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Events and Reports - ProgPower Scandinavia 2007 - Tommy´s Festival Report
When I saw that the ProgPower concept had spread to Scandinavia, I knew I had to be part of it.
A two-day festival combing music of two excellent genres with a range of quite young and interesting bands mixed with a dose of competent routine.
As a first time festival I'm very impressed with the list of bands taking part in this thing. The only band that I didn't check out thoroughly was Darkane.
Friday afternoon I meet Steen on the train heading for Copenhagen and we soon agreed that a cold beer would be in order, both looking forward to a couple of days filled with inspiring music.
Friday
Spheric Universe Experience
Around eight o'clock people were beginning to stand in line outside the venue called The Rock, I just don't understand why they started letting people in so late and in such a slow pace as it made it difficult to make the first show in time.
The rather young band from France, Spheric Universe Experience, had been handed the ungrateful task of opening the festival, which luckily didn't seem to bother them as they delivery a fine and professional round of technical Progressive Metal.
Dreamy key scenarios, effectual bass lines and a strong rhythm section were a solid backbone in a band with clear potential.
Most songs originated from the second and very interesting album Anima.
Being brought along a precise piano and rhythm section duel and some very odd experimental inputs in the vein of Symphony X, a superb track.
The 7-minute World Of Madness was unfolded with great confidence and the melodic chorus well received by the audience. Crunchy guitar riffs and lots of compact power to inhale.
Singer Franck Garcia has a bit monotone range but clearly a decent voice. I just missed a bit more involvement from him towards the crowd, that could have prevented a minor feeling of detachment from the audience, but overall this was a very good performance from the band.
Circus Maximus
Norwegian Circus Maximus where next up with their blend of Progressive structures and more accessible melodies. In my opinion they have released two good but not overly memorable albums, so I was looking forward to seeing them live.
Main focus was on the bands sophomore release Isolate, with Arrival Of Love standing as a highlight. Ingenious guitar playing and a cool melodic vocal delivery.
Mouth Of Madness on the other hand lacked something to keep it interesting, the band played quite well, but the sound wasn't clear enough and I missed more surprising moments, especially with a playing time of 12-minutes.
From their debut album Alive worked pretty well with a healthy dose of keyboard wizardry, a catchy refrain and a well-oiled technical rhythm section.
Overall the band just didn't seem that much up to it, sure the songs were laid down comfortably but the sparkling energy was felt too seldom and it became a bit too safe.
Threshold
Threshold has gotten some well-deserved attention in recent years and I had been looking forward to experiencing them for some time now.
From the first heavy beat of Slipstream the band was on a winning course, high on energy, being extraordinary tight and Damian Wilson as the born showman.
Just about every track was a highlight and I was very impressed with Mission Profile's deep riff based structures and ingenious key arrangements. Karl Groom nailed the solo with brilliant precision and delivered a world-class performance all night.
The fantastic One Degree Down from their newest and in my opinion best album to date, Dead Reckoning, was a display of Progressive Metal when it's best. Dynamic guitar leads; creative bass lines, diverse drumming and a chorus line with an emotional warm edge, making the song gain additional strength live.
The contrast between acute heavy rhythm guitar work and the melodic and utterly brilliant chorus line in Fragmentation is one of my favourite Threshold moments and tonight's version was no less than thrilling.
Most songs where of newer origin but the epic Sanity's End from the debut (with Damian on vocals) was really interesting and painted a dreamy and complex scenario, showing the range of the bands composition skills.
Damian threw himself into the crowd a couple of times and kept singing along as he checked out the balcony in the back of the venue, making friendly gestures to people along the way. He really seemed to enjoy himself and his vocals were spine chilling. Still this was a team effort and everyone with a minimum knowledge of music could hear that this band has something special to offer, a razor sharp machine taking no prisoners whatsoever.
The sound was nicely balanced and with a thick backbone and even though the place wasn't packed the band received a lot of positive reactions, but how can you not applaud a band with this back-catalogue and attitude towards playing live?
I kept hoping they would include This Is Your Life and when they fired this infectious and powerful Rock/Metal anthem home as the closing track it just felt complete.
It's a phenomenon!
Mercenary
Local Danish Trash/Power/Prog act Mercenary faced an audience that was beginning to feel the consequences of a long day at the Metal office, but with a high intensity show and a monster heavy sound they managed to start up quite a party.
I couldn't help going ballistic as World Hate Center hit with a massive blast. Talk about an intense start to a song and the band nailed it perfectly.
Their brilliant and newest release The Hours That Remain got a thorough treatment with the catchy Redefine Me, the epic Lost Reality and the groovy My World Is Ending as stand out tracks.
The rather dominating keyboard, effectually laid down by Morten Sandager, created some really sombre and hypnotic moods that added another dimension to the music.
From the Everblack album Seize The Night was picked out and served with confident determination, technical and captivating.
Lead singer and brother Mikkel Sandager has a unique voice and especially his vivid screams injected an unruly vibe to the show. I wasn't a huge fan of the harsh vocal approach that played a larger part in the first albums, but bassist Rene Pedersen did a decent job in adding this contrast to the show when needed.
With 90 minutes of playing time I missed a surprising element, but the music was rock solid.
I'm really looking forward to their next album; this night proved that they are a force to be reckoned with.
Saturday
Andromeda
Phenomenal!
Is the first word that comes to mind when thinking back at the 45-minutes Andromeda was given as first band on stage Saturday. With three solid albums in the baggage the band opened up a box of progressive wonders that were no less that completely captivating.
Periscope with its teasing melodic guitar lick and fast paced rhythm set things in motion right from the start. Add a dose of cunning keys, versatile drumming and you have a fantastic song.
The bands material is packed to the breaking point with odd details and obscure twists and surprisingly it very seldom becomes too much, it feels natural and makes each song an experience in it self.
Drummer Thomas Lejon had a pretty funny question halfway through the gig: Do you like Heavy Metal? I guess you have an idea of the answer he received.
His playing was no less than inspiring and singer David Fremberg's melodic and still varied voice gives the band a distinct character.
As they performed In The Deepest Of Waters from the debut, I stood amazed and thought to myself that this band can go very far. The music here is so demanding and the band just hammered it home with ease.
The delicate build up in The Hidden Riddle, complete with a great bass break, shifting guitar techniques and the ever present, dreamy key structures was another treasured moment.
Andromeda's music can get extremely technical, Encyclopedia being a perfect example with yet another magnificent performance. Johan Reinholdz kept impressing with numerous advances passages, while the rest of the band followed in his footsteps, that's one of coolest things about this band, they all play in the same league.
Highly dynamic music performed by an outstanding band. Truly memorable.
Machine Men
Attending all this fine music brought along a natural thirst and lets just say that I won't ´be counting my credit card receipts, I don't think I can handle the truth...looking at the bright side, we came a long way in trying out exotic drinks in the bar and was more than ready for Finnish based Machine Men.
A young band with already three solid albums under their belt.
Iron Maiden is a clear source of inspiration, and there's also some Edguy tendencies here, but Machine Men still has a sound and attitude of their own: Striking, melodic and effusive Classic/Power Metal.
With Circus Of Fools it was clear they meant business as twin lead harmonies and a mean rhythm played dominate roles while No Talk Without The Giant's catchy chorus was sung with huge conviction and power, my guess is that Antony wasn't very sober but he surely gave it 100% and it sounded convincing and fittingly raw.
From their debut album, Silver Dreams came off with a rushing drive and a catchy chorus line while Scars And Wounds painted a more sinister mood with a heavy underlying rhythm.
You could feel the band enjoying themselves on stage, and some sound problems in the beginning didn't hold them back.
Unfortunately they played a bit too many mid-tempo tracks from their new album and I really missed outtakes from the Elegy album.
But the band sounded tight and their energy was pretty contagious.
Eldritch
Eldritch has made seven studio albums and like to roam within the darker and gloomy side of Metal, tonight exemplified with a song like The Blackened Day, nicely balanced out by a catchy chorus.
Silent Flame is another characteristic Eldritch track, delivered with weighty rhythm guitar work and forceful bass and drum collaboration.
Eugene Simone is a talented guitarist, but too seldom showed it. The band had a tight common understanding but the performance became too predictable.
Save Me was an exception with a wild, trashy and evolving core.
The bands music can get a bit monotone and sadly they didn't really succeed in down toning this element in a live setting.
Overall a decent gig, singer Terence Holler tried to connect with the audience and made some really scary/funny faces along the way, but the show never really got past third gear.
Firewind
Firewind has created quite a stir within the Power Metal genre and their latest two albums Forget By Fire and Allegiance prove why.
Tonight was their final gig on their world tour, and as tradition calls for, the band decided to have some fun and a "few" drinks along the way.
The band started out with high intensity, and especially Insanity worked brilliantly live. An in your face guitar riff and a sing a long chorus go a long way when done right.
I missed some of my favourite tracks from Allegiance, but it was cool to hear a powerful version of Between Heaven And Hell from the debut of the same name.
You can't take away from these guys that they are fully able of transporting the raw energy from their albums onto the stage.
Deliverance wasn't an obvious live choice and it soon appeared rather uninteresting.
Let me just say that I wasn't impressed with singer Apollo either, he was just a bit too drunk for it to not affect his singing, resulting in more than one instance where he sang directly incorrect. I think he has a decent voice, but he has to concentrate live for it to function.
If you add a rather weird connection with the crowd, including him throwing water in peoples faces, and some completely untimely attempts to get people to sing along, it left a picture I didn't find flattering.
The rest of the band also had some drinks, but it didn't seem to affect their performances in a bad way. Mark Cross laid down a fierce groove, even though the drum solo, like almost every drum solo, became a bit trivial.
The instrumental The Fire And The Fury is a fantastic instrumental; I just think Gus overdid it a bit here. Sure he's a good guitarist, but no need in making an instrumental much longer when playing live.
One of the songs I had been looking forward to the most this festival came as Tyranny ended the set. That chorus structure in connection with an overly catchy guitar lick is no less than genius and the track put a strong finish to an uneven show.
Orphaned Land
With three unique albums behind them, Israeli Progressive Folk Metal unit Orphaned Land were set to close a festival that at this moment felt as a long, demanding journey.
It was apparent from start that the band, as the crowd, wasn't on fire and the gig can overall be described as routine job for the large part. Sure we got entertaining "jump and sing along" parts and some quite appealing and also aggressive passages, but musically it became too static.
I had really been looking for a more exotic display, but no keyboards, no acoustic guitars, no string instruments...but a lot of taped backgrounds and choirs. In some instances it worked out OK, but it just creates an artificial mood contrary to what can be heard on their albums, especially the brilliant Mabool.
There were glimpses of magic though, terrific soloing and hypnotic vocal harmonies were unfolded as Ocean Land (The Revelation) swept its delicate yet raw wings around the hall.
Singer Kobi seemed strangely absent, and even though his vocal approach was varied and at times beautiful, something was missing and the link to the crowd never really became authentic.
The band played a varied selection of tracks, mainly from Mabool but sadly the lack of acoustic passages and key/piano elements drained the songs for some of their built-in charm, not helping was a rather muddy sound.
The band managed to present some exciting moments, guitarist Yossi showed high class from time to time and their new drummer did a fair job, but I still felt slightly disappointed.
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Seen as a whole the sound throughout the festival was solid, some bands better than others. But I still don't think that The Rock is a fantastic live scene, the big poles in the middle of the floor and the compact size (stage and floor) set certain limitations.
On the other hand it's a pretty cosy place and the atmosphere throughout the festival was positive, I just hope The Rock will hire a better "Metal" DJ next time around.
All in all a successful festival with some really cool bands, putting on creative and energetic performances.
I surely walked away feeling enlightened and I guess that's one of the things you're looking for when it comes to music with a progressive scent.
Best shows:
Threshold (otherworldly)
Andromeda (thrilling)
Machine Men (intense)
Mercenary (forceful)
| Click pictures for a bigger version
Spheric Universe Experience
Circus Maximus
Circus Maximus
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Threshold
Mercenary
Mercenary
Mercenary
Andromeda
Andromeda
Andromeda
Andromeda
Machine Men
Machine Men
Machine Men
Machine Men
Machine Men
Eldritch
Eldritch
Firewind
Firewind
Firewind
Firewind
Orphaned Land
Orphaned Land
All pictures taken by Steen | Written by Tommy
Tuesday, November 27, 2007 |
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