HATS OFF GENTLEMEN IT'S ADEQUATE/ GHOST OF THE MACHINE

The new album by modern prog mainstays Hats Off Gentlemen It's Adequate is an expansive, polystylistic release centred on Heisenberg's uncertainty principle.

- DAN PEEKE

With today's double album launch, HOGIA and co-headliners Ghost Of The Machine have addressed a much more important kind of uncertainty – whether or not you're going to make the last train home – by booking a lunchtime show.

But before “an hour of very educational stuff about quantum physics”, Ghost Of The Machine dive into Empires Must Fall. It's an ambitious concept album that acts as a sequel to their acclaimed 2022 debut, Scissorgames, filled to the brim with metallic influences and some complex, extended compositions.

Despite a couple of early issues with tightness and tuning, it's clear that GOTM can replicate the drama and variety of the album almost perfectly in a live setting. Keepers Of The Light is a huge slab of metal-laced, anthemic prog that tests Charlie Bramald's voice with its enormous hook, while The Days That Never Were shows off the band's softer side. In contrast to the distorted heft of the opener, the bulk of this track is built on simple piano arpeggios and shimmering guitar chords until it shifts to half-time for the multilayered, synth-driven conclusion.