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