Evile guitarist Ol Drake has a passion for Gentle Giant. “If anything I love them too much,” he said in 2011. The British thrash metal icon blamed his father for introducing him to the charms of the eccentric prog outfit.
“He used to show me all sorts of older bands through YouTube. I’d end up asking who this band or that band were. One day he got up a video of Gentle Giant playing some of the songs from Octopus. I was enthralled by the way the musicians swapped instruments, and also the music they played. I was hooked.”
Drake began to investigate the band’s catalogue, and found much in what they did that appealed to him. “Their vocal harmonies were incredible, and they also had such a grasp on the way to construct a song.
“Listen to The Advent Of Panurge – there’s nothing quite like it. The same applies to so much that they did. It was a strange style, but one that worked brilliantly for them. I never get tired of putting on one of their records and trying to work out what exactly they were doing.”
The 70s prog colossus’ catalogue even influenced a little of what Drake’s done with Evile. “If you check out the song In Memoriam from our album Five Serpent’s Teeth, it has a little bit of Gentle Giant in there, although I wouldn’t say it’s a massive inspiration.
“To be honest, we’re not the sort of band who could ever take on a major part of what Gentle Giant did. But that won’t stop me trying to make occasional references!”
He barely paused for breath when asked where the uninitiated should start. “That must be Octopus – for me it’s the album that defined who they were. Their previous albums were very strong, but they were still finding their mark. Once they reached Octopus, everything just fell beautifully into place.”
He reveals a secret musical ambition that one day might take him closer to the hearts of his heroes. “I’d love to do what I call a prog-ject, maybe working with someone like Mikael Åkerfeldt. That would be very much inspired by what Gentle Giant achieved – I would look to emulate it.”
Drake chose well when he thought of Opeth mastermind Åkerfeldt, who’s also a Giant fan. In 2017 he told Prog: “I stumbled upon Gentle Giant through my record collecting in the early 90s. To this day I’ve never heard a band that can compete with them.
“Not only were they technically amazing but they delivered every note with great feel. It’s quite rare to hear that within complex progressive rock. The song Peel The Paint is a classic. There’s a section where the violins change modes in a falling melody. That makes me seasick, irritated, amazed. How can you write stuff like that? It’s absolutely stunning!”
In 2012 Diamond Head’s Brian Tatler chose In A Glass House as his favourite Gentle Giant album, citing the tracks The Runaway and Experience as his choice cuts.He explained: “The fact they were so experimental and complex gave me the confidence to try anything in Diamond Head, and not be afraid to step outside of the rigid verse/bridge/chorus framework of rock and heavy metal.”
And in 2009 pop star Nik Kershaw – whose career boasts a healthy crossover into the prog world – discussed Gentle Giant’s live energy, saying: “You imagine there must be so many people involved, because of the multiple sounds they get – but it’s down to just five people. I find that so bizarre.
“One minute you’re watching them playing normal rock instruments, and the next they’re onto the xylophone and recorder. Just how they manage to do it all is amazing.”
