Features

TMMP’s Guide To The Aristocrats [Feature]

The Aristocrats

Our culture is obsessed with superheroes, ordinary people gifted with beyond-human powers. The X-Men, the Avengers, and their peers dominate minds and screens across the Western world. Small wonder, then, that the Aristocrats have achieved such popularity in so little time.

Formed following a fateful and rapturously received jam at a NAMM show, the Aristocrats are guitarist Guthrie Govan, bassist Bryan Beller, and drummist Marco Minnemann. Beyond the band (named after a dirty joke you can read more about here), each member has paid his dues via a star-studded solo and sideman career. Govan and Minnemann both currently Read more…

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Posted on 01 September 2015

Interviews

Alpha Male Tea Party [Interview]

Alpha Male Tea Party

With ArcTanGent Festival on the horizon, TMMP talks to Tom of macho-monikered math-rock madmen Alpha Male Tea Party about ATG, car tax, plastic surgery fantasies, and pail-related enlightenment…

You’re set to hit ArcTanGent 2015 this week. How’re you feeling about it?

We’re feeling pretty rad right now. And, by that I mean, we’re very excited to be playing at our favourite festival again. It will be wild.

What’s the best thing about festivals for you?

It’s the only time no one will care if you are caught using a tepid can of Strongbow or similarly low quality beverage as a means to swill your mouth out after brushing your teeth. That and the general lack of real life. Your car tax could expire (as mine did one year) at a festival, and you wouldn’t give a shit.

Although I did give a shit actually; I drove to Read more…

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Posted on 19 August 2015

Interviews

Alright The Captain [Interview]

Alright The Captain

Last year, I described Alright The Captain’s Contact Fix as suitable for those whose evening plans involve “chugging absinthe, spinning round in circles until you fall over or puke or both, repeating the above until you pass out, and then waking up and putting on your coat and going to work”.

Today, I still stand by those words. Here, ATC discuss their upcoming set at ArcTanGent, taking in surprise gingerness, fire-breathers, and a hint at what they’d be doing if the music ever stopped…

You’re set to hit ArcTanGent 2015 this week. How’re you feeling about it?

Excited as fuck! Marty’s been running round like a spring lamb since last year.

What’s the best thing about festivals for you?

They’re a good chance to escape reality for a while and Read more…

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Posted on 19 August 2015

Interviews

The Algorithm [Interview]

The Algorithm

Some artists have more than one calling. Maybe it’s graphic design, audio production, or accountancy. For Rémi Gallego, purveyor of progressive electronic insanity as the Algorithm, it’s definitely comedy.

You’re set to hit ArcTanGent 2015 this week. What’s going through your mind right now?

I really badly want to listen to Ricky Martin right now and I really hope he will secretly perform at ArcTanGent. Please tell me he will.

What can the curious expect from your set?

I can tell you what they can’t expect: Read more…

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Posted on 18 August 2015

Reviews

Agent Fresco – ‘Destrier’ [Review]

Agent Fresco

There’s more to pain than just pain itself. Extended periods of serious suffering are not always stable and uniform; the experience can contain many subtle emotional shades. There may be periods of calm, relief, joy, and hope mixed in amongst the darkest of dark moments – and Destrier demonstrates this fact in musical form.

Fuelled by the brutal beating of vocalist Arnór Dan Arnarson at the hands of two strangers, and sharing its name with Read more…

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Posted on 17 August 2015

Reviews

Godsticks – ‘Emergence’ [Review]

Godsticks

Godsticks are fast becoming A Name in the prog world, and rightly so. Previous efforts Spiral Vendetta and The Envisage Conundrum have led the three-piece into the world of stages shared with the Aristocrats and the Mike Keneally Band, thanks to a double whammy of pristine musicianship and engaging compositional skill. Over time, Godsticks have edged closer and closer to the guitar-driven world of Fucking Badass Rock & Metal – and on Emergence, they’ve finally and firmly planted their flag left of that territory’s centre.

Emergence has a restless quality to it that reflects its creators’ recent evolution. Stylistically it feels uncertain, as if it’s not quite sure what it’s supposed to be – but at the same time, the musicianship on display is confident and self-assertive. Taken together, these aspects lend a nervous anxiety to Emergence‘s track listing – and if that was the point, then it’s fucking genius.

Below The Belt sets out Godsticks’ stall, with long and winding lyrical roads passing through Read more…

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Posted on 14 August 2015

Reviews

TesseracT – ‘Polaris’ [Review]

Tesseract - 'Polaris'

Since 2003, TesseracT have been busy building a monolithic name for themselves in the progressive metal world. Ranked alongside the likes of Periphery and Karnivool and hailed as djent pioneers, it’s safe to say that each and every move they make is made under the joint pressures of sky-high expectations and feverish global-scale anticipation.

The burning question, then, is simple: Is Polaris any good, or have the legends lost their touch?

The short answers are:

A) Yes, of course it fucking is; and

B) No, don’t be ridiculous.

If you’re a TesseracT hater looking for mean words, you’ve Read more…

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Posted on 10 August 2015

Features

Why You Should F***ing Love Arcane Roots

Arcane Roots

UPDATE: TMMP has been reborn! This video has the full story:

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If you’ve never heard of Arcane Roots, believe me – you’re missing out. As you read this, the prog-enamoured London-based trio are in the process of making big waves in the UK’s underground rock scene, winning fans left, right, centre, up, down, forward, backward, diagonally, and maybe inside-out if that’s even possible. Here are a few reasons why TMMP is set on raving about these guys until grey hair and the grave begin to beckon…

1) In This Town Of Such Weather.

You can be certain that sooner or later, Arcane Roots are going to drop a massive breakout hit – and when that time comes, it’ll be important to remind the world that their back catalogue is all killer, no filler too. For TMMP, In This Town Of Such Weather (from 2011 mini-album Left Fire) is a Read more…

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Posted on 07 August 2015

Live Reviews

Heights / Agent / Sumer / Toska [Live Review – The Barfly, Camden, 31/7/2015]

Heights

South West Trains can drill a hole in a mirror, and fuck themselves.

Fortunately, TMMP overcame assorted transportation disasters to see Toska (95%) open a lineup bookended by two bands who’ve been slowly making their way north of Brighton together over the past few months. This set was easily – easily – Toska’s best live showing to date, mainly thanks to an absolutely immense sound job. Studio-grade tones, songs equal parts Armageddon and ecstatic release, a level of tightness that borders on pure telepathy…these guys are the perfect instrumental prog-metal band at this point. Judging from the amount of head-bobbing going on, every single earlycomer knew it, too. I’d be willing to bet that more than a few of them are in neck braces today.

Following Toska is a real challenge – and Sumer (83%) Read more…

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Posted on 02 August 2015

Features

ArcTanGent 2015 [Festival Preview]

ArcTanGent

If you’re a regular TMMP reader, you appreciate the fact that the best music is created without boundaries. Although normal isn’t always boring, stepping outside your comfort zone is essential if you want to start adding the spice of variety to your life.

ArcTanGent has a stellar reputation for hosting bands whose music is free from everyday restraints. Common time signatures and orthodox melodies are a rarity at this UK-based festival, and progressively-minded pilgrims travel from far and wide to its south Bristol site to share their passions with likeminded others. This year, TMMP will be among them.

ArcTanGent’s core philosophy is respectable enough – but a quick glance at its lineup provides much to start salivating over. From big names like Cult Of Luna, The Dillinger Escape Plan, Deafheaven, 65daysofstatic and The Fall Of Troy to solid Read more…

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Posted on 26 July 2015

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