Tag Archives: Mat Davies

The Ghost Cult Album of the Year for 2015: Ghost – Meliora

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1. Ghost – ‘Meliora’ (Spinefarm)

Released on 21st August, Ghost Cult’s Album of the Month for September and now our official Album of the Year, managed, even in a year in which Slayer released a divisive selection and Iron Maiden unveiled a 90 minute double album after a five year hiatus, to dominate conversations, causing arguments and endless discussions about it’s place in their canon and Ghost‘s status in the world of rock and metal.

For a “new” act to take on the established acts for column inches and internet debate is testament to how successful the Satanic vision of the original Nameless Ghoul has been.

The band formed in 2008 with a simple mission to spread the word of Satan through the medium of retrospective rock with the devil’s harmonies carrying and subverting the masses.

“This is the album where Ghost have consolidated the tricks and tropes that drew us into their strange vaudevillian universe to begin with and the album that will hold us there for some time more. Meloria sees Ghost honing all their tricks into one accessible and often infectious package.”

Read Mat Davies original review here

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Much as dream follows day, Infestissumam saw a definite evolution and movement on from Opus Eponymous, and so Meliora is a further celebration of  the Ghost sound, of their continued exploration of a musical niche, adding rock opera tendencies, even, at times, grinding War Of The Worlds into the feted gristle flowing through their distinctive Satanic mills as 70’s synths flutter, guitar solo sing, and holding it all together into memorable hook-filled hymns is Papa Emeritus III.

You can throw superlatives, or analyse things to the nth degree, or you can enjoy that most special of things – an album filled from top to bottom with great songs.

And more than anything, THAT is why Meliora is the Album of 2015.

 

Ghost Cult Top 50:

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Chron Goblin – Backwater

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Canada’s Chron Goblin may be a new name on you (well, they were a new name on me, anyway) but they have plied their trade for a few years now and Backwater (Ripple), their third full length release, is a decent hopping-on point. Chron Goblin inhabit that strange hinterland, beloved of late, of attempting to inject new vibes and energy into tropes and styles that were current when flares were still resolutely in fashion.

Given that you’re reading this review on this website, it is a fairly good bet that you’re a fan of Black Sabbath in general and Tony Iommi in particular. As exercises in nostalgia and keeping up with how much Sabbath still influence today’s heavy bands, then you will find much to your liking on this record. The band’s love of the riff is highly in evidence, wrapped around a classic rock sensibility that, for once, sits well with the more obvious stoner and desert rock influences upon which the band have historically built their reputation. One suspects that the band’s membership of the Kyuss fan club is fully paid up.

Backwater sees a band that have honed their craft well and, for the most part, it’s delivered with gusto. The main issue with Backwater isn’t the obvious influences (if you don’t like Kyuss, you need to see me after school for some lessons), nor the all too derivative sleeve art (honestly, this could be from any one of dozens of their ilk). The real issue for Backwater is that the songs just aren’t that memorable. Everything is well put together and played with energy but, as for getting the hairs standing up on the back of your neck? Regrettably, I didn’t get any of those moments and the overall feeling was one of disappointment at what could have been. You know you’re in trouble when you’re thinking to yourself “I quite like track four, what’s that called again?”

Consequently, this is an album of what might have been rather than what is. Whilst there is a decent adherence to the riff rule book, there isn’t anything here that stays too long in the memory. Whilst you’re listening to it, you get the sense that, stoner sensibilities aside, not everything has clicked for them. As records of this ilk go, it’s pretty decent but it’s not quite the infectious and energised masterwork that you suspect the band are hoping for. A creditable record but, on this occasion, the cigars remain in the humidor.

 

6.0/10

 

MAT DAVIES


Shining – International Black Jazz Society

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Shining’s striking breakthrough album Blackjazz was routinely namechecked by people who know about these sorts of things as one of the records of 2010. Its follow up, the more industrial soaked inventiveness of One by One (both Indie), suggested a band with a considerable musical aesthetic and the talent to pull off its panoply of rich and varied textures. This, their seventh record overall, on first listen, gives an (ultimately false) impression of taking the best bit of the last two records, stitching together a composite of  unrelenting shape creation. That it stands as a distinct and satisfying record in its own right, with a resonance and intelligence, both in terms of its influence and execution, is testimony to the band’s blistering collective talent.

International Black Jazz Society (Spinefarm) is both wilfully difficult yet, paradoxically, the most approachable record that Shining have created. Much of this is down to an approach to song-writing that lets the songs breathe and get under your skin like fresh tattoos. This is important because the music here is intense, often challenging, but the band’s genius in letting the obtuse sounds and textures envelop the listener is respectful and welcome.

There is a focus to International Black Jazz Society that is admirable. Rather like the proverbial Olympic athlete, there is not an ounce of fat on this record; there is no padding and no superfluousness: it is nine tracks of determined aural assault and is all the better for it. The industrial rock of ‘Last Day’ is probably the most immediate of the songs here but listen intently to the unhinged ‘Thousand Eyes’ which has a rock sensibility nailed into its DNA for a song of equal, if not better, quality. The free jazz madness of ‘House of Warship’ will not be to the average listener’s taste but one suspects that this isn’t the constituency that Shining are aiming for; it’s a creative step forward and a successful one at that. Sat in the tracklisting next to its contrasting cousin, the dark and brooding House of Control is clearly deliberate and, as a showcase of the band’s diversity and talent it’s a formidable ten minutes. Elsewhere, the striking coda of ‘Need’ with its intense, end of the world is nigh sensibility gives the record an exhilarating, energetic sign off.

International Black Jazz Society will give you no silver bullet in your search for what blackjazz actually means but that might be part of the fun that Jørgen Munkeby is having with us and his band. The brilliance of Shining’s music is that, within a highly architectured approach to music composition, there is often a sense of being utterly unhinged; a sense of the wild within a formal structure. Songs veer, dive bomb and u-turn at will, giving a dynamism and energy: organised musical chaos, if you will. This is thrilling stuff, particularly when band leader Munkeby brings his signature alto saxophone into play.

International Black Jazz Society works for three reasons: it’s thrilling entertainment, it has the ability to merge free jazz and headbanging metal and challenge you to see the join and, above all, it creates a world that, however mad and maddening, you can’t help but want to be a part of.

 

8.0/10

 

MAT DAVIES


Behold! the Monolith – Architects of the Void

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For all the talk of sophisticated song structures, syncopated rhythms and harmonised vocalising that can often dominate reviews of records nowadays, sometimes it’s just nice to sit back, relax and be absolutely pummelled into submission by an album that is considerably more metal than you. Architects of the Void (independent/self-released), the third album from doom metallers Behold! the Monolith (no, I have no idea why they dispensed with the rules of grammar either) is one such record.

Upon first listen, Architects of the Void appears to eschew anything that would remotely suggest a lightness of touch. It arrives as the sort of record that is unapologetic in its roots and sense of self; belligerent in its execution and resolutely single-minded with how it brings a smile to your face and a crick to your neck.

Upon repeated listens however, the album reveals a much richer palette of sounds and creative touches; there is an undoubted progressive sensibility at play here – whether in the blending of musical styles (admittedly from the far left of the heaviness range) or in the playful riffing and energised pounding that comes from an understanding that, as listeners, we want this music to move us. And moves it does.

The doom metal architecture of ‘Lord of Bones’ is gloriously sludgy, there is a heft and glowering to ‘Philosopher’s Blade’, and the extended, rhythmical menace to the title track is absolutely beguiling. In fact, the entire enterprise is imbued with that sort of glorious, we-know-exactly-what-we-are-doing-and-we-are-having-a-marvellous-time-whilst-we-are-doing-it schtick that will have you running around your abode looking for a cap, proverbial or otherwise, to doff at them.

Monolith’s journey to this agreeable space might have come from digesting quite a lot of Mastodon records but that is hardly a bad thing. In fact, on ‘The Mithriditist’, it is demonstrated with a combination of power, precision and panache. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then this is something akin to a love letter.

Architects of the Void is the sort of record that you could easily pass by such is the vying for competition in today’s musical marketplace; please don’t. It’s inventive, passionate and as heavy as you could possibly wish for. Do you need any more than that? No, no you don’t.

 

7.5/10

 

MAT DAVIES


The Winery Dogs – Hot Streak

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The Winery Dogs self-titled debut album arrived back in 2013 to little fanfare – it was (yet) another side project for the hardest working man in music, the ridiculously prolific Mike Portnoy. Partnering with bass guitar legend Billy Sheehan and Mr Big (amongst others) guitarist Richie Kotzen, it became the latest “supergroup” to attempt to charm us with their wares. Winery Dogs debut was nothing if not efficient and, at times occasionally inspired, hard rock with a blues edge and infectious sense of melody. This should have hardly been a surprise, given the extensive CVs of the main protagonists; what really did surprise was how easy and effortless this all was, suggesting that the artists had found a common bond and sense of purpose whilst working in the studio.

Suspicions that The Winery Dogs do indeed have “legs” is confirmed by the arrival of Hot Streak (earMUSIC) a second dose of Winery songcraft and it’s every bit as good as it predecessor: in fact, the broadening of its styles and the accomplishment of its execution means it surpasses the charms of the debut.

There is a 1980s rock sensibility running through much of Hot Streak but it’s probably most noticeable on the catchy ‘Captain Love’ which sounds like an outtake from Van Halen’s 5150 (Warner). It’s got a tongue in cheek set of lyrics and a lightweight, don’t-take-this-all-too-seriously mentality which probably means that it’s going to be something of a live favourite.

Hot Streak is not an 80s pastiche though. Much of the record sounds like it was conjured live in the studio with each musician taking the lead at various points and then bandmates joining in with chords, choruses and licks as needed, though nowhere near as clunky as my writing would suggest. Far from it; there is a lightness and warmth to how the songs come together and it’s all done, as you would expect, professionally and with several tonnes of gusto. The highlight of the album is the brilliant ‘Fire; which has a haunting melody, gossamer light chord progression and a real, instant sense of belonging and heart.

What these Dogs do is not fantastically original or groundbreaking but things don’t always need to be fantastically original or groundbreaking. Hot Streak is a step up from the debut, and a solid rock album played wonderfully well; it has charm and warmth and is very welcome round my way.

 

7.0/10

 

MAT DAVIES


Clutch – Psychic Warfare

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Most modern music careers go a little bit like this. Write a good (or even great) record. Become popular. Have that “difficult second album” syndrome. Get less popular but retain a fan base. Record a third album that might have an unexpected hit. Record the same album for the rest of your career until everyone gets bored. Split up and then return and do a tour where you play the entirety of your first album because it’s a “masterpiece”. Ho, and indeed, hum.

Thank goodness then for Clutch. Clutch aren’t like most bands. Wait: Clutch are not like any other band. Now into their 20-something year of making smart, intelligent rock music, Psychic Warfare (Weathermaker) is the eleventh studio album from the Maryland, USA residents. Psychic Warfare sees Neil Fallon and Co in the rudest possible health, invigorating and invigorated, creatively refreshed and simply staggering and swaggering.

With their last record, Earth Rocker (also Weathermaker) delivering a veritable feast of passionate, invigorating rock music that proved that straight up rock ‘n’ roll could appeal equally to heart and head, one may have anticipated that Clutch would return with a record that sounded completely different, as has been their wont. Contrarians to the last, Clutch have taken the quality threshold set by Earth Rocker and simply upped the ante. If Earth Rocker set a new high benchmark for the Clutch boys, Psychic Warfare is the call and response that you can only have dreamt of, such is its dynamic power and prowess. In short, it’s utterly brilliant.

Psychic Warfare leaps out of the speakers, hoists you by the throat and never lets up, not for a second; punchier and harder than its predecessor. It’s as if the band has been in the gym for a few months: it’s muscular, tough, ripped. Psychic Warfare sounds like the band are not only content with sounding like Clutch, they are revelling in it. This new album has an immediate, warm sense of familiarity, one that breeds total and utter content.

The spoken word scene setting paranoia of ‘The Affadavit’ gives way to the instant Clutch classic of ‘X-Ray Vision’ which is so infectious it should carry a biohazard warning. The rest of the album just gets better and better. There are more riffs than a guitarists’ convention running throughout: Tim Sult has excelled himself with licks and flourishes that are inspired and imaginative, frenetic and pulsating: just listen to ‘Your Love Is Incarceration’ or ‘Sucker for the Witch’ and you will understand just what I am getting at.

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Clutch 2015

Clutch understand tone and dynamics perhaps better than any band operating today. It’s hardly a surprise that Jean-Paul Gaster is many people’s favourite drummer, such is his ability to bring depth, warmth and structure as well as light and funk to proceedings. In lesser hands, the forcefulness of these songs would feel oppressive, repetitive. In Clutch’s hand’s, these are songs that get in under your skin, make you dance and smile: it is a sheer bloody joy.

Psychic Warfare, like all the best Clutch albums (and, already, it’s amongst the very best of Clutch’s albums) is a record packed full of wizened characters, paranoia, liquor, esoteric cityscapes and name dropping of Stevie Nicks. I have no idea what’s going on in Neil Fallon’s mind but when he produces songs as strong and compelling as this, you cannot help but be drawn into his maelstrom of evocative storytelling. He is a master of American letters; Clutch are a band of sublime brilliance and Psychic Warfare might just be the album you’ve waited all year for.

Long may they reign supreme.

 

9.5/10

 

MAT DAVIES


Cross Country – Dustie Waring of Between The Buried And Me

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Between The Buried And Me. Photo credit by Justin Reich

It’s been a long two years of waiting for UK fans of prog metal pioneers Between the Buried and Me. Now, fresh from the summer release of the widely acclaimed Coma Ecliptic (Metal Blade), Ghost Cult caught up with BTBAM’s  guitarist  Dustie Waring on their current world tour, ahead of their recent London show.

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There have been some fantastic reviews for the new record; you must be really proud of it?

Yeah, we are. It was something really different for us, musically. We try to never repeat ourselves so the fact that people like it and support us is giving all of us a pretty incredible feeling.

When you’re in a band like BTBAM that have so many ideas going around, how do you decide between what’s working and going to work and what should be discarded?

There’s always a lot of ideas because everyone in the band contributes but the process is a fairly straightforward one: if we like something collectively, it’s in. If a piece doesn’t fit quite right in one place but is going to fit in another then we simply move stuff around: it’s pretty democratic and open.

Did you have any arguments you had when making the record?

You know, we don’t have arguments. At all. We are a very rare band in that regard. I guess we are like brothers, like family. Don’t get me wrong: we are all brutal with each other from a sense of humour perspective; we have a very dark sense of humour, but there’s never ever been arguments in our entire career – we just don’t do that.

When it comes to the live show, given the vast range of styles, how do you pick what should go into the BTBAM set?

Dan (Briggs, bass guitar) keeps a log of every set list from every tour so we look back and remind ourselves what we have been doing and what we have missed out on. Obviously, we are trying to promote  a new record so we will be doing stuff off that, but we kinda just try to play the bangers off the important stuff. Stuff everyone likes. There’s songs from every record – almost- and a fun little encore that we do (Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody, fact fans).

 

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

You’re known for having a fan base that is passionate and, dare we say, a little bit anal about everything you do; what’s the song that they always ask about that you don’t play?

Well,  obviously you get some people who yell out once in a while who want some really, really old shit that was from before, like three of us were actually in the band.

So some people will shout for some stuff off the first record but those kids are like maybe 1% of our audience and we have done that and the majority of the crowd have joined us from the newer stuff, so when we are doing really old stuff they are going “Hey, is this new?!”

We understand that some people want the old stuff but, to be honest, it’s not actually that popular with the majority of our fans. Some people ask for ‘Swim to the Moon’ but that’s like 19 and a half minutes…or people ask for the full length version of ‘White Walls’ or ‘Selkies’.

We have done a version of ‘…Moon’; we do from the clean break which comes out cool. Mind you, having said all that, if people yell stuff and we are in the mood, we’ll usually find a way to play it.

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Between The Buried And Me (2015) Photo by Justin Reich

When you are travelling from town to town, concert hall to concert hall, how do we keep yourselves motivated?

Honestly, it’s what we chose to do with our lives and so it’s not that much of a burden but there is another thing – there are so many bands who do so much amazing music and no one gives a shit about them and we have just this amazing opportunity to play music for a living- we aren’t rich or anything in this age of the music industry – no one is getting rich – so it cannot be about money.

I just want to play my fucking guitar. I have this great guitar company that make me my dream guitars and they customise them just for me and this band. These are the best people I could be playing with and people like us and support us and come to see us and they go nuts when we play and that’s what keeps you motivated.

We have the rare opportunity to create whatever the fuck we want and you know no one questions it. Our fans almost expect us to do weird shit now. Honestly, we all love to play music and we love our instruments and the fact that we can pay our bills just by doing this is a blessing.

You’ve spoken before of being a band with a wide range of interests and influences. What have been the things that you have loved this year?

I really, really love this new Ghost album. I was never really a fan of their older stuff – it didn’t really grab me – but the new record in particular I listen to a lot. I love it – I’d like to play with them one day. I listen to a lot of shit that people probably wouldn’t think I would listen to. For example, I have been listening to this Casey Musgraves record a lot; she is fucking awesome; I love her. I’ve been listening to a lot of SG Lewis too – really relaxed, ambient electronic stuff with pretty melodies, he’s just smooth and cool. The other band that I have been spending a lot of time listening to is Happy The Man from Washington DC. I’ve been listening to their records from the 1970s; I have been into them for a while and their album has been played A LOT.

I like a lot of country blues because the players are sooo good; I actually play with a Nashville artist when we are not on tour just to try and develop myself as much as I can and be as well rounded as I can be as a guitarist. Working with the Nashville guys is good because you have to change your phrasing completely to do that kinda stuff, it’s completely different to everything that I had learnt. I want to be good at all kinds of music not just a good metal guitarist so it’s good to test yourself; it’s good to able to improvise over a blues scale for example: that shit is important to me.

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

If you weren’t playing in BTBAM, who would you want to be playing with?

I have some friends from North Carolina who are in a band called He is Legend; I’ve always really enjoyed their records and Adam (Tanbouz, guitar)  is a sick, seriously underrated guitar player and…. (mimes guitar picking) his hands, man – no one can sound like him. It would be cool to play with Casey Musgraves, for sure. There’s a guy in the USA called Sturgill Simpson who has this unbelievable guitar player from Estonia – can you believe that – this incredible, authentic Southern country playing and it’s a guy from Eastern Europe! It would be cool to play stuff like that….

As a working musician, have you found people more open-minded to different types of music or less so?

Oh with some bands, for sure. There still a lot of bands who keep writing the same record over and over; but over the last five years, there have been some bands doing new and interesting records. I’d say a lot is down to location and the fan bases. Fans are a lot more open-minded and accepting. Take us is an example. People totally accept us for who we are and what we do. Having said that, we are definitely taking time to build our audience. We are not an overnight sensation and we have been on a steady incline.

Do you think that is because you are not an easy band to define and because there is so much going on in your music?

Yes for sure; people have been telling us that they would listen to the record for 10-15 times and not like it and then – bang! – something happens and they are really into it. That’s cool by us. Over fifteen years we have realised that we are not doing this to get rich. We are doing this because we love music and we love playing and we hope, ultimately, that people like us.

 

 

WORDS BY MAT DAVIES


New Day Rocks – Mikko Von Hertzen of Von Hertzen Brothers

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On their latest trip to the UK, Ghost Cult caught up with Mikko Von Hertzen of the Von Hertzen Brothers where, over very strong espressos to nurse away hangovers, we talked about touring, more touring and, surprisingly, the joys of cricket….

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2015 may be entering its final quarter but for the Von Hertzen Brothers, they can already look back on the last nine months with a combination of pride, satisfaction and, dare we say it, contentment. A universally acclaimed album, tours that seemed to get bigger and bigger and a series of summer festival appearances that cemented their burgeoing popularity… 2015 seems to have been a good year for the Finns.

The last time we spoke, New Day Rising (Spinefarm) was about to drop. This is now  your third time back in the UK this year. How have the past few months been?]
“(laughing) You know…  festivals are really the cream on top of the cake. It’s a totally different experience playing at a festival compared to a club where I can see the faces of the crowd. For me, it’s all about the interaction with the fans – whether the music is making them happy, whether they think you are doing something cool and they get caught up in the vibe of it all. At a festival it’s bang! 15 minute turnaround and bang! 20 minute set and bang! you’re outta there! In those 20 minutes you have to come out, perform and hope you connect with people.”

“At Download, we had no idea at the time if it was going well or not – about 95% of the people who came to see us were new to the band and the stage was so far away from the crowd that it was hard to tell if it was working or not. But, it seems like it had an effect in a good way because our agent told us that at that time of the morning we had 16,000 watching us and the reviews have been very kind so it must have had some effect.’

“If I am being honest though, I am a fan of the smaller more intimate gigs.”

How do you compare that set with the smaller, acoustic one you also played that weekend? Some friends of ours said that they thought you were the highlight of the weekend…

“Oh man, that was an unreal moment. We could see Faith No More in their white suits playing at the same time that we were about to walk on stage and they start playing Epic and we go “Fuck! How do we compete with THAT?!” But that’s good because it’s a challenge and we like a challenge. It was not unlike the time when we toured in Sweden with Opeth and they wanted to do a stripped down version of their show and they asked us to do the same and it was really cool.”

“That acoustic approach is also good for testing the strength of your songs; to see whether they really are as good as you hope they are.”

“You know, looking back on our summer, those Download shows really were a moment for us. At the time, the mayhem, the rain, the quick turnarounds, you don’t appreciate how important it was at the time but looking back it was really important for us.”

So, you’ve book-ended a couple of live dates around your appearance at the Prog Magazine Awards…

“Yeah, we thought we would tag a couple of shows around those as we were already flying everyone over and it was a great decision because it’s good to follow up what we did earlier in the year and say thank you to those people who have been supporting us. The ticket sales have been really good and I feel that every time we come here it feels like it is building and really going somewhere like a step by step progression; people are talking, the band are getting better known and it just feels….right.”

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Going off subject for a minute, we read an article about you from back in 2006 that said your favourite sport was cricket, a very English game and not one we would normally associate with the Finnish people. How did that come about?

“Yes, it’s true! I lived in India for seven years and every one of my friends there was crazy about cricket. At first I didn’t get it at all: a bunch of people standing around for hours with nothing happening but once you start to get the rules and what everyone is doing  you get into it; I love it. When we were recently on tour there I was “ I should really go and see all the important tourist sites” but I ended up staying in my hotel room for hours and hours just catching up with games, wherever and whenever I could find them! So, yes, I’m a fan!”

So what’s next for the Von Hertzen Brothers?

“For me, I’m moving house! I get the house move sorted and then we have a short break and then, come end of October, beginning of November, we start another European tour….”

How do you keep going? What’s the secret to eternally staying motivated and focused on the road?

“You have to believe in yourself and that you have something worthwhile to offer. For me though it is about the fans. The fans are like a family to us. They are long term friends. In order to keep it going we have to come up with something new and fresh and not repeat yourself. That is a big motivator. When you do come up with something, you get a fresh sense of momentum and that keeps you going too.”

“Being on the road means you can meet new people and that is fantastic. It is part of the reason why we keep coming back to the UK. This is where it all really began for us outside of Finland; not just for our band but in terms of the style of music that we love and the bands that we love. The UK is where we belong musically, this is our spiritual home.”

And with a shake of the hand and a draining of the coffee, we are done.

  

WORDS BY MAT DAVIES

 


ThunderMother – Road Fever

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One of the great conceits about reviewing music is just how awfully seriously people can take it: I know, for I am one of the worst culprits. Each new release is often treated as if it were the Second Coming with journalists falling over themselves in the search for innovative epigrams or snarky turns of phrase that underscore just how enamoured they are of the latest release from someone you’ve never heard of and are unlikely to hear of again. Similarly, the attempts to shoehorn a pretty mediocre record into the fabled canon of classics is another default setting of those who would seek to “criticise music”.

Sometimes, it’s a relief to go back to basics and consider a record as unfettered entertainment: no airs, no graces, just solid rock n roll that makes you bang your head and punch the air in vicarious delight. So let’s do just that, kids.

Stockholm’s ThunderMother are a rip snortin’, hard drinkin’, ever flirtin’ rock n’ roll outfit with more nods to AC/DC than an Angus Young headbanging session. This is the sort of rock ‘n’ roll that fuels a Friday night after a hard week at work, when you’re looking to let your hair down and have a damn fine time. It’s the aural equivalent of a Jaegerbomb.

The AC/DC influence is palpable and worn as a badge of honour. In some respects, this could be a female version of Airbourne but without the grating insufferableness of the Antipodeans. With songs like ‘It’s Just a Tease’ (a great putdown of boorish males);  ‘Deal with The Devil’, ‘Roadkill’ or ‘Thunder Machine’ you know that ThunderMother aren’t looking to win the Booker prize, but there is an energy and a wit to the song-writing and the playing: this is an album that gallops along breathlessly, stopping only for another beer and a shot of bourbon.

Road Fever (Despotz) has no qualms or anxieties about whether you think that this is a record that matters or will be changing the world. It is a record that comes in, does a bit of a turn, shouts a bit and then leaves. It has a pile of energy and a feisty set of lyrics that conjure an infectious image of the last-gang-of-girls-in-town, partying all day and night and rightly belittling the male population for being idiots: in many ways, this is Lena Dunham’s Girls with a hard rock soundtrack.

 

7.0/10

 

MAT DAVIES


Between The Buried And Me – Haken: Live at Electric Ballroom

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between the buried and me haken uk euro tour

There used to be a misapprehension that “feel” and technique were mutually exclusive, particularly if your act was of the progressive nature. Musicians were either in a deep, trance state where odysseys were channelled through fingers and larynxes (it’d certainly explain some of the lyrical fascinations of the 70’s), or were producing unfeeling, but impeccable, noodling, or to be more contemporaneous, poly-rhythming. Both of tonight’s denizens of the stage well and truly disproved that; Haken bringing a light, uplifting elation and Between The Buried And Me a myriad of journeys.

Another misconception is that bands of a prog bent don’t have a sense of humour, a fallacy shattered within seconds of entering Camden’s Electric Ballroom and seeing Haken’s glorious Kevin Bacon T-shirt, leaving the unsure in no doubt as to how to pronounce the band name. With fellow Ghost Cultist Rafa Davies having acquired said garment and with beverages purchased, the mood was ripe for the London based sextet to enhance a reputation that took a steep climb up 2013’s The Mountain (InsideOut). Concentrating mainly on that breakthrough opus, they set about marrying the impressive quirky and progressive rock with an immaculate live performance, including a touch of ‘Hocus Pocus’ing, spotless yodel-ay-ee-oh’s and all.

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me’s approach is an altogether more layered assault, from teasing and probing progressive movements, through floating crescendos diving into djented stabs and jazzed death metal acts of sensory violence. Despite being shorn of any elaborate production, nonetheless BTBAM don’t do basics, with each band member faultless and pristine, delivering each song with album quality precision in a consummate performance that still felt like there was meaning and intent in the delivery.

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

It’s no secret I struggle with BTBAM in general, but a quality live act is a quality live act, and the North Carolinians are able to transmit their passion for their music and their fans, ensuring multi-faceted beasts like ‘Ants Of The Sky’ connect not just aurally but emotionally with a charged audience who respond in turn. Here lies no serenade of po-faced disconnection, instead deep, ethereal moments are respected and inhaled, and the crushing metal segments are devoured.

And yet if prog-gasm had been achieved in a main set that included three very well received tracks from this years’ mind-melting Coma Ecliptic (Metal Blade), along with favourites ‘Selkies’ and ‘Lay Your Ghosts To Rest’ and more, that’s nothing to the rapture that beheld the throng during a remarkable cover of ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, during which Tommy Rogers showed that Brian May et al missed a trick by not throwing hods of cash his way to front the band during their post-Freddie shows.

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

This was a performance to impress even the most sceptical with both bands bringing complex, technical and diverse songs to the live setting with exquisite tightness and proficiency, but above all exuding emotion and sincerity while holding that line of not taking things too seriously live. While Haken’s music spoke to me most, there’s no denying that damn near everyone left feeling they’d witnessed a great gig.

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

 

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

Between The Buried And Me, by Jessica Lotti Photography

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WORDS BY STEVE TOVEY

PHOTOS BY JESSICA LOTTI PHOTOGRAPHY