Tag Archives: matt stevens

REAL GONE GOES OUT: The Fierce And The Dead – Hall By The Sea, Dreamland, Margate, Kent 20/7/2018

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2018 has really been a fantastic year for The Fierce And The Dead. Their third full length release ‘The Euphoric’ has received great reviews across the internet, been championed by Prog magazine and has led to the band playing higher profile gigs. In the previous six months they’ve played their biggest ever headline show and shared a bill with System 7 and Hawkwind. By now, they’ve earned the right to be genuinely considered a cult band.

Hawkwind invited the band as support for a second time in the summer. While Hawkwind fans, on the surface, seem to be the kind of people who know what they like, the band obviously feel The Fierce And The Dead are interesting enough to appeal to their loyal audience. While – as is so often the case – the venue isn’t exactly packed by the time Matt Stevens and company get ready to play, those in attendance know the next half an hour will be…interesting.

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THE FIERCE AND THE DEAD – The Euphoric

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For years, it felt like The Fierce And The Dead were a band that few people knew or talked about. Then, at some point prior to the release of their ‘Magnet’ EP in 2015, they started getting semi-regular coverage in Prog Magazine. This helped them to become a cult band in the truest sense, though it still seems odd that they’ve been so embraced by the prog crowd. They’re far beyond the Genesis, Porcupine Tree and Dream Theater clones that so much of the Prog audience seem to hold so dear. Their previous releases have had a progressive bent, it’s true, but their artier side has taken in elements of Fugazi and other angular noise-makers that would normally make your average prog fan run for the (Solsbury) hills. There’s a tale that suggests, apparently, at one indoor prog rock event, The Fierce And The Dead managed to half empty a room. For all the talk, some prog fans are anything but progressive in their tastes.

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Watch ‘1991’ the new animated video from The Fierce And The Dead

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The Fierce And The Dead will release their anticipated third album ‘The Euphoric’ via Bad Elephant Music on May 18th.

The build up to the album release has already been exciting.  The band have had their first sold out London headliner, pre-orders for a 2CD deluxe version of the album have almost sold out and the video for the album’s first single – the heavy and immense ‘Truck’ – went viral.

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Check out ‘Truck’, the new track from The Fierce And The Dead

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The last couple of years have really seen British art-rock band The Fierce And The Dead gathering momentum.  Their ‘Magnet’ EP contained some of their best work to date and also appeared on the Prog stage at the Ramblin’ Man Fair.

Quite understandably, there’s a fair amount of buzz surrounding their upcoming album, ‘The Euphoric’.   The album’s launch show at The Black Heart in London (May 18th) is the band’s biggest London headline show to date…and the forthcoming album promises some of their biggest sounds.

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STUART MASTERS – Mystic Blue & The Black Balloon

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mystic blue and the black balloonA virtuoso of the acoustic guitar, Stuart Masters creates a sound that’s been likened to Nick Drake and Syd Barrett. It seems odd that so many artistes would be compared to Barrett, given that his rather scant post-Floyd output borders on the disturbing. Aside from just about managing to string a few chords together, Barrett could all too often be heard mumbling through nonsensical lyrics he seems to only barely remember. This fourth release from Masters, the wonderful ‘Mystic Blue & The Black Balloon’, is nothing like Syd. It’s sometimes possible to hear why comparisons have been made to Drake, however, for Stuart is very fond of a finger picked style and almost pastoral moods – but the combination of his dexterous playing, loops and layered approach to most things is sometimes closer in spirit to another guitarist…and one from more recent times. It might be fair to say that fans of Matt Stevens will find an instant kinship with Masters and his complex soundscapes.

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