Tonight's outing sees us relatively close to home with a night of European symphonic power metal at The Asylum in Birmingham city centre.
Just two bands on tonight with Ukrainian outfit Ignea (9) on first.
This 5 piece have been around a long time now, and have built up a strong following throughout Europe with their heavy death metal tinged symphonic metal that has become more technically progressive in recent years. They open up with the track Dunes taken off their most recent release Dreams Of Lands Unseen from which a number of tracks tonight are taken from. This track has huge chugging riffs that are a counterpoint to the middle eastern feel to the keyboards, which is echoed in vocalist Helle Bohdanova’s singing as she effortlessly transitions from harsh gutturals to soaring melodies with ease.
Their music is rooted deeply in their Ukrainian culture and takes much of its inspiration from historical figures and mythology. The heavy/melodic phases in their songs echo the Ukrainian psyche, from deep pain to joyful highs. You feel fully immersed in their all encompassing music as they take you on an epic journey. The set fittingly ends on the beast of a track Leviathan from the album A Sign Of Faith, a full on power metal anthem, the crowd love it and a perfect end to a great set.
Just two bands on tonight with Ukrainian outfit Ignea (9) on first.
This 5 piece have been around a long time now, and have built up a strong following throughout Europe with their heavy death metal tinged symphonic metal that has become more technically progressive in recent years. They open up with the track Dunes taken off their most recent release Dreams Of Lands Unseen from which a number of tracks tonight are taken from. This track has huge chugging riffs that are a counterpoint to the middle eastern feel to the keyboards, which is echoed in vocalist Helle Bohdanova’s singing as she effortlessly transitions from harsh gutturals to soaring melodies with ease.
Their music is rooted deeply in their Ukrainian culture and takes much of its inspiration from historical figures and mythology. The heavy/melodic phases in their songs echo the Ukrainian psyche, from deep pain to joyful highs. You feel fully immersed in their all encompassing music as they take you on an epic journey. The set fittingly ends on the beast of a track Leviathan from the album A Sign Of Faith, a full on power metal anthem, the crowd love it and a perfect end to a great set.
With just the two bands on tonight, we get plenty to savour from headliners, Swedish quintet, Eleine (10). We’re treated to a stonking 15 track set of pure dark symphonic metal that makes our black hearts very happy. Opening up with the heavy pounding riffs of Enemies they barely stop for a breather as they work their way through a selection of tracks taken mainly from the last two albums with a couple of older tracks thrown in for good measure. Madeleine Liljestem is a superb vocalist, incredibly powerful range and tone, and the play off between her and guitarist Rikard Ekberg’s growls is sublime. The interplay, particularly on We Are Legion and Dancing In Hell is as good as any metal duo on the circuit.
The epic set list seems to be over in the blink of an eye, always a good indication that it’s been a great gig. They end on the title track of their latest album We Shall Remain, a grand opus that somehow only lasts about 5 mins but feels like a symphony, this band packs a lot into their songs, and with the anthemic chorus of "We Shall Remain…" bouncing around in our heads, we certainly hope that Eleine remain around for a long time to come.
The epic set list seems to be over in the blink of an eye, always a good indication that it’s been a great gig. They end on the title track of their latest album We Shall Remain, a grand opus that somehow only lasts about 5 mins but feels like a symphony, this band packs a lot into their songs, and with the anthemic chorus of "We Shall Remain…" bouncing around in our heads, we certainly hope that Eleine remain around for a long time to come.
No comments:
Post a Comment