Just two days after the four band bill at the Headcrash (including Rivers Of Nihil and Cynic) I drove to Hamburg again yesterday for a show I basically had been awaiting for ten years, since I've heard Seven Impale's debut album "City Of The Sun" for the first time. Unfortunately it took the Norwegians two albums and a hiatus longer to finally come to Northern Germany. But better late than never, right?
When you only have a short time between visiting (and afterwards reviewing) shows, there are certain things that can happen. One is that you quickly adjust your previous judgement of the last music night. I'm always trying to be positive and see the good when it comes to music, experiencing shows on a goodwill basis. But when you go to another concert shortly after and see how much better many things can be... well, I don't want to go on about this too long. But yeah - and sorry if that's a spoiler -, but after the Seven Impale show and talking to another fan who had been there last Thursday too I must admit to my huge Cynic fan self that apart from discovering Beyond Creation that other night was actually more disappointing than I let on in my review.
Another annoying thing had happened, whichb only occured to me when I wanted to take a picture of the Logo being not really up to the right date (but stuck ten days into the past) with my Digital Harinezumi toy camera, which is also responsible for most of my live photos.
When you only have a short time between visiting (and afterwards reviewing) shows, there are certain things that can happen. One is that you quickly adjust your previous judgement of the last music night. I'm always trying to be positive and see the good when it comes to music, experiencing shows on a goodwill basis. But when you go to another concert shortly after and see how much better many things can be... well, I don't want to go on about this too long. But yeah - and sorry if that's a spoiler -, but after the Seven Impale show and talking to another fan who had been there last Thursday too I must admit to my huge Cynic fan self that apart from discovering Beyond Creation that other night was actually more disappointing than I let on in my review.
Another annoying thing had happened, whichb only occured to me when I wanted to take a picture of the Logo being not really up to the right date (but stuck ten days into the past) with my Digital Harinezumi toy camera, which is also responsible for most of my live photos.
On my first try I realized that I had forgotten my MicroSD card in the slot of my PC after copying the pictures for my last review. Shit. Luckily there's a Mediamarkt just a couple of houses away from the Logo. But just when I got there they wre fucking closing the door, so it took me a little while longer to find a phone shop that could help me out. Has been a couple of years since this has happened to me the last time.
 |
| OXOMOCO |
The night started with a local trio from Hamburg. Oxomoco began their instrumental performance very smooth and relaxed, slowly building up to heavier Post Rock with Stoner Metal vibes here and proggy parts there. I definitely wouldn't want to put their music into one specific box. For sure it was good mix of beauty, coolness and heaviness with some nice hypnotic usage of lead guitar loops.
During the second to last song, the singer and keyboardist of Seven Impale jumped on stage and aided their jam them with organ sounds and vocalizations. Nice!
The show was a great attunement for what was about to happen next and I made sure to grab a copy of the band's first CD afterwards.
During the second to last song, the singer and keyboardist of Seven Impale jumped on stage and aided their jam them with organ sounds and vocalizations. Nice!
The show was a great attunement for what was about to happen next and I made sure to grab a copy of the band's first CD afterwards.
 |
| SEVEN IMPALE |
Seven Impale started their show with the opener of their second album, followed by the opener of their third album and the opener of their debut album. So I guess if they already had a discography of seven or eight albums, this review would be really convenient to write and boring to read.
But if there's one thing the Prog/Jazz Rock/Metal sextet certainly was not guilty of at all, than it was being boring! If you know only ohne of their rollercoaster rides like "God Left Us For A Black-Dressed Woman" or "Sisyphus" then you already know that between soothingly smooth Jazz licks, challenging Fusion grooves, heavy Math Rock chugging, roaring organs, incredibly majestic guitar and saxophone climaxes Seven Impale just never fail to impress and entertain.
That goes for their fantastic studio work and absolutely translates into the live performance. Prog Rock (and adjacent stuff) can barely get any cooler than what these guys are doing. And I didn't even mention trained opera singer Stian Økland's powerful voice - and that before this show I had absolutely forgotten that he also plays guitar. What can I say, the whole show, which was mostly split half-half between longtracks from the 2014 debut and the 2023 album "Summit", just was a wholesome experience.
Of course the band is too obscure to sell out this location, but there were enough people to not make it awkward. The satisfaction of finally hearing long-admired tunes live and the (not perfect but more than sufficient) very good sound helped to make this my favorite show of the year so far. I really hope that there are more touring activities to come, then maybe with a divided focos on "Contrapasso" (got the t-shirt!) and a possible new album?
That goes for their fantastic studio work and absolutely translates into the live performance. Prog Rock (and adjacent stuff) can barely get any cooler than what these guys are doing. And I didn't even mention trained opera singer Stian Økland's powerful voice - and that before this show I had absolutely forgotten that he also plays guitar. What can I say, the whole show, which was mostly split half-half between longtracks from the 2014 debut and the 2023 album "Summit", just was a wholesome experience.
Of course the band is too obscure to sell out this location, but there were enough people to not make it awkward. The satisfaction of finally hearing long-admired tunes live and the (not perfect but more than sufficient) very good sound helped to make this my favorite show of the year so far. I really hope that there are more touring activities to come, then maybe with a divided focos on "Contrapasso" (got the t-shirt!) and a possible new album?
Finally, here's the full setlist:
(with my translations into the actual song titles)
And on another added note I maybe should have gotten my poster signed, now that I see it on the door. However I really didn't think I would actually find a place for it, just taking it with me anyway, because it was for free. But in hindsight you're always a smart-arse.
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen