Well it's been 5 yeas since we last saw Firewind on these shores as Gus G was telling us from the stage last night. To be honest I thought he'd sort of given up on Firewind what with being Ozzy's guitarist and doing two solo albums and actually losing Apollo. It looked grim for Firewind fans to say the least but Gus and co are back and then some.
This Euro tour featured Swedes Manimal and fellow Greeks Scar of the Sun. I hadn't really heard of the opening band but they were quite good. A little different than the other two bands in style but that's ok as it serves as a good contrast. They had big heavy brooding sections with groove and melody and then regular thrashing parts. Not bad at all.
Manimal were up next and I was looking forward to their set immensely and they didn't disappoint. Their latest album is a killer slab of melodic heavy metal with piercing true metal vocals ala Halford. The singer even adopts the same look as in the lead video with the cats eye blue contacts in his eyes giving him a deranged psycho look. Rather cool and funny whilst prowling the stage and acting very metal! Their songs are very cool too with mid paced head banging parts and then blistering sections where the guitarist blazes the riffs out like a maniac.
The band was having a lot of fun on stage and was going down very well with the reasonably healthy Sunday night crowd of 250. They played songs from both their albums but the latest is where most of the action is based around. The band was very tight and the sound was great too. Pounding fun heavy metal from Manimal! Huge "Manimal! Manimal!" chants by the crowd at the end as well. I think the band was surprised how well they went down considering this is their debut in the UK.
At 9.20 sharp the Firewind boys took their spots as the intro to Ode To Leonidas was played and soon Gus launches into that mammoth opening riff and we're under way for a night of shredding power metal at it's best. I'd been looking forward to see how Henning Basse would fit in with the band as a live performer and he fitted like a glove. His voice is a little rougher than Apollo's live but he sings with a lot of power and is great at getting the crowd pumped up.
Gus spoke a fair bit in between the songs and thanked the crowd for not forgetting about his band and how glad they were that Henning accepted the call to be the new singer and what a fantastic job he's been doing. I think he was better suited to the newer material than the older classics but the fans were lapping it up anyway as if he's always been the singer. They played a lot of songs from the new album including the very catchy Back on the Throne with it's tasty riffs and solos.
A totally shredding World On Fire segued into the instrumental The Fire and The Fury with Gus showing off his shredding skills to the max. The sound mix was a little loud on the guitars which sometimes drowned out Henning's vocals and he strained to be heard above it all but he manfully soldiered on. Special mention for Bob Katsionis, the guys plays a mean guitar and handles keyboards too and does a great job playing second fiddle to Gussy's shredding overload.
It's good to have Firewind back. Immortals is a great album and they still have what it takes to be one of Europe's premier power metal outfits though they've probably lost a little of the ground that they made pre Gus joining Ozzy and losing Apollo. But with Basse proving his worth the band is still a force to be reckoned with in power metal circles.
Ode to Leonidas
We Defy
Head Up High
Few Against Many
Between Heaven and Hell
Back on the Throne
Hands of Time
Wars of Ages
Lady of 1000 Sorrows
(With extended keyboard and guitar intro solos)
World on Fire
The Fire and the Fury
Mercenary Man
Tyranny
Encore:
Live and Die by the Sword
Falling to Pieces
Showing posts with label camden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camden. Show all posts
Monday, 20 February 2017
Wednesday, 11 February 2015
Wolf Live Report at the Underworld
Sunday night gigs are never my favourite but I didn't want to miss Wolf this time as I'm a huge fan of their current album Devil Seed so a ticket was purchased with much glee on my part. Finding out that Primitai would be the main support was also also a pleasant surprise as I'm a huge fan of theirs as well.
First up were a band I haven't heard of called The Heretic Order. Not knowing a band's songs is always quite a big hindrance to enjoying a band's music in the live arena and it proved no different on this occasion either. They were competent and played a dark sort of melodic death with cleanish vocals as well. They were some sort of satanic band or occult band as well. Playing a cover of Mercyful Fate's Black Funeral should reflect what angle they were coming from. Not a disaster.
Next were local Brit heroes Primitai. Second time seeing them although the first time was in the tiny Our Black Heart pub, this was a much better venue for them to flex their not inconsiderable muscle. Front man Guy Miller has a really powerful voice and showcased that to great effect. They played songs from all three of their albums but I only came on board with the latest CD. The earlier songs are ok but they don't do a huge deal for me. I was a bit bummed they didn't play more newer songs but ending with Scream When You See Us go the metallic juices flowing nicely. A good direct support to the Swedes make no mistake and a band that went down pretty well to the gathered 200 or so crowd.
Finally the roadies got the stage ready and the Wolf boys strode on and launched straight into Overture in C Shark before smashing headlong into the amazingly raging Shark Attack. Whilst the guitars were set to stun I unfortunately couldn't hear a single vocal from the right of the stage in the front row. I was hoping this would be a first song problem but alas it seemed to continue. When the guitars were pumping the vocals could barely be heard. This was the last night of the tour so I don't know if Niklas was having vocal issues or not but I could barely hear a word he was singing at times which dampened my enjoyment somewhat.
Musically speaking the band were spot on. The riffing was taut and precise with a lovely thick and crisp Underworld sound. They played a mix of tunes covering recent albums and going as far back as the brilliant Evil Star and Black Wings. I enjoyed the guitar interplay and fast riffs of songs like Genocide and the epic chorus of the mighty Evil Star immensely. I enjoyed the new songs most of though as they are the ones I am most familiar with at the moment. My Demon is just a wickedly catchy mid paced tune. Killing Floor is awesome as well with a chorus made to be sung out loud. The band sounded very tight indeed it's just a shame that from my vantage point I found the vocals almost inaudible at times though I don't quite know what the issue was in the end.
The singer Niklas is quite an engaging little dude with quite humorous stage banter, as I find with most Swedes, although some of their humour doesn't always translate so well to an English audience hehe. The guy is a wiry little whipper snapper as well when he takes his top off and you see he hasn't got an ounce extra on him as he's riffing and head banging away like a maniac. Wolf are quite an interesting band to watch and enjoy themselves thoroughly whilst on stage as well.
Overall a night of true metal goodness and riffs galore from all 3 bands. Wolf is a band I will catch again no doubt when they come calling this way once more. I am sure they are capable of much more on another night when the vocals are a bit better and more audible with the band firing on all cylinders.
Overture in C Shark
Shark Attack
The Bite
Skeleton Woman
My Demon
Voodoo
Night Stalker
Evil Star
Frozen
Hail Caesar
I Will Kill Again
Full Moon Possession
Skull Crusher
Venom
Encore:
Speed On
Genocide
Killing Floor
First up were a band I haven't heard of called The Heretic Order. Not knowing a band's songs is always quite a big hindrance to enjoying a band's music in the live arena and it proved no different on this occasion either. They were competent and played a dark sort of melodic death with cleanish vocals as well. They were some sort of satanic band or occult band as well. Playing a cover of Mercyful Fate's Black Funeral should reflect what angle they were coming from. Not a disaster.
Next were local Brit heroes Primitai. Second time seeing them although the first time was in the tiny Our Black Heart pub, this was a much better venue for them to flex their not inconsiderable muscle. Front man Guy Miller has a really powerful voice and showcased that to great effect. They played songs from all three of their albums but I only came on board with the latest CD. The earlier songs are ok but they don't do a huge deal for me. I was a bit bummed they didn't play more newer songs but ending with Scream When You See Us go the metallic juices flowing nicely. A good direct support to the Swedes make no mistake and a band that went down pretty well to the gathered 200 or so crowd.
Finally the roadies got the stage ready and the Wolf boys strode on and launched straight into Overture in C Shark before smashing headlong into the amazingly raging Shark Attack. Whilst the guitars were set to stun I unfortunately couldn't hear a single vocal from the right of the stage in the front row. I was hoping this would be a first song problem but alas it seemed to continue. When the guitars were pumping the vocals could barely be heard. This was the last night of the tour so I don't know if Niklas was having vocal issues or not but I could barely hear a word he was singing at times which dampened my enjoyment somewhat.
Musically speaking the band were spot on. The riffing was taut and precise with a lovely thick and crisp Underworld sound. They played a mix of tunes covering recent albums and going as far back as the brilliant Evil Star and Black Wings. I enjoyed the guitar interplay and fast riffs of songs like Genocide and the epic chorus of the mighty Evil Star immensely. I enjoyed the new songs most of though as they are the ones I am most familiar with at the moment. My Demon is just a wickedly catchy mid paced tune. Killing Floor is awesome as well with a chorus made to be sung out loud. The band sounded very tight indeed it's just a shame that from my vantage point I found the vocals almost inaudible at times though I don't quite know what the issue was in the end.
The singer Niklas is quite an engaging little dude with quite humorous stage banter, as I find with most Swedes, although some of their humour doesn't always translate so well to an English audience hehe. The guy is a wiry little whipper snapper as well when he takes his top off and you see he hasn't got an ounce extra on him as he's riffing and head banging away like a maniac. Wolf are quite an interesting band to watch and enjoy themselves thoroughly whilst on stage as well.
Overall a night of true metal goodness and riffs galore from all 3 bands. Wolf is a band I will catch again no doubt when they come calling this way once more. I am sure they are capable of much more on another night when the vocals are a bit better and more audible with the band firing on all cylinders.
Overture in C Shark
Shark Attack
The Bite
Skeleton Woman
My Demon
Voodoo
Night Stalker
Evil Star
Frozen
Hail Caesar
I Will Kill Again
Full Moon Possession
Skull Crusher
Venom
Encore:
Speed On
Genocide
Killing Floor
 |
| The Heretic Order |
 |
| Primitai |
 |
| Wolf |
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