Curated Artist Library
Forge Brief
Black Midi
2017-2024 (announced hiatus); commercial peak 2019-2023 (Schlagenheim, Cavalcade, Hellfire)
Theatrical absurdist progressive — King Crimson at the Globe Theatre.
Genres
experimental rockmath rockprogressive rockavant-rock
Vocal character
Geordie Greep + Cameron Picton: theatrical spoken-shouted-sung hybrid delivery. Geordie's lead resembles Frank Zappa's vaudevillian phrasing; intentionally jarring vocal choices.
Production markers
Marta Salogni / John "Spud" Murphy productionaggressive time-signature changes within songs (5/8 into 7/4 into 4/4 mid-bar)King Crimson + Captain Beefheart + free-jazz influences audiblewall-of-prog instrumental sections (Morgan Simpson drums; Cameron Picton bass)Rough Trade Records sonicfree-jazz horn arrangements on later recordstheatrical-narrative song structures (8+ minute songs that tell stories)
Lyrical themes
absurdist narrative storytelling (953, Sugar/Tzu)historical character vignettessatire of masculinity and ambitiondeath, theatre, vaudeville imagerymock-grandiose love declarationsBritish-music-hall pastiche
Signature moves
mid-song time-signature pivottheatrical narrator-style vocal deliveryinstrumental prog interlude inside songsgenre-bending mid-album (death metal into samba into prog rock)
Avoid — off-brand for this artist
pop song structurelyrical specificity to one earthly momentmajor-key resolutionsub-5-minute song disciplinemodern compressed mix
More like Black Midi
- The Smile
2021-present
experimental rockart rockpost-rock - King Crimson
1968-present
progressive rockart rockexperimental rock - Black Country, New Road
2018-present
experimental rockpost-rockart-rock - Frank Zappa
1966-1993
experimental rockjazz fusionavant-garde rock - Geese
2019-present
indie rockart-rockpost-punk
Ranked by genre overlap + era proximity. Browse the full library →