Swallow the Sun / The Man-Eating Tree @ Nosturi
2019-02-07 Nosturi, Helsinki, Finland
Although the headliners of this evening have been part of the Metal scene for a while, they probably haven’t anticipated to become Nr 1 of Finnish charts. Then a string of sold-out shows in Finland – and despite the rough weather conditions (the author of these lines got almost hit by a roof avalanche on the way to the club), this tour opening show in Helsinki was one of them.
Shortly before The Man-Eating Tree entered the stage, it did not look like that in the club at all, though. But after a couple of songs the situation changed quickly. One of the reasons is the good reputation and following this band has gathered with their Melancholic Metal. And once again it was an intense and hypnotizing performance putting the audience under a spell. Moreover, the TMET sound with catchy tunes and extremely heavy parts does go nicely with the headliner.
Swallow The Sun have always had a faible for gloomy stage atmosphere which is quite a challenge for photographers. This time they took it even further and manifested themselves like the Ring Wraiths on stage amidst the fogs of Mordor, after an intro a found a little bit too long…
Yet this should remain the only thing to criticize on this evening – because once again this band proved to be one of the best, either on CD or on a stage. The audience celebrated every song, every note enthusiastically. In a situation to compare the material from the NEW CD directly with the older songs, you could realize how this band has developed. And no matter how often I have seen them live already, they are always an inspiration how they succeed in delivering calm and complex songs as well as heavy riffs and beats. For the first time the “newbies” in the line-up, Juho Räihä (guitars) and Jaani Peuhu (keyboards, vocals) were part of the show as highly official new band members. Well, the latter remained pretty invisible in the back and in the fog…
And finally the band could still surprise us all when they invited old band mates Aleksi Munter and Markus Jämsen on stage to jam the classic “Swallow” with them. Not just a great gesture of friendship – it was simply great to hear this fantastic song again, rounding up a great show. You should not miss Swallow The Sun when they come to your town! The Setlist:
photos: Klaudia Weber, Tina Solda – MORE PHOTOS HERE
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