News: EDENBRIDGE loss bass player, looking for replacement

“Frank Bindig has decided to leave Edenbridge due to his other projects. Edenbridge wish Frank all the best for the future !

Passion, personality, live experience and of course playing technique. If you think you can bring all this, you should not hesitate to apply for the vacant bass player position in Edenbridge.

Your application with photo goes to info@edenbridge.org”

I guess ugly bass players aren’t allowed!

News: New LIQUID SKY shows.

From their myspace:

“We’re very pleased to confirm that we will be playing at The Unicorn in Camden on Saturday 13th December. It’s a rock and metal all-dayer with lots of cool music on offer and we will be playing a full headline set, so please get yourselves down there! It will be one of our last shows of the year, so promises to be great fun and who knows? We might even have some Christmas surprises for you too….

Also, just to clear up some apparent confusion, Liquid Sky are not playing at the Purple Turtle on Sunday 7th December. We had originally been approached to play this show but we are not playing it. However, you get to see more of us the following weekend, so there’s no loss!

And last (but by no means least!), we will be rounding out the year with a headline show at the InsomniaFest in Mansfield on Sunday 14th December! Hope to see lots of you there for metal and Jagermeister! “

Glad I’ll get to see them one more time before the end of the year, since my crappy body decided to be infected a coupla weeks ago. If only they could convince Into The Woods to play the same all-dayer!

Original post:
http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=20453181&blogID=446787115

CD Review: AMBERIAN DAWN – River of Tuoni

Amberian Dawn – River of Tuoni CD
Ascendence 2008

The first thing that strikes me when I put on the debut by symphonic power metallers Amberian Dawn, is they understand metal. Title track and opener ‘River of Tuoni’ is hardly subtle with its hooky, instant opening riff – and the bands regular use of double-bass pedals, blazing solos and heavy riffs affirms that this a serious metal band.

Being from Finland its easy to compare Amberian Dawn to their more successful countrymen, but digging deeper beyond the operatic singer reveals a rather different band. The average track time, for one, is quite different from the standard of symphonic and power metal bands – where’s the likes of Stratovarius or Nightwish might favour long, epic songs, Amberian Dawn rarely go beyond four minutes. This gives the album a purer, song-based feel – there’s no looming epic story or pretension, there’s just 10 quick-fire blasts of operatic power metal.

Most importantly they’re good blasts of power metal, steering clear from the genre’s more cliche tendencies and delivering a unique flavour to a rather fine collection of songs. Certainly the second half of the album fairs less well than the first, but with hook-ladden songs such as ‘Valkyries’, ‘Fate of the Maiden’ and ‘The Evil Inside Me’ you can’t go wrong.

In a few years time it wouldn’t surprise me if Amberian Dawn were making much more complicated and sophisticated albums, with epic concepts and intricate storylines – perhaps they won’t. But what I think is certain is that when the band have written several albums and had however many line-up changes, fans will still be looking to this debut and thinking ‘Great metal, fast and to the point’, and I think that’s a great way to start a band’s career.

Tracklisting:
1. River of Tuoni
2. My Wings are my Eyes
3. Lullaby
4. Valkyries
5. Fate of the Maiden
6. My Only Scar
7. The Curse
8. Passing Bells
9. Sunrise
10. The Evil Inside Me

Website:
http://www.amberiandawn.com/

CD Review: KATRA – Beast Within

Katra – Beast Within CD
Napalm 2008

If you had somehow managed to get Katra’s debut album, and seen the front cover for the band’s second album, you’d be forgiven for thinking they look rather similar. In fact, if you gave the band’s second album a listen, you’d suddenly recognize the first song, too… and most of the songs subsequent to that.

As it turns out, Katra’s first album outside of Finland is composed mostly of re-recordings of tracks from the band’s debut, except in English. There are some songs missing from the album (‘Tietäjä’, the band’s shot at the Finnish Eurovision 2007 entry, is notably missing – perhaps because of the accusations of plagiarizing Within Temptation’s ‘Jillian’), but for the most part everything has remained intact.

It’s probably because of this that I feel a bit cheated by the album. Certainly I enjoy hearing some of the lyrics in English, but the flow of the words is not as smooth as when Katra sings them in Finnish, and I think there’s a certain character that resonates from her voice when she does sing in her own tongue. Further to this, the main problem with these songs is, with some notable exceptions such as the album’s opening number ‘Sahara’, they’re not all that interesting or memorable.

What *is* noticeable though is that the band’s new songs – written by the band themselves, and not by an outside song-writer – reflect the potential of the band and how their self-written English songs still have the kind of flow their original material had. I still don’t think this warrants an entire album release, but I do think this is an indicator of the promise the band could have.

A mixed bag… if you already heard the debut, then I think this one can be skipped. Otherwise, it might be worth a try, though the quality of the album’s material is here and there.

Tracklisting:
1. Grail of Sahara
2. Forgotten Bride
3. Beast Within
4. Fade to Gray
5. Swear
6. Promise me Everything
7. Mystery
8. Flow
9. Scars in my Heart
10. Storm Rider
11. Mist of Dawn
12. Kuunpoika

Website:
http://www.myspace.com/katramusic

News: GOTHIC METAL PALACE promoter has gone a bit nuts

In my email box yesterday (just copying the english):

“Dear all,

A lot of people lost money because of the canceling of the Gothic Metal Palace.
only those who bought tickets with a credit card got their money back.

Although organisation Conmoto Events is gone, I still feel bad about how things went.
Therefore I took a personal initiative.

I wrote a song, and this song is now for sale on a website.
All the money it brings will be used to pay back everybody that lost money cause of the canceling of the GMP.
Every download brings about €0.60 for this goal.
Sales figures will be published on the website every month.
Of course I will promote this the best I can.
This week the press will be informed.

But first of all I wanted to bring you this message.
If you lost money because of the GMP you dont have to download the song of course.
But if you want to support my initiative, please sent the link to the site to as many people as you can.

http://www.mymusictoshare.com

Thanks and kind regards,

Hans van der Weyde”

I’m such a cold and bitter cynic, cause when I read this I laughed and couldn’t believe my eyes. I won’t go into another rant on this subject (I’ve already made enough of them on WT’s boards), but seriously… a song? What are you, Bob Geldof? More like Kirk Van Houten…

Getting better now

Well, finally starting to feel better enough to write something. Alas, I had not the energy or strength to make it to Liquid Sky / Into The Woods on Saturday, which I am more than a bit gutted about – I’ve seen the pictures and it looked like it was one top night

Anyhow, should have some CD reviews for you over the next few days!

Live: METAL FEMALE VOICES FEST @ Wieze Oktoberhallen, 17th October 2008

Waking up at 5:45 in the morning with something of a hang over is not my idea of fun. But when the coach from Brussels to Wieze leaves as early as 9am, and you’re in Rotterdam and have to travel across the border in order to make it in time, you’ve got to do what you got to do. I wouldn’t have minded, if it weren’t for the fact that by the time we arrived at the coach, we were waiting a good hour until we finally left, and by that time the belgian roads were clogged.

What this means is that by the time we finally arrived, there was only enough time to eat a quick pot of nasty pasta before Atargatis were on. Alas, we missed both Markize and Kells due to the traffic.

As a band to start on though, Atargatis are simply too good for the slot. The crowd (including myself) still seems to be waking up as they start their set. This is a great shame, as Atargatis’s gothic-symphonic metal works very well live, especially with utterly delicious frontwoman Stephanie Luzie fronting the band. Prior to this show I was rather neutral to the band, but they rather easily won me over. What a way to begin!

After their set, I take some time to soak in the festival itself. MFVF is held in a hall that looks something like an aircraft hanger, the venue itself being arena-sized. With the kind of bands this festival has as headliners, this surprised me quite a lot, but even at this early stage there seemed to be a large crowd for the festival. Like quite a few festivals in Europe, a rather annoying token system was enforced for both food and drink, and the food wasn’t very good at all, especially for a vegetarian. Thankfully, though, there were fairly relaxed rules about what you could bring into the festival so next time I’ll know better and bring in my own lunchtime snacks. The festival had a huge selection of merchandise stands, ranging from CDs, records, petty merchandise (badges, patches, etc.), t-shirts, gothic wear, even bottled spirits. With lots of space and quite a lot going on, it certainly was one of the better indoor festivals I’ve been to as far as ‘extra-atmosphere’ was concerned.

Following Atargatis was an Italian band, Macbeth. When one thinks of Italy and gothic metal, one usually thinks of Lacuna Coil. Perhaps its because of this that Macbeth immediately strike me as sounding like their countrymen, or perhaps its because, well, they do. Not that this is a bad thing, and with Lacuna Coil’s last album being something of a disaster I have to say I preferred Macbeth’s songs. By the end of the set the band showed that they were albe to break away and feel quite different, and certainly of note was the rather flash guitar playing style the band’s guitarist brought to the mix. Macbeth did sound a bit in the shadow of another band, but were still able to entertain and were certainly not bad.

Other than Epica, the main band I wanted to see today were Austria’s Edenbridge. I had been impressed with their supporting set with Rage, and consider their new album, MyEarthDream, to be one of the highlights of the year. However, when the band came on, the sound of the music just didn’t sound right. Something in the guitars definitely sounded a bit off, I’m not exactly sure what but it just wasn’t there for either opener ‘Shadowplay’ or its follow up ‘Remember Me’. After, the band are rather quiet as they change guitars, before going into several songs from their older albums… and suddenly everything sounds *perfect*. The band play well, the songs (including personal favourites ‘Shine’ and ‘Evermore’) sound great, and the crowd is loving it… and then, the guitars change over, and everything sounds off again. A real mixed set for me, at time superb, at times very disappointing.

It seems we weren’t the only ones having trouble with Belgium’s roads, as it is announced after Edenbridge that Diable Swing Orchestra are stuck in traffic. Since Asrai are around, they’re brought forward in the line up and play next. Of all the acts that played today and over the course of the three days, Asrai were probably the one I liked the least. Their Joy Division/Siouxie-influenced goth just doesn’t do it for me, though the crowd seem to love it. Perhaps they were just a bit more awake. There are some good moments in their set, but for me they had rather uninteresting songs and just didn’t seem all that exciting.

Things go from bad to worse as we are next told that not only are d:s:o still not in the building, but Midnattsol are also stuck in the same jam. With time running short, we are told that only the first of the two would be allowed to play, and even then for a shortened set… and if neither show, we’d get a set from Markize.

The first to arrive – and the band to win the chance to play a set at MFVF – turns out to be Diablo Swing Orchestra. They quickly set up, and take to the stage to much cheering and applause… and my god, do they nail it and then some. For a band that have been stuck in traffic and built up plenty of stress, the sheer energy coming from this band can only be described as legendary. The bassist is flailing about, as is the dreadlocked guitarist, whilst the other guitarist is jumping about so much he ends up on the floor at one point, and the band’s celloist viguorously rips at his cello struggling to simply stay in his seat. And if the singer may seem a bit lacking in energy just standing there by the microphone, just wait until she opens her mouth and sings with *that voice*, the sheer staggering power of this woman’s operatic voice putting her in a class of her own as a singer. The music is also top notch, jagged and unpredictable yet still catchy and memorable. The crowd lap it up, cheering for them like they have not done for any other band until this point. The only downer was the set was just too short, ending to screams for an encore from the enthusiastic crowd. What a bombastic set – I simply can’t wait to see them again!

With the belgian road drama over, its back to the action with Trail of Tears. It would be difficult for almost any band to come anywhere near d:s:o’s set, and I was quite ready to be unimpressed by Trail of Tears after such a performance, but Trail of Tears live up to the challenge and perform with fierce strength and enthusiasm. Mostly driven by male grunter Ronny Thorsen, the band are well and truly the heaviest band of the night. Fulfilling the female vocal requirement is Cathrine Paulsen, who happily lets her male counterpart do all the talking whilst she simply delivers some impressive soprano. With a new album out next year, Trail of Tears certainly prove that they’re one of the stronger bands in the heavy Goth Metal genre.

At this point, the pace is kept by a very surprising set from L’ame Immortelle. Another austrian band, I’ve never really been able to appreciate their blend of industrial and electronic music with a distinctly germanic flavour on record. Live, though, they show exactly why their on the bill, with the guitars pumped up a notch. The centre of the show are the band’s two ‘permament’ members, Thomas Rainer and Sonja Kraushofer, both who sing though Thomas occassionally backs away to the keyboards. Both put such energy in their show its difficult not to be sucked into the drama, Kraushofer flailing around like a rag doll whilst the somewhat intimidating Thomas snarls his heavy Deutsch lyrics. The use of a blindfold on Sonja during one song gives the band some more suggestive tones. Dark and exciting, L’ame Immortelle proved to be very surprising!

There are no surprises when it comes to Epica though, who once again play a terrific set despite being a bit more stripped down from the last two. Quite a few songs from the sets before are gone, though ‘The Last Crusade’ makes a much welcome appearance. After two sets where the band spoke in only Dutch, it was nice to be able to understand what they were saying again. Even without the frills, Epica are a brilliant live band. Funny that I should enjoy them so much, given that I just spent a whole load of money following them around!

Before Epica’s set, Midnattsol appear on stage to address the crowd, to apologize for their cancellation and to state how much they were looking forward to playing and how gutted they were. It was extremely heart-wrenching, especially when I’ve seen other bands at other festivals just bitch about it on their forums, and moan about how they could’ve just been put higher up the bill, and how the festival did them wrong. Midnattsol got some massive kudos and applause from the crowd just for getting up on stage.

All this leaves us with the Saturday headliner, Tarja. First things first: I’m not a fan. I didn’t like her with Nightwish when I saw them live back in ’04, and felt that the band just didn’t have much live charisma or energy. Since her firing, I felt Nightwish have been a lot more exciting live despite Annette’s different vocal style being something that many fans have not really embraced. Still, since leaving Nightwish, Tarja seems to have found something that she is a lot more comfortable in doing and her live show reflects that – for a performance from Tarja is mostly about her. The band are set out so they form a semi circle around the centre, with the drummer and keyboardist being on the sides instead of the back, and the rest of the band at the back. Whilst this might seem a bit diva-like, the simple fact is this works – Tarja feels far more in her element, happily chatting with the crowd between songs and showing a great deal of enthusiasm for what she is doing. Perhaps not all her solo material is all that great, but she still manages to break out a few unexpected classics, including ‘The Passion and the Opera’, which showcases her much improved live voice very well, and one of my own personal favourites ‘Dead Gardens’, which I was most surprised to here. Naturally, she also breaks into some of Nightwish’s hits, including their cover of ‘Over the Hills and Far Away’ and ‘Wishmaster’. Whilst Tarja’s firing from Nightwish always seemed like a good idea for Nightwish to me, after this set, I’m pretty certain it was a good thing for her as well, because her performance tonight is miles better than it was last time with Nightwish. What a shock!

I had a great time at MFVF, and if it hadn’t been for the fact I had to go back to work on Monday I’d have been tempted to stay for the extreme metal day on Sunday. The event seems very grass roots, there’s no sponsorship deals or any sort of commercial pressure here – and yes, that mean’s some things aren’t perfect – but it all works very well and I was very glad to finally have been able to visit this festival. If you have yet to go, I can thoroughly recommend making the effort for the inevitable MFVF7.

Ill

Unfortunately my review of MFVF and other things will be a bit late as I’m just a touch ill right now and can barely sit at the computer. Please be patient!

Live: EPICA / AGUA DE ANNIQUE / LOLLY JANE BLUE @ Eindhoven Effenaar, 17th October 2008

And so, 24 hours after entering the Paard van Toje in Den Haag I find myself in line for Epica once again, this time in the wonderful and busy city of Eindhoven. Outside the Effenaar, its already clear that whilst last night was busy, this venue is over twice the size and with the queue building behind us there’s no worry that tonight was going to be another full one as well. The reason for Epica being able to play such a larger venue tonight? Well it being Friday might have something to do with it, but a set from Agua de Annique probably added to it as well!

The Effenaar is a great venue, wide and spacious. There’s no worry about not being able to get a decent spot and whilst tonight must have been close to selling out, there didn’t seem to be that much crowding. Still, unlike the Paard van Troje, this venue only sold beer in half-pints – something that this British drinker struggled to come to terms with. Hell, I’m not sure the locals liked it much either!

First up today are Lolly Jane Blue. If The Gathering were a step or two away from metal, and Agua de Annique are a few steps further, then Lolly Jane Blue may as well be at the end of the road. In other words, the opener weren’t metal-related in the slightest, instead being an alternative country/folk act – I kid you not! Whilst the crowd seem a bit confused, Lolly Jane Blue and her band perform a decent set with some good songs – and whilst I’d have not sought out a band of this style, I’m glad to have seen a great band doing something a bit different. Hopefully some people in the crowd will have got what they were doing, too.

Of course, while Lolly Jane Blue might seem like an odd opener for Epica, she isn’t a bad choice at all to play before Agua de Annique, the new band featuring former The Gathering singer Anneke van Giersbergen. I was devastated when Anneke left The Gathering last year, and was concerned that nothing she did after would be as good as her accomplishments with them. However, the debut CD by Agua de Annique sounds just as good as The Gathering’s more recent efforts and hasn’t strayed any further from their sound than you’d expect The Gathering to do themselves!

As soon as the band come on its clear that a lot of people have turned up for them, as the response the band get is much better than the other supports so far during both Epica shows. Quite rightly so too, as Anneke is on fine form and her voice really needs to be seen and heard live rather than on record – there’s just something more awe-inspiring about her voice in a live situation. The rest of the band are lively as well, showing that this isn’t just Anneke’s solo project. Songs like ‘The Day After Yesterday’ and ‘Beautiful One’ and ‘Witnesses’ are spine-shivering stuff, and the band even manage to do well covering Faith No More’s ‘Digging the Grave’. As the set closes, the fact that Anneke left The Gathering last year doesn’t feel like such a blow, as its quite clear she’s moved on and done very well at it.

Finally, Epica play yet another great set to a rapturous crowd in Eindhoven. Though playing the same set as they did at Paard van Troje, the band do make a few changes for the better, most notably dropping the drum solo and bringing in Medusa for a second song, ‘Solitary Ground’. Even without Agua de Annique’s supporting set, Epica would’ve made tonight worth the extra trip, with a set that’s very hard to fault.

Despite finishing at midnight, the Netherlands has a wonderful and organized transport system and there is no problem getting back to Rotterdam for a few hours sleep before the journey to Brussels in the early morning. It seemed a shame to say goodbye to such a great country full of such friendly people, good music and great atmosphere. I hope to be back there soon.

News: EPICA to use visuals for next three shows in Europe

From their site:
“For our shows in Arnhem, Essen and Hannover, we have planned three unique try outs with VJ VideoCAD. The visuals, which were especially created for the band, impart even more feeling to the music! “

Gawddamnit, and me back in England!