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Metal & Prog Picks: February 2024
February begins with some very heavy metal and ends in prog, with plenty of silliness along the way. Join us as we romp from Evil Scarecrow and Suffocation to The Pineapple Thief and Rick Wakeman.
Thekla, Feb 2
is needed now More than ever
Return of the comedy metallers with those amusing Blue Peter props. They’ve just released a new song, Release the Krakhen, which is the cautionary tale of a chicken whose crack-induced paranoia induces it to believe it’s been possessed by an ancient sea monster.
Fleece, Feb 19
Superior New York technical death metallers whose ninth album, Hymns from the Apocrypha (Nuclear Blast) was their first to feature new vocalist Ricky Myers alongside Terrance Hobbs, who’s been the band’s lead guitarist since their first release, Effigy of the Forgotten, back in 1991.
SWX, Feb 21
Yeovil’s greatest proggers return for the closest they ever get to a hometown gig, which is actually the second date on an extensive European tour. New album It Leads To This is out now on Kscope in multiple formats (including an essential high-resolution Dolby Atmos mix by mainman Bruce Soord). The line-up is the same as last time they played here, with Porcupine Tree’s Gavin Harrison on drums, plus Steve Kitch on keyboards and Jon Sykes on bass and backing vocals. Says Bruce: “Conceptually It Leads To This continues my desire to observe and (try to) make sense of life and the world around me. It’s all there in the lyrics. The initial concept for the songs came together very quickly but the final lyrical and musical elements took a huge amount of work to piece together between the four of us, at least to a point where we were all satisfied. After so long in the business, being ‘satisfied’ is constantly being pushed further, constantly redefined. That’s the thing, we just kept pushing…” Prepare for what is certain to be one of the gigs of the year.
O2 Academy, Feb 22
Going full prog with their fifth studio album War of Being (KScope), which ranked sixth in Prog magazine’s albums of the year list, the Milton Keynes prog-metallers have fully embraced the concept of, er, the concept album. It took them five years to create and, as so often with the genre, the concept itself is rather difficult to nail down. Which is perhaps why they’ve expanded upon it in an accompanying video game and a proposed novel by bassist Amos Williams. Metal Hammer dubbed War of Being “a progressive metal masterpiece”, so hopefully TesseracT will be playing most of it on this tour. Be warned that at the time of writing tickets were running low for this show.
Alestorm/Korpiklaani/Heidevolk
O2 Academy, Feb 25
Return of the ever-popular jolly pirate metallers on a tour to promote their new Voyage of the Dead Marauder EP. Hopefully they’ll be bringing the giant inflatable duck again. They’ll certainly have to be on top form to outclass their support acts. Fabulous Finnish folk-metallers Korpiklaani were due here in April 2020, but something untoward intervened. Their new album Rankarumpu is out on Nuclear Blast in April. Openers Heidevolk are Dutch Pagan folk-metallers whose latest album Wederkeer is out now on Napalm.
SWX, Feb 26
Part of the Australian psychedelia explosion that gave the world King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard and Tame Impala, Perth’s pleasingly surreal Psychedelic Porn Crumpets take musical influences from The Beatles, Black Sabbath and Led Zeppelin alongside electronic experimental jazz. Their latest album, Fronzoli, came out late last year.
Bristol Beacon, Feb 28
By my calculations, this will be Rick’s first solo performance at this venue in 44 years. It may also be his last, given his recent announcement that he’s giving up touring in advance of his 77th birthday. Unsurprisingly, at the time of writing there were only a handful of tickets left for this show on the Return of the Caped Crusader tour, which follows the enormous success of last year’s London Palladium gigs. It’s a two-parter, with the first bit featuring new arrangements of Yes classics and the second part comprising a full performance of the great Journey to the Centre of the Earth. As in London, Rick will be joined by his English Rock Ensemble, whose ranks include his son Adam on keyboards, guitar and backing vocals, and bassist Lee Pomeroy, who was last seen in Bristol at the Fleece as a member of the current Caravan line-up.
Main image of The Pineapple Thief: Greg Holland
COMING SOON
Here’s our essential diary of upcoming gigs that should be of interest to anyone of a rockin’ disposition.
Svalbard, Exchange, March 2
Sons of Liberty, Thekla, March 3
Persephone, Exchange, March 5
Orbit Culture, Exchange, March 7
10cc, Bristol Beacon, March 7
Crowbar, Marble Factory, March 8
Ugly Kid Joe, Fleece, March 10
Robert Plant, Bristol Beacon, March 13
Justin Hawkins Rides Again, St. George’s, March 19
DeWolff, Louisiana, March 19
Dragonforce/Amaranthe, O2 Academy, March 22
Sylosis, Fleece, April 4
Bell Witch, Exchange, April 7
Jethro Tull, Bristol Beacon, April 17
DVNE, Exchange, April 27
When Rivers Meet, Thekla, April 28
Bossk/Maybeshewill, Fleece, May 15
Yes, Bristol Beacon, May 31
Bristol Sounds: Skindred, Reef, Kris Barras Band, Canons March Amphitheatre, June 22
Love with Johnny Echols, Fleece, Aug 1
ArcTanGent Festival: Meshuggah, Animals As Leaders, etc., Fernhill Farm, Aug 14-17
Hawkwind, Bath Forum, Aug 16
Battle Beast, Marble Factory, Oct 3
Steve Hackett, Bristol Beacon, Oct 5
Visions of Atlantis, Exchange, Oct 7
Eivør, Thekla, Oct 12
Delain, SWX, Nov 22
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