[Photo sets courtesy of Lara at ishootmetal.com: Amon Amarth / Huntress / Savage Messiah]
[avatar =”James” size=”50″ align=”left” /]You could say that all the bands playing tonight have some form of melodic metal in them. Either way, it was a suitably varied night with some killer performances from them. And a good sound! There are a few venues, not naming any names, that don’t really have a good sound, but the Classic has always had a good sound whenever I’ve been there.
After finishing up my interview with Jill from Huntress, I came through the doors to the venue and was almost immediately greeted by the sound of Savage Messiah. Until about 3 hours prior to the concert, I’d never heard of them. Playing a mixture of modern metal and melodic metal with a few thrash elements, the band delivered a killer set that was too short in my opinion. With them not being as well known up here, the venue was about half full at the start and swelled to about three quarters full by the last two songs. Overall, they were a worthy opening act and I shall be checking out their music in the near future.
Next up was Huntress. Having spoken with Jill, she clarified that they play “…a mixture of true heavy metal with a bit of black metal, thrash, death and doom thrown in. But at heart a melodic metal band”. I’m going to be honest; they’re not really my cup of tea. I’ve always been a bit funny with female fronted bands. I just seem to be unable to get into the music. There’s no denying that they are technically proficient and skilled musicians though. And they appeared to be enjoying themselves, playing a mixture of songs from their first two albums. We were also treated to a song from the new album entitled “Flesh Trench Coats” if my memory serves me correctly. Lovely. They delivered a good set nonetheless and got the crowd suitably warmed up for the headliners.
To say Amon Amarth are anything short of epic would be insulting them. By this point, the venue was bursting at the seams and looking round made me slightly shocked as I’d never seen it that busy before. Opening with the usual orchestral version of the song “Amon Amarth” from Once Sent from the Golden Hall, the crowd went wild as the quintet walked on stage. Opening with what seems to be the new staple of “Father of the Wolf” followed by “Deceiver of the Gods” they really got the crowd going and g along to the melodic bits.
I couldn’t find a single flaw with their performance. Well, all right the solo in “Twilight of the Thunder God” was uninspiring. I knew it wouldn’t match the original by Roope Latvala, but still. And the fact that they didn’t play anything from The Crusher. Before playing the last song, Johan asked if we wanted one more song. A thunderous roar that almost took the ceiling off greeted him and you could tell he was genuinely surprised. They then obliged by playing the final song, “Pursuit of Vikings”.
In short, it was an epic night and will be difficult to match in of overall experience.
Thanks go to Lara for handling photo duties and Mosh/Andy at Metal Blade for organizing everything.
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