Metal & Prog Picks: June 2017

The big news this month is the return of the mighty, massively under-appreciated King’s X to the Bierkeller. It’s the first of only three UK shows on their current tour. Interestingly, Illinois pop-rock titans Cheap Trick are also playing just three gigs in the UK this month, finishing up at the O2 Academy. Elsewhere, veteran symphonic rockers The Enid unveil their youthful new line-up at the Fleece, Metal Church pipe thrash metal aboard the Thekla, Syd Arthur bring their modern twist on the Canterbury sound back to the Exchange, and splendid flute-driven Canadian psych/prog-metallers Blood Ceremony get Wiccan on our asses at the Louisiana.

Syd Arthur/Morgan Delt

Exchange, June 4

Welcome return to the Exchange of the youthful Canterbury scene standard bearers who now boast three McGill brothers – Liam (vocals/guitar), Joel (bass) and Josh (drums) – alongside Kate Bush’s nephew Raven on keyboards and violin. Their rather fine fourth album, Apricity, is out now on  – oh, nostalgia – Harvest Records. Produced by ex-Jellyfish fella Jason Falkner in LA, it is, as you might expect, a slicker, poppier collection than their previous recordings, reflecting the quartet’s determination not to be confined to the ‘retro’ box. But as Mojo’s reviewer observed of this distinctive brand of 21st century prog: “What Syd Arthur still share with those older Canterbury groups is that their music positively shimmers.” This show is billed as a co-headliner with Californian Morgan Delt (a chap, not a band), who’s been described as a “deranged psych-pop bedroom auteur”. His second album Phase Zero is out now on Sub Pop.

King’s X

Bierkeller, June 12

They should have had Nirvana’s career. Hell, they should have been bigger than Nirvana. Occasionally, those of us who like to feel smug about spotting the next big thing long before it happens are left scratching our heads in puzzlement. With three brilliant albums – Out of the Silent Planet, Gretchen Goes to Nebraska and Faith, Hope, Love – Texan trio King’s X seemed poised to become one of the biggest bands in the world back in the early ’90s. They ploughed a broadly similar furrow to that of the Seattle mob (who loved them) – the Beatles-meets-Sabbath blend of hard rock and melody – but had much better songs, with more complex arrangements. But for some reason, they never took off. It’s even been said that their albums were only bought by fellow musicians. All kinds of reasons have been advanced for this, and it’s certainly true to say that whiny old Kurt Cobain enjoyed an easier connection with nihilistic teens than a freakishly tall gay Christian black man wearing a tunic and sporting a mohican (Doug Pinnick, for it is he – though he subsequently renounced his faith, which he couldn’t reconcile with his sexuality). Anyhoo, back in 1991 at this very venue, King’s X played one of the best shows this writer has ever seen (and I go to a lot of gigs). Will they be just as good 26 years on? Only one way to find out. Oh, and don’t just take my word about how great they are. Check out the vid above for the views of Vernon Reid, Ritchie Blackmore and Nile Rodgers.

Blood Ceremony

Louisiana, June 15

Fabulous Anglophile Beelzebub-botherers from Toronto, Blood Ceremony have been described, most amusingly, as “flute-tinged witch rock”, their agreeable blend of Sabbath, Tull, Fairport Convention and The Wicker Man chiming perfectly with the modish pastoral acid folk movement, though they’re probably rather too heavy for our whiskery hipster friends. By my reckoning, this is their third visit to Bristol and their first headlining show here. Back in 2009, they upstaged the frankly rather boring Electric Wizard at the Trinity. Then they provided a welcome change of pace amid all the black metal and metalcore at the 2014 Temples Festival, drawing a huge crowd and emerging as one of the fest’s highlights. Fourth album, Lord of Misrule, is out now on – what else? – Rise Above. If we ask very nicely, perhaps they’ll play the Lord Summerisle and Ballad of the Weird Sisters from The Eldritch Dark. Support comes from London stoner/doom act Steak.

Metal Church

Thekla, June 24

Yay – some proper old-school thrash aboard the increasingly metal-friendly good ship Thekla. Washington’s Metal Church actually pre-date all those ever-fracturing sub-genres, being just a good old-fashioned heavy metal band when they formed way back in 1980. But they became a major influence on the nascent thrash/speed metal movement and were always great mates with Metallica. Indeed, when the thrash titans played a secret show at London’s legendary Marquee club back in 1990, they actually performed as support to Metal Church. Eleven albums, umpteen musicians and two deaths on, the Church now boasts just one original member – founder Kurdt Vanderhoof – though the return of vocalist Mike Howe for the functionally titled XI album marked a welcome return to form.

https://youtu.be/7F10lHcLjm0

The Enid

Fleece, June 26

…and then there were three. It sure has been a trying time for the nation’s finest symphonic proggers. First founder Robert John Godfrey was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and had to step down from touring – though he continues to make the occasional live appearance and retains a guiding hand in the background. Then frontman Joe Payne suffered a nervous breakdown and departed. He was swiftly followed by founding drummer Dave Storey and guitarist Max Read, who’d more or less kept the show on the road. The anniversary performance of The Enid’s brilliant debut, In the Region of the Summer Stars, at the Fleece last year clearly saw the band in transition as they tried to figure out what the hell to do next. Now they’ve decided, emerging as a youthful trio fronted by talented keyboard player/vocalist Zach Bullock, with relatively long-serving (hey, he’s been in the band for ten years) guitarist Jason Ducker and drummer Dominic Tofield. There’s a new album, Resurgency, which they describe as a crossover collection, “a bridge between the old and the new”, the small print revealing that it comprises re-recorded versions of previous tracks. So we’ll probably have to wait until the next full studio album to get a proper idea of where they’re heading. Still, the Enid fanbase is nothing if not fervently loyal.

https://youtu.be/NFjOpqtKRq4

Cheap Trick

O2 Academy, June 29

The Illinois kings of smart, Beatlesy pop-rock avoided Bristol for most of their career. But now they’re back at the Academy for the second time in a mere six years. Since then they’ve released one album (the oddly titled Bang, Zoom, Crazy…Hello), which saw them back in the US top 40 for the first time in 27 years, have a second (the Surrender-referencing We’re All Allright!) in the can for release this month, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alongside Deep Purple and NWA (bet that was interesting backstage), toured extensively in the US (with Aerosmith, Boston and Peter Frampton) and were even offered $100,000 to play a gig launching the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland. Alas, those foolhardy right-wingers have yet to figure out that they have few friends in the world of rock (crazy uncle Ted Nugent excepted) and the Trick turned them down flat. Robin Zander did, however, admit to second thoughts. “Maybe we should have accepted it,” he told The Grauniad last year, “but we would all have got swastika guitars made.” Expect all the classics tonight, including, of course, Surrender, which was recently featured on The Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2‘s lucrative ‘awesome mixtape’. With any luck, they’ll also avoid playing that godawful saccharine big hit The Flame, like they did last time. Incidentally, that’s guitarist Rick Nielson’s son Daxx on drums, replacing the departed Bun E. Carlos – the band’s only permanent line-up change since 1974 (bassist Tom Petersson enjoyed a seven-year sabbatical in the 1980s).

COMING SOON

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

Geezer, Old England, July 1

Steve Winwood, Colston Hall, July 4

SUNN O))), Trinity, July 13

Dan Baird and Homemade Sin, Thunderbolt, July 20

Graham Bonnet, Bierkeller, July 24

Wayward Sons, Louisiana, July 26

Electric Wizard, Bierkeller, Aug 17

Lonely Robot, Thekla, Aug 20

Suffocation, Bierkeller, Aug 27

KMFDM, Fleece, Sept 10

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

The Hawklords, Bierkeller, Nov 7

Airbourne, O2 Academy, Nov 11

Von Hertzen Brothers, Fleece, Nov 12

Bad Touch/Mollie Marriott, Tunnels, Nov 16

Opeth/Enslaved, O2 Academy, Nov 21

Fish, O2 Academy, Dec 13

The Darkness, Colston Hall, Dec 14