Short Reviews [The Fierce And The Dead - 2019 - "Live USA 17"]

In 2017 TFATD released a live album which was recorded at the Ramblin’ Man Festival, in July the year before. Now we have in front of us another live album which was recorded slightly more than a year from the previous album, but with no duplicated tracks whatsoever. This was recorded at the mighty Rites of Spring Festival (RosFest) in Gettysburg, PA in 2017, and includes tracks from the two studio albusm released at this time, ‘If It Carries On Like This We Are Moving to Morecambe’ and ‘Spooky Action’ as well as previewing quite a few numbers from ‘The Euphoric’ which wasn’t released until the following year. So not only have we got a relatively small instrumental progressive rock band from the UK playing at one of the most important progressive rock festivals in the world, they are playing music no-one there will have ever heard. The guys must carry their balls around in a dumper “Truck”. I have loved this band right from when I first heard from guitarist Matt Stevens, and he and his partner in crime Steve Cleaton weave tapestries from the musical threads, sometime giving us a delicate picture while at others it is far more brutal. Then behind them there is Kev Feazey producing some of the heaviest distorted bass lines one is ever likely to hear, and drummer Stuart Marshall just refuses to sit quietly and behave himself. This is guitar-driven instrumental rock which somehow always reminds me of Ozric Tentacles but sounds nothing on earth like them, as they create sounds and moods which create a brand-new world as they never conform to what anyone thinks they should be doing. This is a rock band first and foremost, just listen to the way they turn up the distortion and volume in the right places on “Spooky Action”, creating a staccato attack on the sense which then allows them to of course go and produce something completely different. TFATD can be delicate, quiet, almost gentle as they drift slowly through the progsphere, but there are other times when they just let it all go and then they are a force to be reckoned with. Surely one of the most important bands around, I just wish the guys would come over here to play but as that is never likely to happen, I will just have to keep playing this on repeat.