Chthonic & Turisas Gig Review - Manchester Academy 3 17th November 2011

Chthonic & Turisas - Live Review

Manchester Academy 3

Thursday 17/11/2011

The opening notes of the intro track filled the room as the hordes of Turisas fans waited for support act Chthonic to begin. The Taiwanese black metal outfit slowly took the stage in their trademark attire (a combination of gothic clothing, masks and face paint), before springing into life with an unrelenting audio assault. Vocalist Freddy Lim dominated the stage, firing up the crowd as they powered through tracks from their latest album 'Takasago Army'. The high tempo brutality of their music is not without substance, with intricate Erhu melodies flooding

their sound with a melacholic eastern influence, taking new listeners by surprise. Chthonic's music is rich in Taiwanese culture and their emotional delivery on stage shows just how much the subject matter means to them. Throughout, bass player Doris Yeh could be seen aggressively mouthing every word, and this highly charged performance was channelled through to the audience who were captivated, showing their appreciation with a thunderous reception.

Chthonic's 50 minute set was partially let down by poor live mixing as the guitar was far too low, often completely drowned out by the machine gun drums. However this was a tiny flaw in what was an epic live performance, a unique blend of extreme metal intertwined with Taiwanese heritage, brought to life through explosive live performance.

And if Chthonic had got the place fired up, Turisas were about to raise the roof. The Finns had sold out the moderately sized Academy 3, and you would think that if another band hadn't have been playing the larger Academy 2, then an upgrade in venue would have been on the cards. This mattered not as the opening notes of 'The Varangian Guard' from their third album 'Stand Up and Fight' whipped the crowd into a frenzy of moshing and fist pumping. Turisas infuse epic symphonic metal with Finnish folk music, with high octane crowd participation a key factor in creating the atmosphere. Pulling classic songs, such as 'One More' and 'Five Hundred and One' from their back catalogue along with the more bombastic tracks from their latest album gave their set an excellent ebb and flow.

The recent line-up changes, which saw the introduction of new bass and keyboard players, appeared seamless as the band displayed a togetherness in both sound and spirit. In a genre dominated with guitar players, the soloing is set aside for the technically excellent violin player Olli Vänskä , providing a breath of fresh air. The fans had been chanting for it since the start of the show and in the encore their request was finally granted when the band launched into a barnstorming rendition of 'Battle Metal', the anthemic title track from their debut album.

There were smiles on the faces of the whole band as they took a bow, on what had been the final show of a great tour. Both bands had created an electric atmosphere, and seemed to have had a genuinely good time in the process.

Album Review: Opeth – Heritage

Album Review: Opeth – Heritage

The 10th album from one of metal’s most respected bands, Opeth, is an example of how a band can reinvent their sound without forgetting their roots. Opeth have always been a band that stand out in the metal world, as they combine genres to define their own unique sound. And with their latest offering ‘Heritage’ you should forget everything you think you know about their sound.

Mikael Åkerfeldt has written the bravest Opeth album yet, where he has almost completely left metal behind. To remove all growling and the majority of the distorted guitars will not please a lot of fans as the band have developed into a progressive rock band. Gone are the unrelenting drums and ‘wall of sound’ distortion, replaced by a a more natural sound with more emphasis on acoustic instruments and dynamic exploration, unafraid to leave space.

The album starts with a carefully constructed piano piece ‘Heritage’ and leads into ‘The Devil’s Orchard’; a prog metal opus with clean vocals and an eerie sounding Hammond organ, setting the tone for the rest of the album, where both feature heavily. There is a real sense of light and shade throughout the album with songs, in most cases, starting quietly and slowly building up into heavy rock with a strong progressive element. And there is no better example of this than ‘Famine’, which begins ballad-like and evolves into a crunching doom riff with a rasping flute for company. The influence of progressive rock bands such as Jethro Tull and Uriah Heep are no more apparent than on this epic prog opus.

The album also contains a tribute to the late Ronnie James Dio, 'Slither'; a straight rock song that, despite its slightly tongue in cheek feel, gives the album variety. Its early placement in the album really gets the record going and is one of the more up-tempo tracks.

There is a real sense of a band broadening their musical horizons and using their technical ability to explore different sonic directions. There will be a lot of fans who will dislike this album greatly, however I feel the majority will feel the raw emotion in the songs and realise that an album this daring deserves accolades for its attempt to break out of all musical restraints.

7.5 / 10

PJ Harvey Gig Review - Manchester Apollo 8th September 2011

PJ Harvey - Live Review

Manchester Apollo Thursday 08/09/2011

Only a matter of days after winning the Mercury Music Prize for the second time, Dorset’s Polly Jean Harvey took to the stage at the famous Manchester Apollo. Announced only a couple of weeks before the event was the surprise that there would be no supporting artists at this show, which is always a disappointment, as it's exactly this kind of slot that can propel aspiring and lesser known talents to the attention they deserve. All the same, this lack of support created an interesting atmosphere within the auditorium, where you could sense the anticipation that the audience were expecting something unique, something more than a run through of greatest hits, or an old favourite's latest offering.

As you would presume, the band were greeted on stage by a very warm reception, and as PJ and her band settled into their positions a single spotlight illuminated PJ in her gothic attire, while at the other side of the stage a yellow mist formed around the band, which set up for a dark and mystical evening. Her feathered headdress stood up from her head like a pair of horns, and with the low lighting gave her a mythical presence on stage. As the crowd settled, the opening manoeuvres of the title track from the award-winning album itself 'Let England Shake' began with the melancholic strumming sound of the autoharp, setting the tone for the night ahead. The instrument itself, despite its similarities in sound to a guitar, gives a completely different dimension to the performance. Seemingly being cradled gently within her arms, almost as you would expect a mother to hold their baby, the image portrayed was far removed from the often aggressive stance that can be taken from a guitar player, and gave the show a tender feel. This brought a reflective tone to the performance, very fitting with the lyrical content of 'Let England Shake' with its 'horrors of war' themes. And it was her vocal performance of these songs that transcended far beyond what has been captured on the studio recording of the album, moving it in to the realms of the exquisite. The show was beautifully constructed with the set list flowing through a catalogue of new and old, interchanging between tracks from the current album and older songs such as 'C'mon Billy', gracefully reworked to match her current sound.

Every song performed was note-perfect in terms of instrumentation and vocals, with her vocal range hitting breathtaking highs throughout, filling the room and focussing all eyes on her, and this despite the powerful musicianship of her band that included her ‘musical soul mate’ John Parish. You could tell that the music they were playing meant just as much to them as it did to PJ herself. The harmony of the lower male voice was a beautiful caveat to Polly's angelic voice, creating a natural and emotive tone, filling the low end of the tonal spectrum with a deep rumble that complemented the overall sound excellently.

As only a very new listener of PJ Harvey, and this the first show of hers that I've attended, I truly didn't know what to expect. I certainly had enjoyed 'Let England Shake' before this gig, but it in fact wasn't one of my favourite albums. However the live performance blew me away; the raw emotion of her voice being the main contribution to what was one of my favourite performances for a long time. The energy that was forged on stage was much more powerful than I could have imagined. It captivated me throughout as a relative 'newbie' to her music, and made me feel inspired and appreciative of such a fine performer.

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I used to use this blog to document the work I did for my degree in Creative Music and Sound Technology. As you can see it's been a while! But I've decided to give it a new lease of life. Watch this space...