Firewind & Fury, The Underworld, Camden, London, 09.02.25
Well here we are again! After a one off at the end of their European dates last year the Greek metal heroes Firewind returned to the UK for a tour with our good friends Fury in support for every date.
Clearly Fury (10) made a mark on Gus G and co as we managed to catch them once again at The Underworld in Camden. Now we were slightly less inebriated this time around so it was into the bowels of Camden ready to get a jolly good rocking. To a large cheer, the Midlands(ish) five piece took to the stage and hit everyone round the head with new songs Interceptor. Engines pumping, the pace was set by the human drum machine Tom, while the riffs from JJ and Becky came racing.
From here it was into old favourites Prince Of Darkness and Rock N Roll, the Ozzy worshipping former track now fully the realm of Nyah on vocals as the latter has the Rickenbecky paying homage to the boom of Lemmy. With no time to talk it was all about making an impact and we got into Hell Of A Night, the crowd chanting "monster movies" along with JJ, Nyah and the band at large.
Now this is the one thing I noticed watching Fury for the first time in a while with the addition of Aki on lead guitar they not only have someone who clearly LOVES guitar solos, but an additional vocalist to join in with Becky on the backings to JJ and Nyah. We got into the "power metal" part of their set with Lost In Space and Dragon's Song upping the epic fantasy. These were both Aki's time to peel off some more killer solos, harmonising with JJ for those classic metal sounds.
Again JJ had to watch himself, but he didn't need the normal bigging up of the crowd, they were on side, some had only come to see them in fact and as the now permanent closing duo of Burnout and Road Warrior capped off this fantastic opening set from Fury. A band who are always favourites of mine live, are now in the strongest position they have been for a long time due to near constant touring. A new album is on the horizon and Fury will be headlining The Underworld soon. Mark my words!
Next then it was Greek metal veterans Firewind (10), with Herbie Langhans now firmly the frontman of the band, they crafted a set that gave us the best of what they do, taking at least one song (I believe) from every album in their catalogue, the majority came from Stand United but there was a grand total of 6 from the albums recorded with Apollo and Bob who recently joined the band for a special Greek show.
These classics excited the countless London Greeks who had turned out on a Sunday night, but the whole set was captivating, Johan Nunez and Petros Christodoulidis set the rhythms going for the anthemic metal track such as Stand United, I Am The Anger and Destiny Is Calling. Petros always impresses me, his bass playing is effortless, he carries the riffs when Gus shreds, transforming into the lead instrument and locking in with Johan's technical drumming.
Herbie too was on the best form I've seen him in, singing with his full range, looking like he was having a ball with Ode To Leonidas and spinning like a madman on their cover of Maniac. The band brought our Nyah from Fury to duet with Herbie on Breaking The Silence, both absolutely killing it on a stolen cold and rarely played classic. Even on the encores of Rising Fire and Head Up High, Herbie's vocals were perfect, so I hope he sticks around for a long time to come.
Of course most of the eyes in the room were on Gus G, the hotshot axeman who has played with Ozzy and others should be much better known as the leader of his own band, as he's not only a killer guitar player but great songwriter too. His riffs are precise and have virtuosity but every solo was greeted with huge cheers. The Fire And The Fury again brought one of m'colleague's to tears and still stands as one of the best metal instrumentals out there.
Fury were perfect Firewind were perfect it was an incredible way to finish off a weekend with two of my best mates. We all sang Falling To Pieces at the top of our voices knowing that gigs that are this much fun are very rare.
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