Australian prog-metal outfit Caligula’s Horse will be hitting Stellenbosch and Johannesburg this weekend as part of their international 2024 tour. Long-time locals Deity’s Muse will be supporting them at both shows, alongside other heavy South African acts Megalodon, Sunken State, and New Earth. We spoke with Jim Grey of Caligula’s Horse and Wayne Boucher of Deity’s Muse to put a spotlight on the bands and the always-dedicated local metal scene.
Caligula’s Horse has been on the scene for thirteen years, and has earned a reputation for providing emotive musicality in a genre often associated with technical instrumentation. They have been on an international tour schedule this past year following the 2023 release of Charcoal Grace. Jim Grey, lead vocalist and founding member, tells us that the album was a move away from their more uplifting releases. After a tough 2020 for the band, Jim felt he didn’t have it in him to return to the themes of inner strength and overcoming that their previous album Rise Radiant focussed on. “I would feel like if I wrote something like that, it would be really disingenuous creatively, and I need to be honest,” he tells us.
Fortunately, their 2024 tour has helped the band turn that corner. “It’s changed everything. We’re definitely excited about what comes next creatively because it’s not going to be as much of a dark expulsion of black goop that lives in the soul,” Jim explains. The tour has taken them across both North and South America, New Zealand, Europe, and of course Australia. The band has just finished off a five-week stint back home in Brisbane (their longest break so far) and will be visiting Stellenbosch and Johannesburg before finishing off the tour with festivals up in Scandinavia.
Local acts Megalodon, New Earth, Sunken State (who recently played at the prestigious Wacken Open Air festival in Germany), and Deity’s Muse will be supporting them for the South African leg. Deity’s Muse, who will be performing at both the Stellenbosch and Johannesburg events, started out over two decades ago. Wayne Boucher (the sole remaining member of the original lineup) was pushed to put a band together back in 2001 by Cliff Crabb, the vocalist for local metal legends Agro.
Wayne tells us that it took many years of growing up in front of audiences to find their feet. Things started to take off locally after releasing their first official album in 2006, before trying their luck internationally in 2012 with shows in Los Angeles, Berlin, and London. The move from three-piece to four-piece after adding a second guitarist in 2015 then opened up new possibilities for the band’s sound.
“In our first 12 years or so we were definitely more like Nirvana meets Godsmack,” Wayne explains. “Today we’ve got our own sound going, with progressive metal influences and an ‘anything goes’ attitude.” More recently, Deity’s Muse was the main support act for prog-metal pioneers Monuments on their 2019 UK tour.
Both locally and around the world, the metal scene stands out from the crowd in the best ways. Metal (and metal-adjacent) acts usually attract smaller audiences than other genres, but make up for it with the dedication of their fans. “If you’re listening to Top 50 radio, that kind of thing, you’re not loving that kind of music as much as you might if you were into something more niche,” Jim says. And it’s that niche interest that helps create the strong sense of community in the metal scene, where you’ll often find the same passionate people at every festival. “There’s always familiar faces, they’re all there, and they’re always wearing the merch,” Jim continues.
“I find that more mainstream music scenes, when it comes to live events, are more about the party than the music itself,” Wayne tells us. Both Jim and Wayne emphasise the importance of live music as an act of human connection, something that you can’t get from a recording. “You have to be present in the here and now, both artist and audience. It’s primal,” Wayne explains.
“Our show […] is about celebration and unity and raising voices together – being interactive and physical and vocal,” Jim tells us. Caligula’s Horse isn’t about getting on stage, standing still, and playing a technical song at the audience. Jim continues, “That goes for anybody who’s into any kind of music. I challenge you to come along to the show and celebrate with us, because you’ll have a great time.”
This Friday 23 August, The Daisy Jones Bar outside Stellenbosch will be hosting Caligula’s Horse and Deity’s Muse, joined by Megalodon. The next night, at the legendary Sognage in Johannesburg, they will be supported by Sunken State and New Earth. Grab tickets for the Stellenbosch show here, and for the Johannesburg show here.
Jim hosts a show on Twitch where he listens to artists with fewer than 2000 monthly listeners. “Sometimes it’s stuff that’s not so good and sometimes you find absolute gold,” Jim tells us. He recently listened to the local supporting acts on the stream and tells us that “[Their music] is freaking awesome, I’m so looking forward to those shows,” he continues.
Looking ahead, Deity’s Muse are working on their next full-length album, aiming to release it sometime in 2025. And in March next year they will be headlining the Sphinxblick Open Air festival out in the Namib desert. “We can’t wait to experience that,” Wayne tells us.
