Location: Vienna (Wien) / Gasometer / Austria
Date: 29.03.2018
The gig season is relentless. Slovenia alone has a small sea of concerts, and neighboring Austria has even more. This time the “The Final March” tour rolled into Vienna, headlined by Heaven Shall Burn, with August Burns Red, Whitechapel and In Hearts Wake along for the ride. These are pretty popular bands in Austria, which automatically meant a bigger venue. Clearly, the metalcore and deathcore sensations were no flash in the pan. These bands have been packing out halls in Vienna for over a decade, so expectations for this lineup were high.
Things kicked off with Australian metalcore crew In Hearts Wake, who only managed to impress a handful of people. The sound was decent, but the performance itself didn’t convince. The music felt kind of short on real ideas, too. It took the band quite a few songs to show any energy, and it seemed like the guys were just counting down the days until the end of the tour. The bassist in particular, who handled the clean vocals, looked fed up with everything. Maybe the band just had an off day, so here’s hoping they fix that by next time.
The vibe picked up with the next act, Whitechapel, one of the leading names in the so-called deathcore scene. The band is best known for its pronounced death metal element, confident performances and crushing sound. Right now, though, Whitechapel’s reputation isn’t at its best. Last year drummer Ben Harclerode, who took Whitechapel to the next level, left the band. Without him they had to play slower songs this time, though a few fast ones snuck in too. Despite the different drummer, the band was solidly tight, and the sound had some breathing room, even if not everything came through clearly. The setlist was just as solid, with This Is Exile, Our Endless War and The Saw Is The Law standing out the most, of course. Phil Bozeman also proved he’s got a seriously mighty growl live. Whitechapel’s show was undoubtedly good, but the band has proven itself with better ones before.
Metalcore outfit August Burns Red has really gained name recognition over the last ten years. The band is also incredibly hardworking: constantly on tour, putting out an album every two years. They’re clearly working to make sure they don’t fade into oblivion. All that road mileage showed at this gig in the Gasometer. August Burns Red are tight on a professional level, the music is technically polished and packed with melody. Jake Luhrs’ vocals have shifted a bit in recent years, and his screaming now sounds a little like black metal. The magic of ABR is still that they’ve found a sensible mix of technicality and melody, so they remain listenable. The setlist focused mainly on the last two albums, and among the older songs they wowed with Composure, Empire and the closer White Washed. To please everyone, they’d have to be the headliner.
Heaven Shall Burn are old acquaintances of the Gasometer. They’ve always delivered there so far, and the crowd in Austria is incredibly fond of them. The band opened the set with Downshifter from the current album Wanderer. At first only vocalist Marcus Bischoff walked onto the stage, but as the music started, the curtain dropped and revealed the rest of the band, and it was clear HSB had put together a strong stage set once again. The lighting was excellent, and every now and then, on a particularly heavy part, flames shot up. The new songs didn’t get much of a reaction, but the crowd went properly wild for Weapon They Fear from the album Antigone. The band always serves up its best-known songs, but there’s the odd surprise too, like The Dream Is Dead from the album Antigone. Besides the newer stuff, they also played the staples Counterweight, Combat, Voice of the Voiceless, Profane Believers and Hunters Will Be Hunted. HSB always manage to strike a sensible balance between wrecking-ball songs and melodic ones. There was of course a cover or two as well, which is standard practice for HSB. Black Tears by Edge of Sanity is still in the setlist, and the crowd responded well to it. The audience joined in with moshing through the entire set, the circle pits never ran out, and there were a few “walls of death” too. An HSB gig is still a proper party. The band’s form also stayed at a decent level, with Marcus’ voice acting up a bit now and then and the odd small slip-up on the instruments. After more than an hour it was time for a break, and the band came back with the hard-hitting Endzeit, one of its best-known songs. For an epic finish they played Valhalla, a Blind Guardian cover.
It was hard to be disappointed by the Heaven Shall Burn, August Burns Red, Whitechapel and In Hearts Wake show. The bands threw a proper party, and it took quite a bit of stamina to keep up. Definitely a gig we’d look forward to seeing again.
author: Primož Novak
photos: Nina Grad
