Arch Enemy / Wintersun / Tribulation / Jinjer

06.02.2018 Wiesbaden Schlachthof, GER

A hammer package of bands together on the road….. The logical consequence for every Metalhead was to get the tickets right in time. So it wasn’t a big surprise that the “Schlachthof” in Wiesbaden was almost sold out on this evening.

One reason why so many excited fans attended was the variety of styles each band presented. Jinjer from Ukraine were the first band who entered the stage and from the beginning they showed their impressive precision and tightness. Lead by their energetic front woman, they revealed how the rest of this evening should turn out ……

In their position as an opening band they put the mood on a really high level. Jinjer earned sustained applause and deservedly so. !!! Thumbs up !!

Unfortunately the mood created by Jinjer flattened after Tribulation opened their set and many fans showed their back to their performance. The matter is that their dark and very tightly played Death/Gothic Metal doesn´t please the ears of the fans that easily, and you need to inspire a live crowd. But Tribulation were too far gone to electrify the audience.

Now it was time for Jari and Wintersun and right from the beginning they proved their ability without any compromises. Wintersun (start photo) had a crystal clear sound and they performed on a very high level and received enthusiastic reactions from the Metalheads. They played songs mainly from the “The Forest Seasons“ album, but their fans did not have to wait long until for example “Winter Madness” or “Time” shattered the location.

Mastermind Jari got a flu during the tour, but no one should really notice. Instead, Jari performed the whole Wintersun show with his clear voice in usual manner. He offered a convincing evidence of his variable singing style and Wintersun left amidst thundering applause of the crowd, after the last song “Time” (as can be seen in the video clip below).

Arch Enemy started their set under a impressive lightshow and the choice of songs comprised material from almost all releases. They’re well known as an excellent live act and also on this evening Arch Enemy substantiate this status extremely well.

They mainly concentrate on their latest release “Will To Power”, but also older highlights, like “Nemesis” were presented very ingeniously. Especially the performance of vocalist Alissa was great, because of the way she combined her singing style and remaining in touch with fans was absolutely awesome.

The audience in Wiesbaden gave a big hand to every song and after one and a half hours the Swedes left the stage and also a great impression behind.

Summary: Jinjer surprised many people and they left a lasting impact. Let’s hope that they´ll return to Germany soon. During the show of Tribulation the attendance sank on a very low level, which means that it is not always right to blend different styles into one package. Wintersun was the absolute winner of this evening and they justly earned the most and best reactions from the audience. Arch Enemy showed one more time to be a firmly established top act.

Text & video: Hanzi Herrmann     photos: Katja Gessner