Tag Archives: Melodic Death Metal Music

LIVE REVIEW: ELUVIETIE NORTH AMERICA TOUR 2023

Eluveitie returned to North America for a 2023 headlining tour with Omnium Gatherum and Seven Spires. The tour which kicked off on March 2nd in Baltimore, MD and will run through April 1st in Richmond, VA made a stop yesterday in New York City’s The Gramercy Theatre. However just before the first show Eluveitie announced that bands vocalist Chrigel Glanzmann could not join them and released following statement on their website:

“Chrigel has had to make the difficult decision to stay at home and take care of certain matters, and we fully support him in this time of need.

This decision was made at the very last minute, which is why we are only able to announce it today, on the day of our first show. We understand that this news may come as a surprise, and we apologize for any inconvenience it may cause. However, we want to assure you that we are fully prepared to deliver a one-of-a-kind Eluveitie set, with Fabi taking the lead and showcasing her incredible talents.

In addition to Fabi, we are excited to announce that we will be joined by two amazing guest performers: Adrienne Cowan from Seven Spires and Jukka Pelkonen from Omnium Gatherum. They will be taking over Chrigel’s part, and we are confident that they will do an incredible job.”

None the less – the show must go on! And if you did not sing the last part of this sentence, you might not be real rock fan 🙂

Written by Andris Jansons

First ones on the stage came American Melodic / Symphonic metal band from Boston called Seven Spires. To the date band has released three studio albums, with latest two years ago called Gods of Debauchery. Band opened with the title song from that album and followed with Cursed Muse and Succumb. Bands vocalist Adrienne Cowan provided excellent vocal range from growling to melodic singing. While performing the band expressed the gratitude of being back to perform stateside upon their return from touring Europe. They concluded set with Shadow on an Endless Sea and Dare To Live. All songs except Succumb represented latest release. Their set was a success as sold out venue roared in approval.

Photo by Andris Jansons

See full Seven Spires performance photo gallery here.

Finnish Melodic Death metal band Omnium Gatherum came on next. Just as Seven Spires, their latest release Origin saw daylight in 2021. Finnish guys are more experienced and have been around since 1996. Though their first album Spirits and August Light was released only in 2003. Since then the band has release nine studio albums. From the original lineup only Markus Vanhala is still with the band.

Their set was a trip down the memory lane as seven out of nine songs were from their earlier releases, with only Paragon and Reckoning hailing from latest album Origin. Their sound was different from Seven Spires as it was more technical and progressive and bands vocalist Jukka Pelkonen delivered blistering vocals. Crowd was immersed in their set as crowd surfers started to flow towards the stage and some brave men and women opened pit in a packed house. Bands “oldie” Ego from their 2011 album New World Shadows brought crowd to frenzy as moshers responded to Jukka’s request to open up that mosh pit for real. This was a strong and loud performance by the band, and it brought up the level of excitement to already pumped up crowd.

Photo by Andris Jansons

See full Omnium Gatherum performance photo gallery here.

Just as Omnium Gatherum was different from Seven Spires, the nights main attraction Eluveitie plays fundamentally different style. The clean vocals of Fabienne Erni stood in sharp contrast with Adrienne’s and Jukka’s strong singing styles. And while Eluveitie incorporates unclean vocals by Chrigel Glanzmann their composite style is much more folk and melodic. As you read in the beginning on this tour exactly Adrienne and Jukka are filling in for Chrigel.

The first thing that strikes you when you see Eluveitie take the stage is abundance of all sorts of different instruments. While traditionally drum set is in the middle of stage, Eluveitie has it set up more to the side to have more room for other instruments, as to the other side they had set up Celtic harp which is played by Fabi and place for Matteo Sisti who plays bagpipes and whistles. Nicole Ansperger who plays violin usually finds herself next to Annie Riediger who plays hurdy-gurdy (I will not explain this instrument, just search it up). All that while you still have bass, lead guitar and rhythm guitar players. So, the stage is pretty crowded.

Photo by Andris Jansons

See full Eluveitie performance photo gallery here.

Some considerable parts of Eluveitie songs are sang in extinct Gaulish language, which was part of Celtic language for the people of continental Europe before Roman Empire, and covered the land that is now Switzerland from where Eluveitie hails. You would normally think that while only handful people in the whole world are familiar with this language, that it would not be helpful to sing in it. I would say Eluveitie has shown us that the contrary is true. It adds beautifully to the mysticism that the band embraces. Their lyrics are based on texts written in Gaulish such as prayers, invocations of the gods and other spirits.

Bands setlist spanned though their discography, while four songs were from latest release from 2019 called Ategnatos, which was bands eight studio album to date.

Atmosphere during Eluveitie performance was simply incredible as everyone enjoyed heavy riffs mixed with folk instruments fitting to satisfy even most strict music critics.

The tour just started in will go on till April 1st. Future dates below.

03/04 Worcester, MA @ Palladium

03/05 Quebec City, QC @ Bell Theater

03/07 Montreal, QC @ Club Soda

03/08 Ottawa, ON @ Brass Monkey

03/09 Toronto, ON @ Opera House

03/10 Detroit, MI @ Majestic Theater

03/11 Joliet, IL @ The Forge

03/12 Minneapolis, MN @ Cabooze

03/14 Denver, CO @ Ogden Theatre

03/15 Salt Lake City, UT @ The Depot

03/18 Seattle, WA @ El Corazon

03/19 Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theater 

03/21 Roseville, CA @ Goldfields

03/22 Los Angeles, CA @ The Regent

03/23 Mesa, AZ @ Nile Theater

03/25 Dallas, TX @ Amplified Live

03/26 Austin, TX @ Come And Take It Live

03/27 Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall

03/29 Tampa, FL @ The Orpheum

03/30 Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (heaven) 

03/31 Charlotte, NC @ Underground

04/01 Richmond, VA @ Canal Club

Photo by Andris Jansons

LIVE REVIEW: IN FLAMES US FALL TOUR 2022

Gothenburg, Sweden has given us many metal bands and is considered one of the worlds hotbeds for melodic death metal genre. In Flames is very important piece of Gothenburg metal scene as they pioneered this distinct genre along with likes of At The Gates and Dark Tranquility. This fall the band has crossed the ocean and are in the midst of North American Tour along side Fit For An Autopsy, Orbit Culture and Vended.

Written by Andris Jansons

The first band I witnessed that night was New Jersey’s own Fit For An Autopsy. Deathcore practitioners from Jersey City formed back in 2008 and have been staple of deathcore scene since. Last Thursday’s show was their homecoming of sort as Jersey City is just about forty minute drive from Sayreville, NJ. Their set was full of energy and loud. Well, I must say a little too loud. My personal take is that sound engineers could have dialed down one notch, as it was pretty painful for the ears in the pit and front rows. That later was rectified for In Flames set. Nonetheless band was great, as their setlist emphasized on their latest release Oh What the Future Holds. Band is scheduled later in October to take part in Lamb Of God tour.

Photo by Andris Jansons

Full photo gallery for Fit For An Autopsy here.

I think that is safe to say that thirteen studio albums later In Flames are considered in the heavyweight class. Grammis awards winning band (not to be confused with Grammy Awards) has not released album since 2019 however is working on new material and are poised to release one soon, as two new songs already has been introduced to the fans. Latest one of them The Great Deceiver was the bands choice for an opening song. Their set was fairly large and consisted of 17 songs spanning and represented almost every single of their albums released (except Siren Charms) and not yet released. The Great Deceiver was followed by Fear Is The Weakness before taking the trip down a memory lane to early beginnings with Cloud Connected and Stand Ablaze.

This tour features ex-Megadeth Chris Broderick filling in for Niclas Engelin, for like three years straight now. While seems like there is still no clear resolution with Niclas being with the band, Chris is really fitting well and seems to be in the right place.

Photo by Andris Jansons

Full photo gallery for In Flames here.

From notable songs bands setlist consisted of ones like I Am Above, Episode 666 and Take This Life. For the closing song bands choice went to My Sweet Shadow.

In Flames will continue to tour till the end of September with a quick stop at Louder Than Life Festival and then continue in October with Meshuggah and later with Born Of Osiris before returning to Europe. List of dates available below.

w/ Fit For An Autopsy, Orbit Culture and Vended:

09/12 Quebec, QC – Theatre Capitole
09/13 Montreal, QC – Corona Theatre
09/14 Toronto, ON – Danforth Music Hall
09/15 Ft. Wayne, IN – Piere’s Entertainment Center
09/16 Milwaukee, WI – The Rave
09/17 Minneapolis, MN – Skyway Theatre
09/19 Pontiac, MI – Crofoot Ballroom
09/20 Green Bay, WI – Epic Event Center
09/22 Chicago, IL – House of Blues
09/23 Louisville, KY – Louder Than Life
09/25 Birmingham, AL – Furnace Fest
09/27 Sauget, IL – Pop’s
09/28 Lawrence, KS – Granada Theater
09/29 Wichita, KS – The Cotillion
09/30 Lincoln, NE – Bourbon Theatre

w/ Meshuggah & Torche:

10/02 Denver, CO – Fillmore Auditorium
10/04 San Francisco, CA – Warfield Theatre
10/08 Riverside, CA – Riverside Municipal Auditorium
10/09 Los Angeles, CA – Hollywood Palladium
10/10 Tempe, AZ – The Marquee
10/12 Dallas, TX – The Factory Deep Ellum
10/13 Houston, TX – Warehouse Live
10/15 Orlando, FL – Hard Rock Live
10/16 Atlanta, GA – The Tabernacle

w/ Born Of Osiris, Darkest Hour and Hammerhedd

10/17 Tampa, FL – Jannus Live
10/18 Ft. Lauderdale, FL – Culture Room
10/20 Richmond, VA – The National
10/21 Warrendale, PA – Jergels
10/22 Cleveland, OH – TempleLive at Cleveland Masonic
10/23 London, ON – London Music Hall (no Hammerhedd)
10/24 Niagara Falls, NY – The Rapids Theatre
10/26 Hampton Beach, NH – Wally’s
10/27 Poughkeepsie, NY – The Chance Theatre (no Darkest Hour)
10/28 Reading, PA – Reverb (no Darkest Hour)

AMON AMARTH Drop Video For New Track “Find A Way Or Make One”

Album “The Great Heathen Army” Out Now

The brand new album from undisputed kings of Viking heavy metal, Amon Amarth – ‘The Great Heathen Army’ has finally landed today via Metal Blade Records. Stream the full album HERE. To celebrate the release of their twelfth studio album, Amon Amarth have also released the official music video for brand new track “Find A Way Or Make One“. Watch the new video below.

Speaking on the release of their latest opus, Amon Amarth share

“Heathens! The time is here for the arrival of The Great Heathen Army! This record has many elements that make up Amon Amarth in 2022, from the dark and brutal death metal of “Oden Owns You All” to the sing-along of “Heidrun” to Biff Byford’s amazing guest vocals on “Saxons and Vikings” and much more. We’re ready to take this record around the world for a two year raid and we’ll see you soon at the shows.”

Elaborating on the video for brand new track, “Find A Way Or Make One“, the band continue

“We did this video with director Mikis Fontagnier in Frankfurt, Germany and with it we wanted to try something different. This video is our take on the style of some of our favorite videos we grew up on as kids, like Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” and Motorhead’s “Killed By Death”. We had some fun making this and it was definitely fun to smash up a stale old business office!”

In a unique partnership with Drops AR, Amon Amarth have hidden five virtual trading cards in an augmented reality scavenger hunt. Each card represents a band member and contains an exclusive song preview from the new album.

The hunt takes place in WebAR, meaning no app needs to be downloaded and anyone can participate. Head HERE for the scavenger hunt, where fans will also have the chance to enter to win an exclusive package that includes an Amon Amarth box set, a Blood Red Marbled vinyl and a music cassette.

Continuing the tradition of conquering new ground, Amon Amarth recently announced that they will be setting sail for US shores this Fall for what is set to be the death metal raid of the year. The Great Heathen Tour, produced by Live Nation, will pillage its way across North America this coming November/December, razing 27 cities to the ground in its wake. The tour concludes with a special show at the Kia Forum, Los Angeles where Amon Amarth will bring their full European production and become the first death metal band to headline the famous venue. No Sleep Til………..Los Angeles!!