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Events and Reports - Symphony X - Live in Markthalle, Hamburg - February 13th, 2008
My list with "bands I have to see before I leave this place" is slowly getting smaller, and when the opportunity came to erase one of the most wanted names on the list, I just had to start up the car and travel south towards Hamburg.
My admiration for Symphony X has only grown through the years, the band has everything going for them and the ability to put together one amazing album after the other, never disappointing...never.
I arrived at time, but time down here is apparently a "40 minutes plus" thing, which meant that I only catched the end of the Dreamscape show, needless to point out that this is completely amateurish and disrespectful to those who showed up.
Circus Maximus put on a decent appearance, held back by an unstable sound. The show was nothing special, but had great guitar playing and a bunch of cool tracks with a solid basic delivery, especially the more melodic tracks from their debut stood out with The Glory Of The Empire coming off quite epically.
After a Jim Beam and Coke out in the bar, Symphony X was on the brink of entering the stage and as soon as the intro from the new album sounded I had a pretty good idea of what was soon to come my way. A metallic firestorm.
Set The World On Fire ignited a fuse of fury and a thick wall of heaviness, not yet sound-wise adjusted but deeply powerful burst into the hall, leaving people half way scared, half way excited.
As soon as Russell's belted out the first lines of "god-like perfection", it was clear that this man's voice is as strong and brilliant live as on album, Michael Romeo hammered a bunch of trashy riffs home and we were off to a flying start.
It soon became apparent that the band had decided going for the full throttle approach on behalf of a more progressive path. Domination was mean, unstoppable and gritty, Russell acting out harsh commands in a convincing fashion, always able to bring some fun into the game.
This show was the first on the European leg so the band had to find their place on stage, The Serpent's Kiss was extremely groovy but had a rather unfocused mid-section, but seen as a whole show the band performed as a tight unit on an extremely high technical level, one of the coolest things about the band.
From the debut album Masquerade was thrown into the set, entertaining with its mix between semi-slow and ultra fast neo-classical elements.
The sound got more balanced, without ever becoming as clear as could be hoped for. The really heavy stuff was dominated by the double bass drum attack leaving the keys and bass a bit in the background.
Anyway, a song like Paradise Lost really highlighted every instruments important role, staring off with a sedative piano melody and then slowly evolving into the masterpiece it truly is. Russell added a sing a long part in the middle that involved the crowd in a great intense way.
There is just something too it when you sing the chorus-line out loud, arms wide open, gazing towards "ethereal skies".
The biggest surprise of the night came with the full execution of the 13-minute opus Through The Looking Glass, sparkling with guitar improvisations, creative bass passages and a most wonderful piano interwoven into a firm rhythm section.
Not everything clicked precisely right but it added a rich atmosphere to the show.
One thing that was characteristic for the night was Romeo's insanely fast and technical lead shredding. Smoke And Mirrors took the madness into a new level, overall not the most exciting track of the night, but it surely added a different kind of frenzy extremeness.
Inferno (Unleash The Fire) followed the same path, kick starting by an extremely effusive drum performance, amazing track by the way.
Michael Pinnella keys were a bit too much in the background, this man's talents should be heard loud and clear, luckily he really shined through as the complex Revelation saw the dark of night, mixing the ultra dramatic keys with a phenomenal piano mid-section, through in a thrilling solo and you get a picture of this instruments importance. Somehow the song appeared in a different light live, being even more vivid through dramatic breaks and an ever-changing myriad of rhythm patterns. An unforgettable piece of Progressive Power Metal.
The song went into Paradise Regained (last part of The Divine Wings Of Tragedy) and this ingenious move worked out very well, adding a mellow and emotional element to the show.
I was hoping for at least parts of The Odyssey, some The Damnation Game material and a few from V (Evolution (The Grand Design) or Communion And The Oracle), but with this band's back catalogue I guess you'll never be fully satisfied.
When they came back after a short break it was with the immensely fast Eve Of Seduction, containing a thrilling guitar solo and a tight and direct Out Of The Ashes, opening with the immortal and completely captivating line "in the house of my master".
As the set closer, the classic Of Sins And Shadows sent a large portion of the crowd into head banging mode, a really raw, tight and representative closure.
So all in all a sombre, powerful and heavy set with few tender moments, I personally would have liked a bit more of the softer or at least more epic stuff, but this evening proved that the band knows how to deliver a compact and complex thing live too.
A show with both musical challenges and muscular engagement.
Setlist:
Oculus Ex Inferni
Set The World On Fire
Domination
The Serpent's Kiss
Masquerade
Paradise Lost
Through The Looking Glass
Smoke And Mirrors
Inferno (Unleash The Fire)
Sea Of Lies
Revelation
Paradise Regained (The Divine Wings Of Tragedy Part VII)
Eve Of Seduction
Out Of The Ashes
Of Sins And Shadows
| | Written by Tommy
Thursday, March 6, 2008 |
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