Ambitious Scandanavians win over Belfast

For the past decade or more hard rock and heavy metal acts have been pouring out of Scandanavia like a guitar laden plague. Some have achieved worldwide acclaim, and some have carved out a niche in the underground. This is far removed from the days when the only rock stories from the lands of winter's permanent night were black metal murders and church burnings.

While the Scandanavian Black Metal scene still exerts a healthy influence on diverse acts, there has been a revival from these Viking lands of what some disparagingly call 'mainstream'. And, it was one of the leading exponents of Finnish mainstream metal, Nightwish who touched down in Belfast's Mandella Hall on Wednesday.

Thus was the challenge faced by Swedish act Pain...opening to a partisan headliner crowd Pain have more than a hint of other acts from the lands to the north. Energetic and with melody playing a key part in songs that could have been lost in the low end, they at times came across like a 'lite' version of Children of Bodom.

Their energy and willingness to try to engage the audience eventually paid off, though in terms of pacing the set they could learn from other Scandanvians. While Turisas have made Rasputin a rambunctious set closer, Pain's excellent cover of The Beatles' Eleanor Rigby was lost in the middle of their set.

Nightwish have no such problems in terms of pacing their set. Seasoned in arenas across Europe, the Finnish act know when to turn on the power, allow the crowd a breather, and mix the new with the old.

However, their very existence was called into question less than two years ago after their very public and acrimonious dismissal of Tarja Turunen. In May of last year Anette Olzen was announced as a replacement. Fans who worried that Anette could fill Tarja's shoes need not have worried.

Kicking off with the stomp of Bye Bye Beautiful Anette proved a worthy foil for the complex melodies and power of Tuomas Holopainen's wrting. Mixed with Marco Hietala's vocals any doubts over Anette's ability to match Tarja's range paled into insignificance.

Instead she brings a different dynamic to Nightwish, which whilst retaining the symphonic elements of the past, comes to the fore live.

Tracks off latest release Dark Passion Play are given a fire and energy live. And, Anette's treatment of older tracks such as Nemo and Wishmaster showed she can adapt her performance when necessary.

The smattering of older tracks were almost overwhelmed by the new material. Amaranth and Sahara stood out, with the Stephen King tribute track 7 Days of the Wolves raising the bar yet further.

But what stands out with Nightwish is their ambition. Tuomas - as founder, chief songwriter, and band leader - is not afraid to tackle live lengthy epics. Album opener The Poet and the Pendulum was unveiled in all of its 13 minute plus glory. Even such an ambitious live performance was pulled off with aplomb as far as the crowd was concerned.

The only niggles of the night were the occassional over-reliance on samples and Anette's absence from the stage during longer instrumental pieces.

However, for a band who play stadiums in Europe the fact that they are prepared to play, what for them, are smaller venues such as the Mandella Hall is worthy of praise, and a tribute to promoter Wonderland that they were able to snatch such an act.

The stadium work of Nightwish paid off for the Belfast punters, who saw an international act lay down a mighty, ambitious soundscape in a relatively intimate venue. There were few that walked out on to University Road without a smile on their faces.

Pic courtesy of Nadia - Junior Editor, Belfastmetalheadsreunited

New shit, old shit - it's all good shit..

The future is bright - the future is metal...ok, hands up; that's a pretty tired attempt to flog an ad cliché in a manner designed to raise familiarity of phrase. But familiarity of phrase came to the fore when the Distortion Project's latest Saturday show brought new heights of familiarity - in the best sense of the word. Not in terms of familiarity breeding contempt - rather the familiarity of seeing two local acts primed for new releases and the return of the awesome Panic Cell for their first headling show in the city.

Interrogate have been through a variety of phases in their time. On stage first tonight, their hardcore shaped metal sound presented both a challenge and an invitation to the patrons of The Limelight. Arriving with their usual stomp attack, the band unveiled two tracks from their soon-to-be-released new CD.

Despite occassionally muddy sound for the guitar parts Interrogate delivered an invigorating set. New tracks Victim and Losing it All swaggered forth with precision. Further live outings will strengethen these yet further.

Andy also chose to tonight to demonstrate a versatility in his vocals that has in the past been too often hidden. With the rest of the guys he proved that Interrogate have groove as well as balls.

Sinocence are also gearing up for an album release, and their thrash tinged metallic assault was peppered with new twists to their ever reliable sound.

Alongside old faves, new riffage was unveiled- it doffed a cap to Bay Area influences without being slavish to an eighties vibe. At times Morro's voice flagged under the strain, but with being away from the boards for a while it was a forgivable flaw, which didn't detract from the impressive attack. Like Interrogate some of the more detailed guitar parts were occassionally lost in the otherwise fine sound mix.

Restricted to an hour-long set, this was Panic Cell's first headlining appearance in Belfast, although with previous gigs on the Ormeau Road they are all familiar and welcome faces.

Catching up with Luke shortly before the show he expressed his pleasure of being back in boomtown (interview to follow later). But for all the band's amiability and all-round niceness off stage, once on the boards all bets are off...quite simply they produced a blistering set of ferocity and feral brilliance.

Smattered with favourites from the soon to be re-issued 'Bitter Part of Me' and a healthy dose of anthemic tracks from last year's follow-up 'What Doesn't Kill Us...' the truncated set was delivered with aplomb and stagecraft that many wannabes could do well to learn from.

As always Luke's presence dominated, with walkabouts into the crowd, singalong Belfast moments and joining a brief, if small pit.

Feature moments included the rousing 'Calm', the tuneful but heavy Fallen, and crowd fave Save Me.

Of course, Panic Cell have an assurity and deploy their craft well that only comes from constant touring. But this was not a set by numbers. Forced to whittle down, they blitzed with the deciptively melodic thrash of Stare into Oblivion and the power of Shallow.

Dead to Me proved to be even more impressive this time around - as an album closer it has epitomised the Cell's ethos of classic metal with a twist. Live it is an aural assault few could equal.
But what impressed most was that depite the clichéd, but welcome moments (share the Jager anyone?) this wasn't a set that drew on familiar shapes and well-worn chant and clapalongs. Instead it was five people on stage having a great time - which meant the crowd fed off Panic Cell's vibe, who in turn fed off the crowd, creating a virtuous circle that contributed to a great early evening entertainment.

Panic Cell, as noted previously, are vastly under-rated. They deserve a much bigger break, not because of hard work, or a reward for persistence. Not even for persuading a jaded old hack like me down to the front to headbang. No, they deserve to have greater exposure and a major break simply because of what they do - deliver damn fine music, bang on the money every time.

So, in lazy hack style summary...

Interrogate and Sinocence warmed up the crowd by proving potential can translate into power, before the punters received a pumelling by Panic Cell...ah the future is metal; old shit, new shit, it's all good shit!

Double 'D' rockin' weekend!

Two contrasting gigs hit Belfast this weekend past, with differing types of appeal, but both showing that live music is best!

On Saturday night a packed Empire warmed up for June's classic rock Odyssey mayhemof Def Leppard and Whitesnake, when Leppard-tribute act, Deft Leppard hit the Music Hall stage. The usual plethora of well-honed greatest hits were paraded, and it has now got to the point that Deft are carving their own stamp on the classics. Remember in the early and mid eighties the Lepps were considered at the forefront of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal. At times the energy from the stage brought back those heady days when the hair-splitting of rock and metal's sub-genres wasn't important. It was the music that was, and always should be!

And if there is a band that rips up the genre rule-book it's Dillinger Escape Plan. For a variety of reasons I couldn't make it, but from well-informed sources (that is people who where there at the Spring and Airbrake on Sunday night!)

They have been labelled as mathcore, hardcore, metalcore amongst other things, but the reality is they're just a damn fine playing outfit. Reports from the front are that tracks off their newly released Ire Works platter of noise slotted well into the set. Any further reviews welcome!

Now I'm off to plug into the 80s again in preparation for Wednesday's Michael Schenker and Friends gig (support from Glyder) and, though I won't be able to catch Tygers of Pan Tang on Friday nigth (with Inch High backing them up) I might slip the odd Tygers track on to the Decks of Doom...