Website [Release date 16.10.26] An interesting album by IT as the original album was written, recorded and produced by Nick Jackson back in 1994, and it was only ever released on self-made cassettes. Nick takes up the story, “In 2020, … Continue reading
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Two nights at the Pompeii amphitheatre in July. Images that catch your breath captured in a fantastic photo book by the Marillion photographer Ann-Marie Forker. Alongside everything else that has captivated me this summer, the setting for a band who sit comfortably alongside Pink Floyd, King Crimson and Opeth as musical innovators sparkled brightly.
Words And Photography: Paul Hutchings
Marillion may not be in such impressive surroundings tonight, but the refurbished Beacon is steeped in history and tradition with a track record that reaches back to 1867. They have played the city 13 times, their first time at this venue being on 28 March 1983. The Script Tour, no less. Their last performance came eight years ago on the F.E.A.R tour.
Since that initial show at this grand old venue, Marillion have shed many skins. Disappointingly, despite the current incarnation of the band being a mere three years away from their 40th anniversary, the band is still more recognisable for their 1980s output. The power of radio in that era, no doubt.
But regardless, the band’s rabid fanbase, infiltrated with those few still hoping for something a bit ‘Fishy’, healthily populate European theatres in good numbers. Few of the UK shows have tickets left.
Time is marching on. Keyboardist Mark Kelly is the youngest member of the band, and he has been entitled to free bus travel for five years. It is inevitable that the end is closing in. Not something that we think about tonight, though.
Drummer Ian Mosely belies his 73 years with a performance of imperious quality. Tucked away at the back, only flashes of his face are visible behind an impressive set.
And then we have H. Steven Hogarth. Is he still jokingly called the ‘new’ boy? Surely not. Aged 70, he belies those years with a vocal performance some half his age could not get close to. Not to mention a wit which many comedians could only wish for.
Early on, he points out a Classic Rock article that named three things that happened in 1989. The fall of the Berlin Wall, the Tiananmen Square massacre, and H joining Marillion. “Hard to rank them in order of importance,” quips his comedy sparring partner, bassist Pete Trewavas.
There is a grace about Marillion. Forced to pursue their journey independently and subsequently becoming leaders of the internet revolution, they stand proudly as an outfit that has never compromised.
They echo my beloved Rush in many ways. Enter their world and enter a secret society. One that has formed over 40+ years. Many in the audience do not go to one gig. They follow the band across Europe, to the famous Marillion weekenders. In large numbers at multiple shows. There is an obsession few bands receive or deserve.
It is a great atmosphere as the lower stalls are standing, creating a buzz that all-seated shows cannot match. The band open with Gaza. A 17-minute behemoth, and probably the most political song the band has written, although this is an outfit never afraid of commentary. 17 minutes of captivating progressive rock and still heartbreakingly relevant lyrics fly by.
It is more of a suite than one flowing track, but the audience is spellbound, cheering at key moments. The lights are incredible. It is the start of over two hours of magnificence and humour as H dedicates Gaza to Ed Sheeran.
It is the start of his between-song banter, which is dry but sums up the band’s band of brothers approach. H and Pete trade to comic effect. Never more has a band typified the saying that it is the sum of the parts.
Mosley anchors the outfit with Trewavas. They can do heavy. They can do light. They do both with style. Mark Kelly has always intrigued me. His autobiography revealed many sides to him, and tonight he does his stuff with minimum fuss. The spotlight falls on him, revealing a man in his kingdom, the master of keys, semi-hidden in concentration at the back. Mission control.
Most of the time it is H who takes the lead role. He has never been the jester despite his humour and smile, and his vocals are an acquired taste which took me time to appreciate. As he has got older, his style has developed and adapted. He is still a brilliant frontman, his enunciation and delivery as individual as ever. At times he is caught just watching the brilliance around him. Glorious admiration of the masters at work.
But if the spotlight shines on H, then it also finds the glorious guitar of Steve Rothery, another who sits in the totally underrated category. Plagued by an uncooperative pedalboard, his tech earns his corn, and then some. You end up rooting for him to resolve the issues. He deals with it in a sardonic manner, but with warmth underneath. There is the inevitable frustration, but he does not let it bother him one bit.
The tech problem is resolved eventually with the use of old-school leads.
Rothery’s style is instantly recognisable, beautifully organic and never forced. Fresh from releasing The Roaring Waves, his joint venture with Steve Hackett, Rothery is in great form. Understated, subtle, yet essential to the mix, he plays a blinder throughout. The bursting solo that emerges ten minutes into Gaza escalates the emotions higher.
The ease of that soaring lead on Care (I) Maintenance Drugs still bursts my heart.
It is a stunner of a setlist. H and Pete do an impromptu The Bell In The Sea whilst Rothery’s rig is sorted. Seasons End gets the cheer it deserves, whilst H’s intro for new song Ribbons And Lace is interrupted by Rothery, who reminds H to read the setlist. It is You’re Gone First.
In fact, it is a show bookended by first and most recent with five from Seasons End and five from An Hour Before It’s Dark. The latter comes in a block which sees H dedicate the songs to those working in the health service during the pandemic. An emotional moment, no doubt replicated across the country each night, but poignant, and an opportunity to pause for a brief reflection on a time now buried in the memory banks.
The inevitable shout for Grendel is laughingly dismissed by H as he introduces Enlightened, followed by Built-in Bastard Radar, both from the recently reissued Marillion.com. And then there is Easter. A number 34 chart placing in 1990, H leads the audience in a rendition which sees him singing very little. The crowd are word-perfect, and it is a moment to appreciate. These are dedicated fans, alright.
Two hours fly by, with a blinding Mad And The Great Escape concluding the main set.
It is a phenomenal set-up. The Light show is magnificent, and despite Rothery’s technical issues, the sound is crystal clear. As they conclude with The Release and The Space, I am left to ponder that despite the advancing years, Marillion seem to have plenty of gas left in the tank.
A new album beckons. They seem fit and in great form and another decade seems perfectly possible at this stage. We shall see, but tonight has been an epic set from a band who, one day, might just achieve the plaudits they richly deserve.
“We’ve been together for 14 years,” reminds singer/guitarist Jonathan Stafford midway through Haunt The Woods beautifully curated 35 minutes, before taking us back to Said And Done, a track from the early days.
The Cornwall outfit were support to Weather Systems in Thekla in this fair city in May 2025, and tonight they easily improve on that showing.
They remain an alternative outfit without a single genre label slapped on them. Their sound is beautiful, with Stafford’s vocals capturing both vulnerability and power in the same delivery. It is no wonder they are on this tour, as their music flirts with some of Marillion’s lighter catalogue.
Helter Skelter kicks things up a bit, whilst Ubiquity is shimmering in its delicacy.
The blend that they have crafted sees folk, progressive pop and rock merge. Guitarist Phoenix Elleschild and bassist Jack Hale are rooted to their spots, partly due to the need for rich harmonies, but they both play their part along with drummer Oliver Bignall.
Once again, though, it is Stafford who delivers the frontman role. He is funny, humble, and by the end of their set, the audience, who at the start were a bit reserved, are whooping and cheering.
New York singer-songwriter Sari Schorr has released the title-track from her upcoming album ‘Running Wild‘. The impassioned single is the second to be presented from the album, which will be released on October 9th in Europe and October 30th in the USA via Provogue Records / Artone Label Group. She will also support the album […]
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Time marches inexorably on, and so must we. We’re over halfway through September now and the massive tours are rolling through with regularity (hello Evanescence and Spiritbox!), bringing with them the knowledge there’s a tonne of new records to explore in the coming weeks. So, we’re cutting through the clutter and picking out some of the finest metal songs around right now.
Speaking of, the results of last week’s vote! The big news was, of course, that Slipknot were back with new music but we’ll admit even as big as they are, we were surprised to see them slip into the top three given the discourse around Arsenal. Goes to show, the haters are always louder than anyone else. Elsewhere, Miss May I took second place with Highbrow Thieves, but our overall winners for the week was Ando San and Hype Man / Triggas.
This week we’ve looked far and wide for exciting new sounds to bring to you, whether that’s the new offerings from Trivium and Godflesh, or emergent talent like Hulder and Sable Hills. As ever, we need you to let us know which songs excite you most, so don’t forget to cast your vote in the poll below – and have a great weekend.
Epic metalcore coming out of Japan, Sable Hills’ Homura kicks off with the kind of gorgeous, soaring solo you’d expect to hear in a power metal record. They’re not imbibing the cheese though; there’s something Trivium like in their adoption of classic metal tropes – including a healthy love for In Flames style melodeath – in a slick, modern package with some Japanese folk flourishes. Keep your eyes out for new album Homura, out November 13.
Speaking of Trivs, they’re back! Fresh off the back of announcing dates in 2027 with In Flames, the boys from Orlando have offered up Dead Inside Of Me. After the more trad-metal inclined energies of In The Court Of The Dragon and What The Dead Men Say, this feels like a conscious choice to change up their sound, going for something almost Machine Head like with lumbering, bassy verses and big breakout choruses.
Summer is well and truly dead and we’re ready for frosty Scandinavian forests to take us into Autumn. Granted, Hulder actually hail from Washington, but there’s an undeniable Scandi-influence on their brand of black metal, with …And We Will Sing going hard on pure frosty ferocity.
We had a long summer, so why not get a jump start on Halloween too? Evil Invaders sound so steeped in 80s Satanic Panic we wouldn’t be surprised if they didn’t so much form as get summoned from the Necronomicon. Slayer meets Mercyful Fate, it’s gloriously over-the-top and theatrically evil, all high pitched wails and galloping guitars.
Teaming up with 00s metal veterans Combichrist, Ignea are exploring the heavier ends of their sound on Prefab. The booming, apocalyptic tones are a stark contrast to some of the more melodic fare the Ukrainians have indulged in the past, though there’s still rays of light breaking through in the keytar work that adds a little bit of levity to the whole song. The group’s new album Monumental is due October 23.
“I’m lost in the dark!” So goes the hopeless declaration right up top in Mental Cruelty’s Frost, a desolate and suitably frosty track that sounds like staggering on a death march through the tundra. Taken from new album Echoes of a Forlorn Land, the track does a great job of balancing the relentless heft with some soft, folky melodic sections that feel are like stumbling onto a roaring hearth after an eternity out in the cold.
You can practically taste the sweat flying on Cabal’s Hurt Me. From riffs that switch up between bounding beats, sudden thrashy two-steps and a spine-worrying breakdown, to the snarling exchange of vocals between Andreas Bjulver and Employed To Serve’s Justine Jones, who guests on the track, it takes metalcore back into the dingy clubs it inhabited for decades before arena stardom plucked out the likes of BMTH or Architects. Both bands are touring the UK together in November, so we’d say its good odds this one will be roadtested before long.
With a killer main beat and big, breakout pop metal choruses, Zilqy’s Run is at once something you could see fitting in with the likes of As Everything Unfolds or Luna Kills, while being undeniably Japanese in its melodic structure without ever sounding like anyone else. It’s a dramatic and powerful track, and comes from the band’s upcoming debut Birth Of Riot, due October 7.
“Your time on this planet has passed.” Ministry are getting a little ahead of themselves on Singularity, but not by much. The band’s final record Hate To Go (Take Out Or Delivery) is set for an October 30 release and this new single leans on the mechanised, end of the world bacchanalia that’s been their bread and butter for the past four decades. Just a shame the band seem to have opted for a cheap AI video to back it up.
It’s not a great time to be an industrial metal superfan. Or at least, not one who is hoping for a bright future. Justin Broadrick‘s Godflesh are also gearing up for a big finale, though next week’s Decay album will actually be their penultimate. Master And Slave finds the group in typically apocalyptic, claustrophobic form, sounding much as you’d expect it would if you’d been sucked into a great machine and ground to dust and mulch by unyielding gears.
Mining the vein of gothic, symphonically underpinned black metal, Vesseles might be a masked and mysterious band but there’s very little Sleep Token-ish about them. Instead what we get is something feral and crawling, grandiose in its use of strings and piano without ever feeling overblown or fully orchestral. The band’s debut Home (Reclaimed) isn’t due until March 26, 2027, but this will tide us over nicely in the meantime.
Metalcore mixed with EDM is nothing new, lest we forget that Enter Shikari’s Sorry You’re Not A Winner blew up 20 years ago now. Even so, the number of bands who’ve found ways to properly incorporate it into their music beyond a tentative smattering of bleeps and bloops remains surprisingly low, making Waterlines still one of the standouts in the art. Rather than going down the fun, eurodance cheese route of Electric Callboy, Giant Killers takes a BMTH/Architects style hook and underpins it with some buzzing electro that at one point goes full Skrillex.
December 11th, 2026 – Just in time for the kickoff of her ‘Magic Winter‘ tour, DORO is treating the rock world to the special release ‘Wild At Heart‘, a red-hot album packed with killer new tracks. ‘Rock You 2 Death‘, the first new single along with its accompanying video – which the Metal Queen filmed […]
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Footprint by Bye Bye Maxwell starts with a warm, nostalgic indie pop feel before gradually opening into something more unexpected. The soft organ, tight guitars and punchy drums give the track an easy melodic flow, while the vocals bring a dreamy quality that keeps the arrangement light on its feet. Then Nat James enters with a rap verse, shifting the track without breaking its atmosphere and giving the song a fresh rhythmic edge. That contrast works particularly well, with the sweetness of the instrumentation meeting a more direct vocal delivery. Bye Bye Maxwell keep the production spacious enough for each element to have its own character, while the songwriting stays focused on the fleeting nature of existence and the traces people leave behind. There is a playful quality here, but also a gentle melancholy that grows stronger as the track unfolds.
Dreamy pop with a little cosmic disruption.
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In just four years, Spiritbox have gone from playing the 800-capacity O2 Academy in Islington to headlining the UK’s biggest arena. Granted, Manchester’s Co-Op Live isn’t being used to its full capacity – curtains cover the upper decks and the room is maybe half-open, but the Canadians have managed to speedrun a progression that took Sleep Token six years – seven if we’re talking full arena tours – Ghost nine years and Bring Me The Horizon a decade.
It’s also their first real test as potential torchbearers for metal’s future. With a supporting line-up of hot, rising acts, Spiritbox have at least avoided the pipeline of dragging out legacy bands to bolster bigger tours. You’d need to get in early if you hoped to see openers Dying Wish, but as the clock ticks towards 8pm Jinjer are greeted by a full floor.
Back in 2019, the Ukrainians seemingly couldn’t play anywhere without being greeted by big SOLD OUT signs across the board, so their jump up to arena-sized stages has been a long time coming. But their biggest obstacle comes in translating their technical, acrobatic prog metal to bigger rooms. Perennial arrives with all the ferocity and violence of a Great White ram-raiding a seal, while Call Me A Symbol offers an apocalyptic death metal bluster. But there’s also a distinct lack of big hooks, and impressive as Tatiana Shmayluk’s range is – her voice rapidly switching between off-kilter melodies and throaty snarls – there’s few moments for the crowd to roar along in rapturous release.
With limited production, Jinjer are still adjusting to the space they’re playing. The rest of the band’s all-black ensemble means they often seem to disappear into the background and while it sets a stark contrast against Tatiana’s all-silver get-up that lends her the air of a rampaging crusader, it means they also feel lacking in presence. Still, the set picks up nicely in its second half, I Speak Astronomy earning an excitable pit, while Judgement & Punishment chucks up some careening force. But it’s still breakthrough single Pisces that feels like the centrepiece of the set, its swinging dynamics bringing to mind the impressive sonic dexterity of Opeth.
From their incendiary Download Festival debut to the massive Alexandra Palace gig that tied a bow on their Eternal Blue era, it’s been obvious Spiritbox are eyeing up the upper echelons of the metal world. The Tsunami Sea tour could well be the crucial stepping stone to getting them to the top. It’s not a flawless transition, mind.
Silhouetted behind a giant curtain, there’s a nice sense of drama to how Spiritbox arrive to the stage, Courtney’s shimmying form projected as a colossal figure before the curtain drops and they kick out an impressively furious one-two of Fata Morgana and Black Rainbow. Intense as those tracks are, it feels like the band only fully arrive with Perfect Soul, the pay-off of having a big anthem helping to boost the energy in the room, Keep Sweet keeping that joyous spirit going and Soft Spine is introduced with an almighty roar of “You all deserve each other!”, streamers blasted out over the crowd as the riff drops.
It’s not quite Parkway Drive or Sabaton, but things like that, the shimmering light show and a bubble machine that sprays for Tsunami Sea add nice little touches to the set that show Spiritbox are thinking about how they want to enhance their live shows.
By their own admission, the biggest obstacle is working out their sequencing. These shows feel almost like a send-off for Tsunami Sea to clear the path for what comes next. While it’s definitely great to hear so much of the album – eight of the record’s eleven tracks – it feels like some obvious massive tunes from their debut – Hurt You, Secret Garden – could’ve served the big room well.
It becomes most obvious towards the end of the set. Introducing the next track, Courtney acknowledges that Holy Roller was the song that changed everything for Spiritbox. But rather than being the big finish, it and Circle With Me arrive as something of a premature climax – a powerful one-two, but also an all-too early peak with four more songs to go. We spot a few bodies making a tactical early exit – it is a school night, after all – and while there’s seldom a good spot for a drum solo in the set, the fact it comes so late in the game just adds to the weird, post-orgasmic lull.
There’s still a couple of highlights. Crystal Roses goes full trance to the point we’re half-expecting Maxi Jazz (RIP) to drop a bar, and new single Mourning yields some Deftones-like crashing waves. But its obvious that Spiritbox need something bigger to really bring everything back home again.
In many ways though, that’s a great problem to have: anecdotally, Metallica wrote The Black Album after realising the more complex arrangements of Justice For All didn’t work in the massive rooms they were playing, and Ghost came up with Square Hammer to give them a big, orgiastic conclusion. If this is what Spiritbox can do without that big, all-conquering anthem, just imagine what they’ll do next.
Tony Moore has never been particularly good at standing still. From his early connection with Iron Maiden to the immersive Awake project that began during lockdown, recent years have seen him take his music around the world. Indeed, following a recent “dream-come-true appearance” at EDDFEST at Knebworth, it was back again across the pond to North America.
But there is rather more to Tony Moore than Awake. He has a pilot’s licence, considers a 2 am kebab and chips in Fulham a guilty pleasure, cries at The Sheep Detectives and has learned one particularly important lesson from life on the road: “Don’t poo on the tour bus.”
He also admits that coffee and plotting the next stage of Awake are among the things keeping him awake at night.
What’s the most Metal thing you’ve ever done off stage?
I have a pilot’s license. One day I flew a small plane to the Isle of Wight at 2 pm to pick up my friend from the Isle of Wight Festival. He was engineering the Zombies at the festival. I flew him back to Goodwood, got in my Toyota Celica sports car and got us both to Marble Arch for a wedding by 6:30 pm.
What’s the best gig you’ve ever played, and why?
EDDFEST. To open this iconic and unique festival was a fantastic and amazing experience.
Would you choose a platinum record or one perfect, legendary live show?
One perfect and legendary live show.
What’s your greatest fear?
Dying before I have time to take Awake to the next level.
What’s the trait you most deplore in yourself?
Keeping on working on something when I should have left it alone a long time ago.
What’s the trait you most deplore in other musicians?
When, after introducing a song, they say, “I hope you like it.”
Describe yourself in three words.
Determined, Passionate, Short.
What’s your guiltiest pleasure?
Kebab and chips at 2 am from the Kebab Kid on the Kings Road in Fulham.
What does a great riff feel like to write?
Ecstatic.
What’s the worst thing a critic has ever said to you?
“Too slick.” When I was in my early 20s.
If you were not in music, what would you be doing?
Acting.
What’s one album outside your genre you secretly love?
Randy Edelman – Farewell Fairbanks
When did you last cry, and why?
Watching The Sheep Detectives.
What keeps you awake at night?
Coffee and planning what do next with Awake.
Riffs, royalties or recognition, if you had to choose?
Recognition. I have spent a long time doing what I do, and I want to be able to share this with more people.
How do you want to be remembered?
For making people happy.
What’s the most important lesson the road has taught you?
Treat people with respect. Let the shit go when it happens. Don’t poo on the tour bus.
What happens when the music stops?
The party starts.