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Amorphis / Starkill

27.11.2013  Pratteln CH

After the arrival of winter a few days ago, the weather is not that bad any more but still very cold, and -1 feel like -20 because of those icy winds from the North. From up North is also the main act of tonight´s concert, Amorphis. Quite popular and well known as they are mainstream now, signed by Nuclear Blast and because many think it´s cool to like Finnish bands. And last but not least, because they make great music – definitely a reason they gathered many fans. Let´s see what´s happening when South from their home country it´s so much colder than in Finland.

However, first up are Starkill: those young men from Chicago play Melodic Death Metal, which reminds a lot of Children of Bodom. Singer and guitarist Parker at least must have been inspired by Mr. Laiho. Yet their songs have their own twist and the drummer, looking as if he just turned 16, must be a fan of Wintersun; he is channelling Kai Hatho pretty well but not yet precise enough. Occasionally there are flaws in the live music, yet those guys don´t have much experience yet and surely will learn quickly. Moreover, Parker´s growling sounds awesome. Quite a good band who might gather fans around here, not least because of their looks. Touring with Amorphis, however, is definitely the best step forward in their promising career.

After a short break the main act Amorphis: Their songs that tell tales from the Finnish national epic Kalevala they win more and more fans, and in their home country there is hardly a festival happening without them. Their new album Circle is not directly inspired by the Kalevala but still mirrors the Finnish way of life – depression, pain and suffering. Circle sounds much heavier than the previous albums with Tomi Joutsen. This evening´s set list contains among „Shades of Grey“, „The Wanderer“ many songs from the new album but also old stuff like „My Kantele“ or „You I need“ – it´s like the perfect setlist. Despite many attempts of Tomi Joutsen to wake up the crowd, it takes a while until the audience gets into the mood. An exceptionally talkative Joutsen keeps mentioning how old they are and therefore need some breaks to recover. The crowd hardly reacts to that, perhaps also because many do not speak English. Yet there are many occasions when the audience sings along and cheers and Joutsen indeed experiences once again his favorite venue to the fullest. All in all, once again a great concert although his voice sounded a bit tired sometimes – which can happen during such a long tour.

Sandy Mahrer

Fresh Act editor, reports, reviews, photos - - - Favorite genres? - Hard Rock, Heavy Metal and Pop-Rock etc. Less Death, Black, Grind Core