HeKz - Esquires, Bedford

Many of us prog rock fans first came across HeKz at the Chiswick Invasion, a yearly event set up by Thomas Gers to raise money for the Nordoff Robbins charity. This set of gigs, held in a school hall in London W4, was endorsed by Iron Maiden and their management team. Us music journo’s were absolutely blown away by the debut of this young five-piece band, who were way more mature than their years.

Fronted by the very talented singer/bassist Matt Young, HeKz were as polished as any seasoned old-school prog band, and we were all very excited about their future.

Ten years later, and with a change of personnel, I am honoured to hear their brand new album, Terra Nova, and I am truly in awe of what this young band has achieved with this new set of songs. It is packed with complex key and tempo changes, orchestral augmentation, keyboard excellence, on-point backing vocals, and anthemic choruses. Then there’s frontman Matt Young’s vocals, lyrics and impressive bass playing.

Young, alongside the truly talented Mirko Fadda (guitar), Lucia La Rezza (violin), and Jerry Sadowski (drums), will be performing live throughout 2024.