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Arch Enemy + Profane Omen + Omnium Gatherum - 1/31/2012 - The Circus - Helsinki

It’s my first time here at The Circus, and as I walk around to explore the place I’m not really sure what to make out of it. Sure it isn’t the traditional metal club, and I’ve never seen a place with three smoking rooms. The venue fills really quickly as the fans slowly find their way inside after queuing in this freezing cold. It’s real winter!

Lots of people have made a big deal out of Omnium Gatherum lately, and I kinda can see why from their stage performance. I’m personally not a huge fan of their music though, even if I must say the two-three gigs I’ve seen of them were quite enjoyable. This is one of them.
It seems that the band has a good amount of supporters here, and these are continuously incited by the singer Jukka Pelkonen. Plus points for the poses of the guitarist Markus Vanhala (Insomnium anyone?), who seems to have always a whole lot of fun on stage.
Musically a pretty good show, and in their short, obviously focused on the latest “New World Shadows”, there’s still room for a couple of hits. Not half-bad as a start for this evening!

However, the real showmen here are Profane Omen, as energetic and restless as usual, at least in the figure of their vocalist Jules Näveri. A formula well-trained by many many live shows through the years, but that somehow always gets the crowd going. You can see this already from the opening with “Wasteheads”. Profane Omen’s sound, with their fast pace and numerous tempo changes is always good entertainment. You never get bored.
Technically the show is also without troubles, and the gig is at least on par with their appearence at Metalheim fest back in the end of October, which I really enjoyed. The setlist is really short for these guys coming from the city of Lahti as well, and while the first half is fully focused on the new record, a proper PO concert can’t end without “Base” and “Painbox”. At this point it’s becoming difficult to walk around in the club, and the audience is perfectly cooked for the headliner’s show.

When Arch Enemy, made its appearence on stage, I wasn’t expecting really too much, given that at the last Tuska I was left with a slightly “meh”-feeling at their gig. But this time is different, and I admit that the band looks in a really good shape. Starting from Ms. Angela Gossow, who sounds more powerfull and energetic, while taking over and igniting the first rows with her growls.
The overall feeling is way better than the previous time, maybe it’s also the club atmosphere, but it seems way more involving. And good thing in this long set that most of it comes from “Wages Of Sin”, probably the best record of this band ever. I would have been able to keep up without the solos, or at least I can see the only purpose of the drum solo as taking a break for the other guys, but well, even drummers deserve the spotlight sometimes.
Dragged by the charisma of their lead singer, the band proves that being here tonight was well worth it, with anthemic moments like “Under Black Flags We March” or “We Will Rise”, which concludes the first leg of the set. Highlight of the encore is “Nemesis”, which ends into instrumental bits of “Fields Of Desolation”, as the guys leave the stage.

I’ve been positively surprised by tonight’s show. It seriously exceeded my expectations, and I can tell from the faces in the audience, that it’s been a good success. Angela might not be my favorite female metal singer, but she can still hold her ground pretty well after all. Profane Omen and Omnium Gatherum did their fair job as well, and I’m actually glad I got to come here early in the evening. The venue is a bit atypical, and I’m sure the guys at the merchandise stand would have preferred if the main doors weren’t wide open all the time, you could start to feel cold already in the passage to the main hall. Now back to the freezing and windy night, ah, the Finnish weather!


Arch Enemy setlist:
01) Khaos Overture (Intro)
02) Yesterday Is Dead And Gone

 03) Revolution Begins

 04) Ravenous

 05) Enemy Within

 06) My Apocalypse

 07) Bloodstained Cross

 08) Taking Back My Soul

 09) Drum Solo
10) Under Black Flags We March
11) Dead Eyes See No Future
12) Guitar Solo
13) Burning Angel

 14) Dead Bury Their Dead

 15) We Will Rise

 -----------------------------------
16) Snow Bound

 17) Nemesis

 18) Fields of Desolation 
(Outro)


Photos:
Arch Enemy


Profane Omen


Omnium Gatherum


Report a cura di Marco Manzi