Photo Reports
In 2021, Martijn Westerholt announced the dissolution of Delain, intending to continue as a solo project. A few months later, however, he retracted his earlier statement and announced that he would form a new lineup. Earlier this year, the band released their seventh album, “Dark Waters.” Tonight they played in Sint-Niklaas to introduce this record, and new singer Diana Leah to the Belgian fans.
Support act was Xandria.
Longstanding Finnish melodeath outfit Mors Subita just recently released their new album ‘Origin of Fire’, and when we had an interview with them, they were so kind to invite us to their show at On The Rocks. It’s been quite awhile since I last saw them live, and their new songs absolutely smash, so how could I say no. For the Helsinki show, they invited the local modern metal heroes of Shereign and fellow Out of Line Music label mates I Am Your God, only making it more enticing to join what promised to be a fun night of good Finnish metal.
A package consisting of some really exciting bands in the realms of black metal, folk metal and pagan themed metal, is something I tend to try not to miss out on. So when All Things Live and Hellsinki Metal Festival were bringing back Batushka on their “Black Pilgrimage tour 2023” with Arkona, Aeternam and Varang Nord, the night at Helsinki’s Vanha Ylioppilastalo was quickly marked in my calendar, which was also the very last stop of this leg of the tour!
The always intriguing Finnish band Hexvessel recently released their new album ‘Polar Veil’, which brought the usually quite folky band on a path towards the black metal origins of main man and vocalist Mat “Kvohst” McNerney. The album still brings that magical kind of folky atmosphere, but this time around the soundscapes feel larger than live with the addition of well-placed ice-cold black metal riffs. To celebrate the release, they did a couple of release shows in Finland, and we just had to make the trip to Kuudes Linja in Helsinki to experience their new work live!
On Thursday November 16, Mors Subita made it to Klubi, Tampere for one of their ‘Origin of Fire‘ release shows. And of course they didn’t come alone, they brought along Marianas Rest, who played a surprisingly long set. All together, a nice, relaxed evening of Finnish Metal without any major ups and downs.
The Real Sepultura!
That was for sure the message Max Cavalera wanted to bring us.
Max and his brother Iggor Cavalera, founders of Sepultura, have re-recorded Sepultura‘s first EP: ‘Bestial Devastation’ (find our review here), and first full-length album: ‘Morbid Visions’ (find our review here) and are on tour with the result: Morbid Devastation Tour 2023!
Max says he wanted to go back to where it all started. Re-recording the raw and timeless spirit of both albums, but with the amazing sound of NOW! They also added two new tracks with riffs from those days, that they still remembered by heart. Iggor says he always felt like the recordings of the earlier work didn’t do justice to the way they performed the songs. So, they are very proud to show the real fans their true representation of both records.
They played both albums almost in their entirety and in order. For many fans of the original Sepultura this was an evening of bringing up memories! The warm-up act was Incite, whose vocalist Richie Cavalera is Max‘s stepson.
When Danko Jones is in town, you know you’ll get some good rock ‘n’ roll going on! And they were clearly ready to get shakin’ at Tavastia in Helsinki, the very first stop of their “Shake Your City tour 2023”! There’s always something in the air when they’re playing a show, and especially at a legendary rock club like this. Throw on top of that an absolutely and completely sold-out and packed to the brim venue and it can’t go wrong anymore. To warm us up, we got the local hard rock heroes Dirt showing what they got, starting off a night of pure and uncut rock till the very end!
After finishing their Asian tour Against The Current kicks off their European tour in Brussels. A rather small crowd has gathered in Ancienne Belgique to enjoy an evening full of rock. Together with Call Me Amour and LØLØ they all gave everything they had.
Lorna Shore is right now undoubtedly one of the biggest deathcore bands in the world, and have given the genre a huge boost. After a simply impressive show at this year’s Tuska, where a huge crowd gathered in front of the main stage in pouring rain, they were coming back to Finland with “The Pain Remains EU tour” and tickets were flying out the door. The Helsinki show had to upgrade the venue from Black Box Ice Hall to the full capacity Ice Hall venue and the Tampere show at Pakkahuone was sold out almost immediately. I wanted a slightly more intimate feel, so off I went to the smaller and gorgeous Pakkahuone for an evening of extreme metal blasting in my face with Lorna Shore, Rivers of Nihil and Ingested!
Opening the evening, a mix of post-metal and djent, Allt are powerful and managed to warm up the night a little, but the fans were there to see something and were excited and impatient for moments of ecstasy with their idols.
Known for their superior technical skills, the Animals As Leaders presented themselves in a very professional and focused manner. With minimal communication with the audience, they only announced their songs and mentioned that this was the biggest concert they had ever given in Munich. Despite a little too much volume and bass in the room, in my opinion, they enchant everyone present with technical details that only a few in this world can execute so cleanly and precisely, even under the pressure of an audience almost entirely made up of musicians. Tosi Abasi and Javier Reyes showed why they are the cream of the crop of technical guitarists, with the enormous complicity and joy of those who play their instruments with love and enjoyment, and this is reflected in those watching from the other side. On drums, completely blowing everything out of the water, was Matt Garstka, also at a super high level.
To sum up the evening, we can say that the Gods of Djent came to earth in Munich and gave a concert that will remain in our memories for a long time.
