more than a rather dull regurgitation of material that the originators did so much better. And here are some of those originators: Long Island veterans Suffocation, who were last in town supporting musical fellow travellers Nile at the Marble Factory. This lot pretty much laid down the technical death metal template with their debut, Effigy of the Forgotten, back in 1991. Now they’re back in town to show the whippersnappers how it’s done. Suffocation’s eighth album, …Of the Dark Light, is out now on Nuclear Blast. Support comes from Israeli thrash metallers Hammercult.

COMING SOON

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

KMFDM, Fleece, Sept 10

Jucifer, Exchange, Sept 13

The Pineapple Thief/Godsticks, Bierkeller, Sept 17

Sparks, O2 Academy, Sept 26

Anathema/Alcest, Marble Factory, Sept 28

All Them Witches, Bierkeller, Oct 7

Supersuckers, Fleece, Oct 10

Windhand/Satan’s Satyrs, Exchange, Oct 13

Focus, Tunnels, Oct 17

WASP, O2 Academy, Oct 25

Dying Fetus, Fleece, Nov 3

The Hawklords, Bierkeller, Nov 7

Decapitated/Venom Prison/King Parrot, Thekla, Nov 10

Cradle of Filth, Bierkeller, Nov 11

Airbourne, O2 Academy, Nov 11

Von Hertzen Brothers, Fleece, Nov 12

Venom Inc, Fleece, Nov 13

Bad Touch/Mollie Marriott, Tunnels, Nov 16

Morbid Angel, Bierkeller, Nov 16

Robert Plant, Colston Hall, Nov 17

Caravan, Komedia, Bath, Nov 19

Opeth/Enslaved, O2 Academy, Nov 21

Fish, O2 Academy, Dec 13

The Darkness, Colston Hall, Dec 14

Extreme/Dan Reed Network, O2 Academy, Dec 18

Nazareth, Marble Factory, Jan 27

Arch Enemy/Wintersun/Tribulation, O2 Academy, Feb 14

Apocalyptica, Colston Hall, Feb 28

Skid Row, O2 Academy, March 20

Epica, O2 Academy, April 8

Jethro Tull, Colston Hall, April 9