Performing: Battle Beast / Delain / Sabaton
Location: Zagreb / Tvornica kulture / Croatia
Date: Monday, 02.02.2015
(Please scroll down the bar and find an English version, too!)
Ten years and over a thousand gigs: very few bands can boast numbers like that. Sabaton can. With that many shows under their belt, it’s no wonder they’re regulars on our stages as well as the ones in Zagreb. The tank division under General Joakim’s command tirelessly flattens stages all over the world and picks up more followers year after year. Catchy melodies and rhythms, paired with lyrics about the heroics of individuals in the storms of war, have rocketed the band to the very top of the most popular metal acts in just a few years. And Monday night at Zagreb’s Tvornica kulture was no different.
The Swedish war machine obviously decided to prettify the stage a bit on this tour, bringing along not one but two bands with female vocalists. First to storm the stage were Finland’s Battle Beast. The young lineup won the Wacken festival’s contest for unsigned bands in 2010, and the following year put out their first album, ‘Steel’, in Finland. That same year Nuclear Blast spotted them and took care of a worldwide release. 2012 also brought a change of singer: Nitte Vallo left the band because of family troubles, and blonde Noora Louhimo took over the mic. And how does a female voice work in power metal? Brilliantly! The hall was pretty empty when the show started, but within a few minutes they’d filled it up properly with their music. Battle Beast play seriously catchy metal that sticks in your ears right away and doesn’t leave anyone cold. It may not be the most technically demanding music, but it wears its strong influences on its sleeve, from idols like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest to more modern bands, and with the keyboards even a bit of Sabaton. The performance was full of energy despite the tiny amount of space on stage – every war demands sacrifices, and since Sabaton haul a drum tank around with them, the support acts are literally crammed onto the stage. The Finns squeezed everything out of their half-hour set, and the positive vibes in the hall were the cherry on top. A band to keep an eye on in the future!
The temperature in the hall hadn’t dropped noticeably yet when the Dutch band Delain took over their slice of the stage. The symphonic metallers sound a lot like their countrymen Within Temptaion, which is hardly surprising given that their co-founder Martijn Westerholt is a former member of that band. All that musical mileage shows, because they played an uncompromising set. The mighty Otto Schimmelpenninck van der Oije made sure the sound was full with his wrecking-ball bass and the occasional growl, while Martijn added atmosphere on keyboards. Fans of the band missed guitarist Tim Somers on this tour. His spot was filled by the young Merel Bechtold, not even 23 yet, who normally earns her living in another Dutch symphonic metal band, MaYaN, founded by Mark Jansen (Epica). They say poison comes in small bottles, and tiny Merel proved it – with a Bo-El seven-string through Engl amps she crushed her take on Tim’s creations, which neither he nor any other seasoned guitarist would be ashamed of. And then there’s the lovely Charlotte, who raised the temperature especially among the male part of the audience. With a semi-transparent top and no bra, she let imaginations run wild, and you had to wonder how many people were actually listening to the music. It peaked during the farewell before the last song, when the good Croatian lads started chanting “Get your t*ts out so we can play!” Still, Charlotte showed that her “lungs” give her a voice that may not be as high as Within Temptaion’s or Nightwish’s, but is still delicate enough to make a lovely contrast to the low-tuned guitar. The crowd was totally in a trance again and properly warmed up for the stars of the night.
For Sabaton, Monday’s show was already their fifth in the Croatian capital. The start held no surprises – when the sheets dropped off the enormous tank drum rig and the opening bars of their countrymen’s megahit The Final Countdown rang out of the speakers, the packed Tvornica erupted; the hall sang along with Europe as one, and when it morphed into the instrumental intro March to War, the atmosphere turned as tense as the moment before an assault on fortified enemy positions. The classic opener Ghost Division got the whole hall on its feet and proved once more that the band is still at its peak – both musically and live. To be honest, it’s hard to find as much positivity and as many smiles as radiate from their stage. And of course Joakim’s banter between songs was there again – though this time his little penis and calls for one more beer weren’t front and center. Croatian, Polish and Swedish flags waved in this mass of faithful “soldiers”, joined by quite a few Slovenian ones, on the backs of last year’s Metaldays shirts. Already by the fifth song came the first vote, where the crowd clearly decided that Gott Mit Uns would be played in Swedish, and later A Lifetime of War followed in the same language (outvoting Carolyn’s Prayer). On the first one, Chris had the honor of singing the first verse, and in general he, Thobbe and Pär all chipped in eagerly on backing vocals. One of the highlights of the night came when, after one of the songs, the crowd spontaneously started singing the melody of Swedish Pagans, the bonus track from The Art of War, so the band had no choice but to play it. As I mentioned, there was fun to be had too. Joakim claimed he can play guitar and that Michael Jackson picked him as his touring guitarist, but sadly death beat him to it, so he had to settle for a career as a singer. When a roadie brought him a guitar, he played the intro to Beat It, whereupon Chris challenged him with a wild solo, and Thobbe schooled him with a solo of his own. Then Joakim started noodling Iron Maiden, but the joke ended with them launching into Resist And Bite, and while both guitarists played the solo parts in thirds, Joakim got the honor of playing rhythm guitar. When the song ended, Joakim kicked off the Seek&Destroy riff, but a roadie snipped the strings on his guitar with huge garden shears and shoved a mic into his hands – to roaring laughter on and below the stage, of course. The guys also decided to play at least one song from every album, which meant hearing 7734 from the rarely played Metalizer. Otherwise the setlist held no big surprises, with most of the songs coming from the current Heroes and the previous Carolus Rex. When the last notes of Metal Crüe faded, the hall completely exploded, and it looked like the guys said goodbye to the fanatical and fantastic crowd with heavy hearts.
author: Sebastijan Videc
photos: Jerneja Jerak
Battle Beast
1. Far Far Away
2. Black Ninja
3. Touch in the Night
4. Madness
5. Iron Hand
6. Out of Control
Delain
1. Mother Machine
2. Get the Devil Out of Me
3. Army of Dolls
4. Go Away
5. Pristine
6. Sleepwalkers Dream
7. Stardust
8. Not Enough
9. We Are The Others
Sabaton
The Final Countdown (intro)
March to War (intro)
1. Ghost Division
2. To Hell And Back
3. Carolus Rex
4. Soldier of 3 Armies
6. Gott Mit Uns
7. The Art of War
8. 7734
9. Swedish Pagans
10. Resist And Bite
11. 40:1
12. A Lifetime of War
13. Far From the Fame
14. Coat of Arms
—
15. Night Witches
16. Primo Victoria
17. Metal Crüe
Ten years and over a thousand of concerts – there’s just a few bands today that can put such number to their credit. Sabaton can! And with such a number of concerts it is no coincidence that they are regular guests to our stages, as well as of those across the Southern border. Panzer division, which is commanded by general Joakim, effortlessly demolishes stages all around the world and from year to year gains new fans. Catchy melodics and rhythms in combination with lyrics singing about heroic deeds of individuals and units in various wars, in just a few years, propelled this band among the top metal artists. And this Monday’s concert at Zagreb’s Tvornica Kulture hall was no difference.
It seems like the Swedish war machine decided to pretty up the stage on this tour and invited two support bands with female singers. The first to take the stage were Battle Beast from Finland. Young band won Wacken festival newcomer competition and the following year released their debut album ‘Steel’ for Finnish market. The same very year, Nuclear Blast heard the album, offered the band a contract and re-released ‘Steel’ on worldwide scale. 2012 brought the change – singer Nitte Vallo had to leave the band due to family problems and the band recruited feisty blonde Noora Louhimo. And how does a female voice perform in power metal, you might ask? Superb! If the hall was more or less empty, when Battle Beast started to play, the situation changed in a matter of minutes. Battle Beast play a very catchy metal, which engulfs our ears and minds and leaves no-one at peace. Music may not be technically very complex but on the other hand they openly show their influences range from Iron Maiden and Judas Priest to the more modern power metal bands, even to Sabaton. The performance was energetic, despite the very small stage; each war demands sacrifices and since Sabaton have a huge drum tank on stage, support bands were left with little stage space. The Finns used their 30 minutes up to the maximum while the positive energy that was ruling the hall added the extra kick. Battle Beast, a band to look out to in the future!
Temperature hasn’t really started to fall yet, when their little piece of the stage was taken by Dutch Delain. Symphonic metalheads, which remind a lot like Within Temptation, which doesn’t really surprise given that Delain’s co-funding member Martijn Westerholt used to play in that band. More than a decade of musical experience was felt through an uncompromising performance. The huge Otto Schimmelpennicnk van der Oije with his thunderous bass and occasional growling vocals took care of the lower end of the spectrum, while the atmospherics were taken care of by the before mentioned Martijn on keyboards. Delain fans might have missed their guitarist Tim Somers. Instead, the shredding was done by young 22-year old Merel Bechtold (MaYaN). They say poison is stored in little flasks and Merel proved this saying – using her 7-string Bo-El, Engl amps were thundering her interpretation of Tim’s work, of which neither Tim nor any other self respecting guitarist wouldn’t be ashamed. Last but not least there’s sexy Charlotte, which on this concert helped to bring temperature up even more – especially among the male metalheads. With semi transparent shirt and no bra, she left the imagination go wild and I questioned myself, whether the guys even heard the band that played on stage. This even led to the situation when the guys in the public started to sing »Put your B**bs out so we can play«. But that put aside, Charlotte proved that she’s a great singer with a vocal maybe not as high as those with Nightwish or Within Temptation but still soft and soothing enough for a nice contrast to the low-tuned guitar.
For Sabaton, this was their 5th concert in Zagreb. The start didn’t bring any surprises – as soon as the huge drum tank was uncovered, Europe’s megahit ‘The Final Countdown’ started to play with a united chorus from the visitors and when the first notes of March to War were heard, the energy among the crowd was such as in the WW1 trenches, moments before storming on enemy positions. Classic opening song Ghost Divison left no-one still and once again proved, that Sabaton are still at the top – in musical and performing way. You can’t see so much positive energy and smiles literally bombarding the crowds with any other band. Of course, there were now legendary Joakim’s jokes between the songs – but this time not on behalf of his little penis or drinking one more beer as is usual. Croatian, Polish and Swedish flags were waving among the crowd, joined by Slovenian ones on the backs of Sabaton Metaldays official T-shirts. The first voting of the night happened with the 5th song, when crowds decided that Got Mitt Uns shall be sing in Swedish instead of English, while later, Lifetime of War was sang in their native language as well. Gott Mit Uns’s first part was even sang by Chris, while all the three string man had an important back vocal part through the concert. One of the pinnacles of the concert was, when crowd started to sing Swedish Pagans melody and the band had no other option but to play it. One of the greater jokes on stage was, when Joakim told that he was chosen by Michael Jackson to be his tour guitarist but unfortunately Jacko’s death killed the plan. Roadie brought him a guitar and he played a few Beat It Riffs, followed by Chris’s and Thobbe’s amazing solos. Joakim again wanted to prove his guitar knowledge and started to play Iron Maiden which was soon turned into Resist and Bite, with Joakim on rhythm guitar and the other two on solo guitars. After the song, Joakim started to play Metallica’s Seek And Destroy but the roadie cut the strings of his guitar and gave him his microphone back – with huge laughter on the stage and from the crowd. Since the guys decided to play a song from each of their albums, we had a chance to hear 7734 from a rarely played Metalizer album. Setlist itself was not very surprising – consisting mostly of Heroes and Carolus Rex tracks. When the band finished their performance with Metal Crüe, the hall almost exploded and the guys had a hard time leaving the stage.
