A View From The Back Of The Room: Daniel Tompkins & Novena (Live Review By Matt Bladen)

 
The first gig of 2022 is in the books (for me anyway) and all it took was jaunt out of Wales across the bridge to MoM's second home Bristol. Now to get me to travel over the bridge these days it must be something special and tonight promised to be just that.

Doors opened late, old friends and long time email acquaintances were greeted and non-alcoholic beers were drunk in Exchanges now ample covered outside area. The the music finally began so we made our way into the 'L' shaped performance area.

First on stage was Novena (8), a band who have been featured in these pages before and are a prog (obviously) metal/rock band from the south of England made up of members of No Sin Evades His Gaze, Bleeding Oath and Haken. Their style is quite a unique offering, full of dynamic range, layered acoustics, multiple vocal lines and of course lots of palm muted riffing. 

In a small space like this it meant that you didn't quite get what looks to be quite a busy performance however on this small stage they were a little static only Haken's Ross Jennings having a chance to move around, he took the lion's share of vocals, even busting out those harsh screams from the first couple of Haken records. He was aided by Harrison White who was also playing guitar and keys, as well as guitarist Dan Thornton. 

At times it was a little too much for the sound tech to take but as they melded together something clicked just in time for their cover of Billie Eilish Bury A Friend and the closing two songs which were brought together in one piece showcasing the musical dexterity of the band. Considering this was their first gig in quite some time (they have only really been around for a few years as Novena) there was a really synergy to the band that bodes well for subsequent viewings on bigger stages.

Next up in this prog/Djent two for one was the headline act. Having spent a huge amount of time and effort to even get this tour going, then catching Covid with his last day of isolation a day before the first date on the tour. There was a lot riding on these shows. Unfortunately more bad luck came the night before when vehicle issues stopped them from reaching Glasgow. So you can understand why Daniel Tompkins (8) said the he was "bricking it" about this show. 

Happily there was a healthy crowd out to watch him as he and his all star band started off the front to back play through of his most recent release Ruins. It's not often you see full time Duracell Bunny Dan in one place for more than five minutes but on this playthrough of his densely layered solo music he was one of four guitarists on stage. The other three were Tesseract bandmate Amos Williams on bass, Pete Skipper of In Colour on rhythm guitar with Tompkins and on lead guitar was Paul Ortiz aka Chimp Spanner aka one of the "second founding fathers of Djent" according to Daniel. 

Chimp Spanner has been dormant for 10 years so it was great to see him back on stage, doing what he does best and the promise of a new album. Rounding out this League Of Djentlemen was Monuments tub thumper Mike Malyan. There was a real sense of appreciation from the band that people had turned out on a Wednesday night and the tracks from Ruins work well in a live setting too. The little tour ends tonight in London, check it out if you can as you won't be disappointed!