Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Place: Ljubljana / Gala hala / Slovenia
Concert date: 16.11.2013
Attendance: 300
Sure, in 2013 world metal is still driven by the basic instinct that has guaranteed its long-term survival through decades of existence, forever hunting for new songwriting and studio levers to reach extremes of brutality, which gave rise to a sea of subgenres of this beloved music of ours. But a few bands have recently managed to turn the crowds’ focus back to bombast and melody. We’re at the point where the arrangements revolve around a central figure, the clean vocal performance, without a speck of »growling«. Funny how things move in cycles. If HammerFall, Rhapsody, Stratovarius and the rest did a lot to re-popularize European power metal in the second half of the nineties, in recent years a handful of bands have once again »repackaged« all that pomp and melodic catchiness. You could say they make up the third generational wave. The only real difference is that this new wave leans ever harder on stage kitsch and glitz, since it’s obvious that musically nothing new can be invented anymore. If Sabaton lean on war themes, Powerwolf lean on Transylvanian legends and tales of werewolves and vampires. And the crowd is satisfied. The question is whether power metal will ever again reach the popularity it had at the turn of the millennium, since the bar for sonic extremity and brutality in metal was raised way higher long ago, so many fans of the heavy aesthetic today make fun of the newer power metal bands, saying they’re pop. Whatever. These newer power metal bands are hugely popular especially with everyone who has only just started getting drawn to heaviness while exploring their own musical taste. So mostly the youngest metal fans, who will soon start listening to (if they haven’t already) bands like In Flames (post-“Clayman” era), Ensiferum, Children Of Bodom, Amon Amarth, Wintersun – that’s simply the next step if they keep digging deeper into metal. And of course they’re surely more than familiar with the invasive modern wave of folk metal, where there’s so much kitsch that the whole thing has already gone past the border of good taste. Discovering Powerwolf in 2013 is very much like a 12-year-old kid discovering the album »Number Of The Beast« back in 1982. The difference was that in 1982 you couldn’t really explore much beyond Iron Maiden, since metal was only just starting to bloom.
In that spirit, in the middle of this November Gala hala saw a hefty turnout of the youngest fans of metal sounds with a firm melodic exposé. The feverish Powerwolf fans may have been lucky enough to catch the band at this year’s Metaldays festival in Tolmin – RockLine report HERE, but this time they came to vent the deep feelings they harbor for the band at a club show. That’s a completely different atmosphere! A different concert reality.
At eight o’clock sharp in the evening, Slovenia’s Space Uniorn On Fire hit the stage. It’s a kind of parody, with some interesting characters making up this quintet, formed first and foremost to give themselves and the crowd a full dose of good fun. In a good half hour of »racket« the crew showed up in a much better and tighter light than at their somewhat patchy show at Kotlovnica in Kamnik at the start of October, when they opened the night for Hellcats. The quintet doesn’t hide its potential and is a nice addition to the Slovenian metal scene. Singer Rok Tavčar »Tavta« is a real frontman and his stage act comes across as confident and self-assured. On his left, Egzi, who rubs the bass guitar at Samorogi, jumps in to help in the highest registers, while the bulk of the melody naturally falls to the dialogue between keyboards and guitar. What’s special about the lineup is that, despite the power metal groove, where you can find interesting parallels with similar bands from Finland (from acts à la Sonata Arctica to Brother’s Firetribe) to what Germany’s Edguy are doing especially on their last two records, you also can’t find any horror, occult, darkness or melancholy that would make you want to slit your wrists and the like. Space Unicorn On Fire are, simply put, »fun guys«. The crew needs even more gigs to develop a real feel for stage tuning, so the dialogue between guitar phrases and keyboards grows tight. In other words, so the building blocks come together into an even more fully defined picture of breathing as one for the same cause. Musically, by world standards, Space Unicorn On Fire are nothing special, but I’d still recommend that if the band wants to visit Slovenia’s concert stages more seriously, they spit on their hands and dig into the work of getting tighter live and polishing a clear picture of (especially) the stage sound. Compared to the October experience at Kotlovnica in Kamnik, Space Unicorn On Fire noticeably fixed the impression this time at Gala hala.
Quite a bit more authenticity, and above all outstanding stage coordination and tightness, came from Divine Illusion, who followed them. They don’t play many gigs either; before this they played on 02.11.2013 at Jazzy in Postojna, but they’ve been active since 2006 and have a hugely promising EP in their pocket, »Genetic«, released in 2010. New material is also in the works, and the band presented it at Gala hala. The new songs Transcendence and To Live Again deepen the progressive metal reach of the band’s musical character, which looks extremely promising. A career moment that calls for the release of a studio debut. The quintet of Simon Simčič (vocals), Peter Smrdel (keyboards), Borut Radivojevič (guitar), Martin Valič (bass) and Dejan Šantelj (drums) picked the cult Dream Theater classic Pull Me Under for an express soundcheck, then sank their teeth into a full-blooded set of their own material, meaning the EP »Genetic« as well as the new stuff. Divine Illusion are a one-of-a-kind story for Slovenia, provocatively hanging out with the legacy of progressive metal while working to keep the songs compact through clear chorus figures and verses. The band set up the sound just the way it should be. Especially considering they were playing as the opening act. Only Simon had some trouble on stage, apparently not hearing himself well enough during the set, so a flub or two crept into his vocal performance here and there, but that’s easily overlooked, since he delivered the rest of the show at an excellent level of vocal performance. What puts Divine Illusion on a considerably higher rung of the quality ladder than the first warm-up band of the night is the brilliant musical polish of the individual members. Divine Illusion breathe as one when they’re on stage. Like a real quintet. You can’t deny the chemistry between the band members. You feel it when you watch the band on stage. Above all, the outstanding dialogue between keyboards and guitar fills you with big hopes. In the more demanding, progressively carved passages, in the handoffs of solo spots, and in building the massive sonic wall of the backing. Borut’s use of the seven-string »paddle« to create a crumbling wall of riffs is no surprise at all. A truly lovely show from a band that would get along great sharing stages with the likes of Threshold, Circus Maximus, Seventh Wonder, Pagan’s Mind, Symphony X, Vindictiv, and that could easily and very tastefully open for Dream Theater, who are announced for the start of February 2014 in the Slovenian capital.
Powerwolf took the stage at ten o’clock sharp (in the evening, of course)! The quintet of Attila Dorn (vocals), Falk Maria Schlegel (keyboards), the driving forces in the role of both guitarists Matthew and Charles Greywolf, and drummer Roel van Helden primarily presented their freshly released studio album, their fifth overall, titled »Preachers Of The Night« (2013), which came out just a few days before the band’s appearance at this year’s Metaldays festival. Powerwolf are, by the way, »old acquaintances« of RockLine. Our crew caught the band on the stages of the Bang Your Head!!! festival way back in July 2009 – RockLine report HERE, when Powerwolf had just put out their third studio album called »Bible Of The Beast«!
There’s not a moment’s doubt about the professionalism of the Powerwolf crew. Spot on. Dead on. A top-notch show production! Powerwolf thought of every little detail in the polishing. From the stage outfits to the astonishingly kitschy statue of a Styrofoam phoenix, to a stage performance worked out down to the last detail. Superbly crafted. Almost too well crafted. Interestingly, the band doesn’t need an extra bass player on stage. The double bass drum pedal is buried deep in the back of the stage and that obviously works just fine for them. It also leaves more room on stage. Of course most of the attention went to the charismatic singer Attila Dorn, who also delivered the biggest chunk of the theatrics in Powerwolf’s live performance. From blessing the audience at the start, to driving out vampires with a cross, drinking blood from a chalice and so on. The quintet naturally has black-and-white painted faces, which Powerwolf borrowed from the traditional black metal use of »corpse paint«. Half of the crowd at this Powerwolf show was made up of fervently screaming metal chicks, decked out in layers of foundation and powder, whose frenzy occasionally sounded less like real screams and more like whining. Among the dudes, the presence of hardcore individualists with painted faces up front was no longer a surprise either. Following the example of their stage heroes. In short, one hell of an orgy this evening. Great energy, great interaction between crowd and band! What really warmed the heart was seeing the fanatical mastery the audience had of the lyrics of the Powerwolf repertoire.
Solos? Cut down to a minimum of quick runs through motifs that bands in metal usually use only as transitional ornaments and not as real solos. So the guitar work is, overall, extremely simplified. Powerwolf’s music doesn’t demand anything more. So in that sense the confidence, despite the genericness, is reserved all the way. This is worth pointing out because Borut from Divine illusion ended up being the best guitarist of all three bands that took the stage.
In the breaks between songs, Attila theatrically used the pauses to blow on the soul of metal emotions. The man has the gift of gab. That’s why he’s the frontman! Despite Gala hala’s small stage, the two guitarists swapped left and right positions many times during the show without a hitch! Besides Attila, keyboardist Falk Maria also did plenty to keep the mood up. Still, you couldn’t miss a mild overdose of backing tracks. Everything for a pretty outward impression, in other words. And Powerwolf succeeded completely in enchanting the hall. With a routine of repackaged doctrine. That is, by delivering pure professionalism. Sound? Very nice. Energy? Gorgeous. A real reason for the youngest metal generation to party, who carried their heroes on their wings and got exactly what they came for!
The event was a success across the board. When you realize how servilely Powerwolf bow to perfection in their stage execution, which in the same breath delivered a nagging feeling of artificiality, sterility and being robbed of real passion, even that realization is beaten by the positive fact of metal’s immortality! As long as people would rather listen to Powerwolf than play golf on the expanses of toxic green lawns, let the wolves rave on tirelessly!
Setlist
POWERWOLF:
intro: Lupus Daemonis
1. Sanctified With Dynamite
2. Prayer in the Dark
3. Amen & Attack
4. All We Need Is Blood
5. Sacred & Wild
6. Resurrection by Erection
7. Coleus Sanctus
8. Drum Solo
9- Kreuzfeuer
10. Werewolves of Armenia
11. Dead Boys Don’t Cry
12. We Drink Your Blood
13. Lupus Dei
—encore—
intro: Prelude to Purgatory
14. Raise Your Fist, Evangelist
15. Saturday Satan
16. In the Name of God (Deus Vult)
outro: Wolves Against the World
DIVINE ILLUSION:
1. Intro (The moment before)
2. Clarity of mind
3. Promised Land
4. Transcendence
5. Genetic
6. To Live Again
7. Gray
8. Words in motion (part II)
Photo Gallery
