Live review: In Flames + Five Finger Death Punch at Scandinavium, Gothenburg

In later years, the whole Co-headline concept has become more popular, with two or more bands joining forces throughout a tour, sharing the work load to bring a great experience to the fans. I think it is a great way to get a lot of value for your money, getting to watch two fantastic acts in the same evening to make your night complete. So I was obviously excited when In Flames and Five Finger Death Punch decided to tour together through Europe, giving me a chance to finally get to see two bands that are known for explosive shows.

It also made sense that exactly these two got together, because they are sort of in the same spot in their careers (even though one of them has been active for a longer time). Both are insanely popular acts that have released several big hits over the years, but they have also been receiving a lot of hate for various reasons, even to the point where some do not even consider these band to be metal at all (which is ridiculous, what else are they? Techno?).

Anyway, I was not alone in wanting to watch them, the show in the indoor stadium Scandinavium (located in central Gothenburg) was completely sold out, bringing some warmth in this cold Autumn evening. Let me tell you how the night was.

Opening act: Of Mice & Men

Opening up for the two big guns were Of Mice & Men, a metalcore group from Orange County, California that I have heard of before, but have never digged deeper into... which is also why I did not see these guys.

Now, it would have been pretty difficult to get in time for them anyhow because I live close to two hours away from Gothenburg and I cannot leave work how early I want. Besides, the group of guys I went to the show with did not really want to see them, so... yeah. It is nothing against the band, I simply did not have the time/peer pressure got to me.

I did more research since and I even listened to the songs that they did play, and to be completely honest, I do not think I missed much. While I believe most music does become better when you experience it in a live setting, I think I would be pretty bored with the band's predictable and unoriginal brand of metalcore (although I do have to admit that the new single "Warzone" has a really nice groove to it). All of the songs were nothing special, maybe heavier than your average metalcore band, but still fairly bland, it is close to just being needless noise infact. And once again, it is unfair of me to judge them solely by studio efforts, who knows, they might have killed it on stage. I will probably give these lads another chance when their fifth album comes out next year, but I doubt that the music will make me do backflips out of shear joy.

Setlist:
Unbreakable
Public Service Announcement
Pain
You Make Me Sick
Warzone
The Depths

Five Finger Death Punch

After all of what has happened with this band during the year, I was a little afraid that I was going to witness another massive meltdown, Fortunately, that did not happen, instead we got a band that was obviously pumped up, ready to kick some metal ass. And you could clearly tell that singer Ivan Moody was the happiest of the bunch, coming in wearing the jersey of the Swedish national ice hockey team Tre Kronor. Ivan was soaking in every moment of the show, really enjoying himself and playing with the crowd, despite very minimal small talk between songs.

The energy is obviously the band's biggest strength, but they tried to make it a very visually appealing show as well, and they did succeed... to some extent. There were a lot of lighting and lasers that tried to make the show more colorful, and while I do like lasers, it became pretty tiring after a while, being more of a gimmick than any real help. Then we had the huge prop that hung behind the band, which depicted their mascot Knucklehead and a couple of baseball bats crossing behind, making some kind of an urban Jolly Roger. It looked cool and all, but the way it was shaped and assembled made it look more like Vic Rattlehead from Megadeth, and that was an image I could not get out of my head. Why did they not just paint a hand palm on the right side of the face, like in the album covers? So yeah, it looked cool, but it did not look like it belonged with the band.

Go home Vic, you are drunk

Anyway, the music is still the main thing in a concert, and without a new album in recent time, the setlist was pretty well versed between all of the band's releases. I was a little surprised to hear that their latest single "Trouble" (from the upcoming best of record "A Decade of Destruction") was not in the setlist, because even if I think the song is pretty meh, it is kind of a missed opportunity for the band to not market it. It was also surprising that the band went acoustic on two songs, with also Ivan sincerely apologizing for his behaviour the last year. It was a touching moment for sure, but when you think of 5FDP, you do not think of slow songs that you can play around the camp fire. No, you think of adrenaline pumping songs that gets you incredibly hyped up, and that is what I wanted to see, so that acoustic part was kind of a buzz kill.

Oh well, I got enough macho metal to go around anyway, and the band did a fantastic job in getting the crowd going (seriously, the front mosh pitted during songs like "Bad Company" and "Wash It All Away", how is that possible?). So despite some weird things here and there, it was a pretty good show the Americans presented us with. No matter if you like them or not, you gotta admit, their energy is extremely contagious and exhilarating.

Best: "Burn MF" certainly has a lot of power to it

Worst: I did not come to see this band for their acoustic bit

Rating: 7,5/10

Setlist:
Lift Me Up
Never Enough
Wash It All Away
Got Your Six
Hard To See
Bad Company (Bad Company cover)
Jekyll And Hyde
Burn MF
Wrong Side of Heaven (acoustic)
Remember Everything (acoustic)
Coming Down
Ain't My Last Dance

Encore:
Under And Over It
The Bleeding

In Flames

Going into this show, I was not worried that In Flames were going to phone it in or not give it their all. After all, Gothenburg is their city of origin, and for a band that travels the world year after year, there simply is no place like home. Sure enough, one of Sweden's biggest metal exports surely gave their home crowd a lot to cheer about with a show that a lot of people are not gonna forget in the near future. Simply put, In Flames love Gothenburg, and Gothenburg loves In Flames.

So instead of lasers and tons of lighting, In Flames put their chips on more technological stuff, putting together several screens and creating two pillars for the keyboardist (who I could not find out who it was) and drummer Joe Rickard. This allowed a lot of really cool and some times disturbing imagery to play around with the songs, feeding both your ears and eyes of course. We also got a big puppet prop as well that was revealed during "Alias", a recreation of that human with the bird head from the "A Sense of Purpose" record. It was pretty cool, but it just stayed the for the rest of the show, not doing anything besides staring at everyone with its glowing eyes. Kind of creepy if you ask me.

Damn Jesterheads, please leave the little guy alone

The setlist was mostly based around the last year release "Battles", and no matter what your opinion is on that album, it does show that the band knows how to make incredibly memorable sing along choruses. Songs like "Save Me", "Drained" and "The End" all work extremely well in a live setting, giving the crowd an excuse to sing their lungs out. Otherwise, there were few surprises in this setlist. All of the band's biggest hits were in here, mixed in with some old favourites. To be completely honest, the only real surprise was "Everything's Gone", the only representative from "Siren Charms" (thank god for that). It was placed in the first half of the setlist, where the band just went full on mad mode, almost burning off all of their heaviest materials with "Take This Life", "Trigger" (renamed this evening as "Twitter"), and "Only For The Weak".

While I did enjoy myself during the entire show, and I saw that the chemistry between the crowd and the band was good, there were more or less no small talk in between, even less than in the 5FDP show. The songs were fired with a machine gun, bam bam bam bam bam, close to no break at all. At the very end we probably got the answer to why it was so, because they had to be done before a certain time (because of Swedish law), and they wanted to maximize the time as much as possible. So that explained it, but it still felt weird the way the band handled it.

Oh well, no matter what, In Flames still delivered an impressive performance that echoed out into the Gothenburg night. The band were in their element all night, they simply felt like they were home, playing for all their relatives and friends. They were comfortable, but they made sure to not relax all to much, keeping laser focus. It is no wonder why this band is considered as one of Sweden's biggest bands, they delivered big time here in Scandinavium.

Best: "Everything's Gone" and "Take This Life" is an amazing one two punch

Worst: The setlist was way too predictable

Rating: 8,5/10

Setlist:
Drained
Before I Fall
Everything's Gone
Take This Life
Trigger
Only For The Weak
Dead Alone
Darker Times
Drifter
Moonshield
The Jester's Dance
Save Me
Alias
Here Until forever
The Truth
Deliver Us
The Mirror's Truth
The Quiet Place
The End

Live review: Huskvarna Rock & Art Weekend

In the small town of Huskvarna, just a few kilometers outside of Jönköping, there was a party happening at Folkets Park. Some of the best tattoo artists from all of Sweden and even Europe would be summoned, to a weekend of tattoos, music, and booze.

That is pretty much all you need to know about Huskvarna Rock & Art, a tattoo convention and music festival combined, creating a beautiful symbiosis between two amazing cultures. This was my first time going, and it was quite a good timing, because the even has expanded, including more tattooers and allowing the music acts to perform on a proper stage, instead of a rather small one inside the convention hall. It was a cool feeling going through all of the booths, hearing the humming of all tattoo machines doing their work, and looking at all the art that was created. It certainly gave me a urge to get one myself, but since I had no clear idea of what I wanted, I passed.

But that is not all, other stuff in the hall was being sold as well, mostly related to metal and tattooing of course. CDs, vinyls, merch, steel necklaces, paintings, tattooing equipment, and a whole lot of other stuff too. Needless to say, you could easily get busty without getting under the needle, and I purchased 4 new albums to my collection. Iron Maiden "The X Factor", Dio "The Last In Line", Stormhold "Battle of The Royal Halls", and Kotipelto "Waiting For The Dawn".

Then we have the shows, all of them happening on Saturday (except for some acoustic sets that was played in the convention hall from time to time) in a special venue called Teater Ladan (The Theater Barn), and the line up was pretty good, knowing how small this festival was. There was a total of seven acts performing, and I got a glimpse of all of them. However, I will not review all of them, since I did not spend my full time on all performances. I only got a small peak of the cross over thrash band Negative Self and the black metal band Mordant, mostly because it was not my (and my pals') type of music. I did get a good look of the remaining 5 acts though, so here are the reviews of their shows.

Stormhold

First band out was Stormhold, a power/heavy metal band from around my neck of the woods, Värnamo, and also one of the main reasons to why I went here in the first place. I have always wanted to check this band out live, but never really gotten the chance. Well, I was determined to not miss out this time, even if they played relatively early (15:45).

So how can I describe these guys? Well, imagine if Gloryhammer started playing a mix of Iron Maiden and HammerFall, and you might get a good image on what this band is. Here they come in, dressed in their own medieval gears, and starts playing passionately with their cool style of classic heavy metal and cheesy power metal. It works out really well, and the band gets a great response from the engaged, still relatively small, audience. Sing alongs were loud, the showmanship was top notch, and they really gave it all they had.

Stormhold, bringing up a storm... hold

Most of their set list is based on their only released studio album, called "Battle of The Royal Halls", that was released last year, and it is a really nice album, with catchy melodies and cool riffs. We also got a sneak peak of what would come, a new song called "The Stranger" was played from their upcoming album, and it certainly got some good response as well. It will be interesting to see what these guys can do in the future, and judging from their performance, it is a bright looking one. Go check them out now if you have not already! Here is a good place to start ---> www.stormhold.se/

Best: Legions of The Brave

Worst: Their time slot was too early, otherwise nothing really

Rating: 8/10

Setlist

Battle of Royal Halls
The Final Decision
Legions of The Brave
Fear Your Death
The Stranger (brand new song)
Stormhold

Absolva

Absolva is a British band that was formed in 2012, and while they are still in an early stage, they have came some way already, like being the band who backs up Blaze Bayley. Their style is more or less classic modern heavy metal. No fuzz what so ever, it is straight on and in your face.It may not be the most original style out there, but it works if you have enough passion and song writing skills.

While I have close to no clue about this band before watching them (hence why no set list, sorry), I really did not expect anything from them. What I got was a band that was filled with adrenaline, never stopping and just being overly active, like they all had ADD. While most of the guys handled it quite well, I do think that the singer Chris Appleton took it a little too far, being off pitch here and there. But hey, who can really blame him, we was really excited to play his first real gig with his band in Sweden.

Literally the only non-blurry picture I could get of Absolva

Overall, the music certainly kicked ass. It is a type of music that works really well in a live setting, inviting to sing alongs, and gives room for the band to unleash hell. I really have to give some extra credit to the drummer Martin McNee, who was a god damn machine, delivering in every beat and even doing a pretty sweet, and not too long, drum solo. So job well done from the guys of Absolva, a band I will certainly be looking out for in the future.

Best: The passion of the entire band

Worst: Me, for being unprepared

Rating: 7/10

Sorry, could not find a set list here :(

Skitarg

Okay, so this is not really a review, but more of a rant, because I simply cannot take Skitarg (Swedish for pissed off).

First off, for those of you who do not know of this band, consider yourselves lucky. They can easily be best described as a Swedish version of Insane Clown Possy, because they are all clowns, and they are all out of their fucking minds. The music is kind of good, some cool melodies here, some catchy choruses, and some sweet riffs, but it is the overall image of the band that just makes me sick to my stomach.

Most of the band's lyrics relies on filthy, sexual, childish things, like finding brown treasures, supporting abortion, slaughtering dog owners, and breaking the necks off horses (all sung in Swedish as well). This is seriously disgusting, and I cannot take it in CD form, even less in a live setting.

Bring out... THE CLOWNS

I gave it a chance though, watching a couple of their songs, but seeing both of the singers, one having no pants and the other only wearing what could be best described as something German Tarzan would wear, them LITERALLY fucking each other, and then shooting their fake splooge over the audience. Sure Rammstein does this too, but they mix it up with cool stuff, like fire and shit, but seeing this being done by clowns is seriously nightmare inducing. So nope, nope, nope, nope, and more nope, this simply is not for me. It is something for someone else, but not me.

No setlist here either, because screw that.

Blaze Bayley

Despite not going on last, Blaze Bayley was the sole reason to why many of the visitors bought their tickets, because it seems like Huskvarna really love the former Iron Maiden singer. This is his third time performing on this event, and not only that, he really made sure this would be a special show for everyone here. For the first time ever, the whole "Infinite Entanglement", Blaze's latest album and first part of a trilogy concept, would be played live, and recorded for an upcoming live DVD.

I can totally see why Blaze chose Huskvarna for this grand event, because the crowd really do love him to death. The sing along was loud and clear from the get go when Blaze entered the stage with "Born As A Stranger", and it only grew louder and stronger with the following two songs, "The Launch" and the Iron Maiden song "Futureal". So a good start to the show, right? Well, it would have been, if it had not stopped all of a sudden after that. The lights died, Blaze came back on stage to thank a lot of people for making this show possible, and asked for a 5-10 minute break. I was really confused, and a couple of my friends even left for a moment to get a quick beer. I was fortunate to get a quick word with Blaze after the show, and he said that it just died, nothing like this was planned.

So yeah, a set back that certainly killed the mood, but it did give a good opportunity to present the main act of the show, the "Infinite Entanglement" opera. I really was not sure this was going to work all too well, because while the album is a good one (one that I enjoy more now than on the day I did the review), I was worried that Blaze would not get the audience along for the entire ride. Fortunately, I was wrong.

Scream for me Huskvarna!!!

To help Blaze out with this massive project, we of course had his backing band (whom consists of 3/4 of Absolva), we had voice actors who would act out the story of the record between the songs, a opera choir, Thomas Zwijsen on acoustic guitar, and Anne Bakker on the violin. So this was quite an arrangement (especially since the stage itself was not the largest I have seen), and it worked out really well, giving a whole new life to the album and its story. And my biggest concern seemed to be overly exaggerated, because the audience was as loud as ever this time too, singing along on every chorus
that Blaze threw at them.

The show was not over after that, it continued with a couple of more songs from Blaze's career, the highlight being the final two songs. First we have "Man Hunt", the only Wolfsbane song on the set list. In a live setting, it is a fantastic song, with a chorus that is cheesy, but so god damn fun to sing. Just hearing and singing the "Man Hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-hu-hunt" is fun in itself. But it does not stop there, because during the solo part, the guitarist (which is also the singer of Absolva) goes buck wild and starts pushing Blaze away, starting a insane solo part where every part of the backing band is in. It is fast, insane, and incredibly fun. I usually hate it when the instrumental part drag out for too ling, but this was just so god damn ridiculous. A rebellion that was extremely enjoyable.

The last song was, not surprisingly, Iron Maiden's "Man On The Edge", but this was performed with every artist who was in the opera, which made it a little more special, and it was also the ultimate showing of Thomas Zwijsen's mad guitar skills. Even if he played acoustic and Chris Appleton played electric at the same time, I could actually hear Thomas, and my god, what a shredder he is. Seriously, go check him out on his YouTube, where he is most famous for his covers of Iron Maiden songs (called Nylon Maiden), a great musician in general.

So yeah, this was quite a 2 hour show, one that exceeded my expectations by miles, even with the technical difficulties in the beginning. I am excited to see the upcoming DVD, see if I am in it :)

Best: The whole opera and "Man Hunt"

Worst: That sudden break was a real bummer

Rating: 9/10

Setlist

Born As A Stranger
The Launch
Futureal (Iron Maiden song)

Infinite Entanglement opera (performed with voice actors and opera singers)

Infinite Entanglement
A Thousand Years
Human
What Will Come (with Thomas and Anne)
Stars Are Burning
Solar Wind
The Dreams of William Black (with Thomas and Anne)
Calling You Home
Dark Energy 256
Independence
A Work of Anger

Stare At The Sun
Virus (Iron Maiden song)
Blood And Belief
Man Hunt + instrumental rebellion (Wolfsbane song)
Man On The Edge (Iron Maiden song, with all participating artists)

Hardcore Superstar

The Blaze show took a lot of energy out of me, and close to everyone else, so it was no surprise that the Hardcore Superstar show was not nearly as energetic, even if the band tried everything they could to get the party started, and they succeeded... to some extent.

The setlist was very varied, having songs from nearly every album the band has made, so old fans of the band were of course pleased with it. Me? Well, it is kind of weak, but that could be because I am not a huge HCSS fan. I am most critical over the end of the setlist, ending it all with "Above The Law", one of their most boring songs. Jesus Christ, if people was not ready to go to bed before, they were surely now.

The band still have some killer songs though, and most of their big hits, like "Dreamin' In A Casket" and "We Don't Celebrate Sundays", got some great response. My personal favourite though, "Last Call For Alcohol", got an even bigger treatment. All of a sudden, a big bar is rolling into the stage, ready with Jägermeister and beer, and since the band is so generous, they invited up some of the audience up for a drink. And like that was not enough, the drummer was brought forward, because it was his birthday. So you all know what that means, birthday sing along!

Yes, I'll have a Jägerbomb please

So in the end, a nice ending to a night of metal, but I still think that Blaze should have had the honor of closing it out. A pretty decent desert that did not taste quite as good as the entree.

Best: Last Call For Alcohol

Worst: "Above The Law" as the closing song? Really?

Rating: 7/10

Setlist

Hello/Goodbye
Touch The Sky
Liberation
My Good Reputation
Dreamin' In A Casket
Silence For The Peacefully
Someone Special
Punk Rock Song
Last Call For Alcohol
We Don't Celebrate Sundays
Moonshine
Dear Old Flame
Above The Law

Stay Metal!
Robert "Sharkruisher" Andersson

Live review: Monsters of Rock at Friends Arena, Stockholm

After almost half a century, Black Sabbath is reaching the end of its life cycle. The band is on their final tour, and last week, they reached Sweden for a gig at Friends Arena in Stockholm, a fairly new arena that is impressive, but the logistic was clearly an afterthought. You wanna get a taxi after the show? Get ready to wait for up to 2 hours. Subway? A long walk, which is not too good either (and waiting of course once you get there). But hey, I did not care, I was ready to finally witness the grand fathers of metal in person, and also get a glimpse of a Danish band that had yet to convince me of their greatness. So here you got my story of one weekend in Stockholm.

The Foreplay

We arrived at Stockholm Friday afternoon, which of course meant that we had a lot of time to get a custom to our surroundings, where our hotel was, the closest subway station, and of course, nearest bar.

After some drinking in the hotel room, we strolled on to Hard Rock Café for something to eat. As a concept, Hard Rock Café is great. You get good music, great meals, tons of cool memorabilia on the walls, and they also have a personal merch booth. However, they have really pushed the boundaries on the whole Hard Rock aspect in later years, including several artists that have nothing to do with rock at all. Hell, I found one memorabilia that was from Nicki Minaj. NICKI FUCKING MINAJ!?!?!?!?! Are you kidding me, do you guys even know what hard rock means? I don't think you do!

Anyway, after a good meal (I had the pulled pork burger, and it was delicious), we took the subway into town, more specifically, Kungsträdgården. There is always something happening there, some show to be seen, and on Friday night, we were treated with a cool warm up party for Monsters of Rock. Now, we did not stay all too long, so we only got to see a small glimpse of a hair metal band called Treat. They were okay, but fairly generic (just like 90% of all hair metal bands). Other bands that performed there that evening was a Danish Black Sabbath tribute band, The Baboon Show and Rockklassiker All Stars.

On to Saturday, the day of the show, and we went back to Kungsträdgården once again, because this day, it was a punk festival going on there. Unfortunately, the first band did not go on until 5 pm, so we had no time to see any of them, which was a disappointment of course. So instead, we did a bar tour across Stockholm, visiting everything from shady joints to high end hotel lounges. You can't go wrong with an ice cold beer in the scorching sun, everything to set up for what was to come.

Acts I did not see: Rival Sons and Bombus

If I had to decide, I would absolutely watch all of the acts on this one day festival, but since my group of friends was not that willing to go until Volbeat played, I had to just smile and nod. Sure, I could go alone, but to be perfectly honest, I did not care too much about Rival Sons and Bombus either. I have only listened to Bombus newest album, "Repeat Until Death" (a pretty good album nonetheless), and I knew virtually nothing about Rival Sons. So yeah, I feel like I did not miss much.

For those of you who are fans of the bands, I thought that the least I could do was to write the setlists they had, so here you go.

Setlist Rival Sons:
1. Electric Man
2. Secret
3. Pressure And Time
4. Hollow Bones Pt. 1
5. Tied Up
6. Torture
7. Fade Out
8. Open My Eyes
9. Keep On Swinging

Setlist Bombus:
1. Let Her Die
2. Rust
3. Horde of Flies
4. Biblical
5. Repeat Until Death
6. Into The Fire

Volbeat

So we finally arrived at Friends Arena, just in time to get a beer, buy some merch (that was unreasonably low on stock), and prepare ourselves for some Elvis metal. As you probably already read in my review of the band's latest album "Seal The Deal & Let's Boogie", you would know that I am a bit skeptical about the band. They have some killer tunes here and there, but the overall country and rocka billy vibe is just too much for my taste.

However, the band put up quite a heavy show, blasting off straight from the start with the lead single from their latest offering. It was also obvious that a massive part of the crowd was huge Volbeat fans, singing along to the lyrics and cheering for all of their might. Two of my companions are extreme fans of the band, and I swear, I have never seen them so excited during a concert. Black who? I am here to see Volbeat.

I was reluctant at first to hang on to the hype train, and I was even more when the band on the second song busted out a medley, a medley that included one of my favourite songs of the band, "A Warrior's Call". I really have to question this decision, why put it this early, or even better, why put it in at all? Instead of hearing "Heaven Nor Hell", "A Warrior's Call" and "I Only Want To Be With You" in their entirety, we get shorter versions instead that intertwine each other. There is no point in doing so if you ask me.

Fortunately, that was the only time the band did so, and they kept spitting out their biggest hits, such as "Maybellene I Hofteholder", "Lola Montez" and "Dead But Rising", while occasionally throwing in some new stuff, like "For Evigt" and "Goodbye Forever". All of the songs blasted with a pretty good force, and the band seemed to enjoy themselves quite a lot, especially Rob Caggiano who killed it on guitar.

They did save the best for last though, starting with the incredibly groovy "Doc Holliday", a song that might be the best explanation to what Volbeat are. After that, they went on to count all the assholes in the room with "Still Counting", and sealing the deal with "Seal The Deal", a great trio of songs that ended the show in an astounding way. Sure I would have liked to hear "The Loa's Crossroad" from the new album, but the setlist was still good and expected, so no complaints there.

So, did the band win over me? Well... no. While I do admit that the show was really good, I still have a hard time with their music in general. It is fairly easy to make a bad song sound good live if you as the band are having fun and giving it all you got, so no, do not consider me a Volbeat fan just yet, they need to blow me away in CD form first.

Best: Doc Holliday

Worst: That needless medley + a shortened version of A Warrior's Call

Rating: 7,5/10

Setlist:
1. The Devil's Bleeding Crown
2. Heaven Nor Hell/A Warrior's Call/ I Only Want To Be With You
3. Sad Man's Tongue
4. Maybellene I Hofteholder
5. Lola Montez
6. Hallelujah Goat
7. For Evigt
8. Dead But Rising
9. 16 Dollars
10. Goodbye Forever
11. Fallen
12. Doc Holliday
13. Still Counting
14. Seal The Deal

Black Sabbath

So the time finally came for the main act to appear, and to present them, we were treated with a little video clip of the devil (or possibly Henry?) waking up, scorching the Earth. After that, Iommi started playing that demonic opening riff to "Black Sabbath", and holy crap, that riff has never sounded heavier. That initial shock wave was incredible, and the band carried that momentum throughout the entire song. Man, what an awesome, and unexpected opening. Since the whole tour was called The End, I expected "The Beginning of The End" to open the show. As a matter of fact, the whole "13" album was left out of the setlist, which was even more shocking to me. But hey, this could be seen as a closing of the circle, which I am totally fine with.

The old school cavalcade continued with the groovy "Fairies Wear Boots" and two songs from "Master of Reality" ("After Forever" and "Into The Void"), and it was around here that I discovered a minor problem with the sound.  It did not always happen, but it happened that the guitar would fade away in the mix from time to time, and I am pretty sure that Iommi is not the one to blame here.

In fact, I feel like Iommi was the most energetic of the guys up on that stage. Well, not so energetic that he jumped up and down and so, more like delivering a stellar performance, while Geezer just stood alone in one corner for most of the show and Ozzy giving out mixed performances, from brilliant to extremely tired (especially in "Iron Man"). You do have to consider that these guys are old, so it comes as no surprise that they do not make a perfect performance.

The worst part of the show though is that they included one of the worst Black Sabbath songs that exist, which is the instrumental "Rat Salad". And to make matters even worse, they transform it into one gigantic drum solo. To me, there is only one reason why the band made this decision, and it is not to give the drummer Tommy Clufetos a chance to show off. This gives the band a much needed break, just so they can go on with the final 5 songs of the set list, and I get that, but why does it have to be so long. It is just so dumb, drumming masturbation at its worst.

Oh well, the show still has more upside to it, and a lot of the songs sounds amazing. "N.I.B." is crushing, "Iron Man" and "War Pigs" is raised up thanks to the crowd, "Children of The Grave" shows the best side of Iommi, and "Paranoid" ends the show on a really high note. This is certainly a night to close up the circle, end on a nostalgia trip that takes us through almost all of the first 8 albums of the band's career (except "Never Say Die!", "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath", and "Sabotage").

As the show ends after 1 hour and 45 minutes to the tones of "Zeitgeist" (the studio version) and TV screens that read "THE END", I leave Friends Arena very pleased. Sure, there were a lot of songs that I wanted to hear that I did not get, but who really cares, the guys ended on a high not, delivering a performance that was impressive considering their age. Thanks for everything Black Sabbath, you will surely be missed.

Best: N.I.B.

Worst: Drum solos, so thrilling, yet so god damn boring

Rating: 8/10

Setlist:
1. Black Sabbath
2. Fairies Wear Boots
3. After Forever
4. Into The Void
5. Snowblind
6. War Pigs
7. Behind The Wall of Sleep
8. N.I.B.
9. Hand of Doom
10. Rat Salad (with a ridiculously long drum solo)
11. Iron Man
12. Dirty Women
13. Embryo
14. Children of The Grave

Encore:
15. Paranoid

Live review: Iron Maiden + Opeth and The Raven Age at Ullevi, Gothenburg

My first main metal show took place 8 years ago (man, I feel old), and the band that headlined was Iron Maiden. The tour was Somewhere Back In Time, which of course meant that I got to hear all of the classics from the 80's era of the band, and while I was almost oblivious over how big the band actually was, I was shell shocked over the show, the atmosphere, and the overall experience. It was an amazing night, and still to this day, I hold it as one of my favourite shows of all time. I was supposed to see them again 2 years later, when they played on Sonisphere in Stockholm, but god decided to recreate his main hit, a massive rain storm that would drown all the sinners, or in this case, all metal lovers. It was supposed to be a day filled with awesome music, but it ended early, I was soaking wet, and I only got to see two bands, Slayer, and Iggy Pop and The Stooges (and yes, Iggy played without a shirt despite the rain, he is a crazy man).

After the release of "The Book of Souls", I was determined to see the band again, not only because I loved the album, but because it had been ages since I saw them. So I took my bag, packed some necessities, and traveled to Gothenburg, the metal capital of Sweden, and the fantastic stadium Ullevi, and prepared myself for a awesome night with awesome music.

Opening act 1: The Raven Age

Well, here is where I would have written about the performance of this relatively young and unknown British band The Raven Age, a band that has followed with Maiden throughout the tour, but I did not make it in time to see their show (thanks public transportation!). To be honest though, I am pretty sure that I did not miss much. Some of the people I spoke to that saw the show said that they were okay, but nothing more, one even stated that it almost felt like they wrote new material on the fly, which would not surprise me at all since I think they have only officially released 4 songs.

I did listen to them though on my way to Gothenburg, and I can best describe them as a modern In Flames clone, in other words, not the most unique band I have ever heard, but the songs I did listen to were quite good. I really hope that the band takes the most out of this experience, and channel it to make a killer debut record, because this band has potential.

No rating since I did not see the show, but give this band a look at their Soundcloud page right here.

Set List
1. Uprising
2. Promised Land
3. The Death March
4. Eye Among The Blind
5. The Merciful One
6. Salem's Fate
7. Angel In Disgrace

Opening act 2: Opeth

When I saw that Opeth was gonna open up for Maiden, I was like "Hell yeah!!!". Seriosuly, getting to see two amazing bands from two very different spectres of the metal universe for the price of one, it is a offer you cannot refuse. Unfortunately, it almost feels like I was the only one who truly was excited over Opeth, because the arena was not even close to full when they played.

This was a obvious risk Opeth had to deal with, since the Maiden fans are of a different nature, it is difficult to make them pay attention to Opeths long, complex, and heavy songs. The band did a good job though, and they played the gig in a very professional matter, delivering a nice performance that unfortunately went to deaf ears. All around me I could see people sitting down, chatting, and minding their own business, ignoring Opeth almost completely. Sure, I know that you all are here to see Maiden, but give the opening acts some appreciation at least. Is it really that difficult?

As for the set list, I really do miss "Ghost of Perdition" in it, but I really do not mind all too much about that since they were the opening act and they only had so much time to work with (approximately 50 minutes if I recall correctly). I enjoyed every note from the band, and I hope that Opeth gathered some new fans out of this gig, but as Mikael Åkerfeldt himself said, "compared to the main act, we are elevator music", at least to the ears of this specific crowd.

Best: Can't complain on Opeth's professionalism and flawless execution

Worst: The band did not get the appreciation they deserved

Rating: 6,5/10

Set List
1. Cusp of Eternity
2. The Devil's Orchard
3. Demon of The Fall
4. The Grand Conjuration
5. Deliverance
6. Heir Apparent

Main act: Iron Maiden

So finally, it was time. UFO's "Doctor Doctor" had just been played through the speakers, which of course meant that it was time for Iron Maiden to enter the stage. But before they did that, we got spoiled with a short movie clip from the jungle of the Amazonas, watching a gigantic Eddie hand tossing away the Ed Force One towards our location, building up the tension to what would come.

Not surprisingly, Bruce opened up the show with that epic intro to "If Eternity Should Fail", but a problem showed itself already, and that was the sound. The sound was literally all over the place, not only on this song, but more or less the entire first half of the show, which was horrendous. Bruce could disappear time and time again, both during and in between songs, making me, and everyone else, frustrated. It is 2016 for god's sake, and we have yet to invent a way to perfect the sound in a live show. How hard can it really be?

And to add salt to the wounds, the audience seemed... sleepy, or just not fully interested in the new songs. I really love "The Book of Souls", so I was happy to see that 6 songs from the album was a part of the set list, but it was hard for the band to engage the crowd to sing along here. I am not surprised though, because since most of the audience were of the older generation, and they want to hear the classics. It is a conundrum that is hard for the band to work with, but they do the best of it. Personally, I could have done without "Tears of A Clown", and it would have been interesting to see "Empire of The Clouds", but otherwise, it was a good selection of songs from the new record.

The only new song that truly got some appreciation was "The Red And The Black", which did not surprise me one bit. As I wrote on my review of "The Book of Souls", I saw that "The Red And The Black" could become a modern "Fear of The Dark", and I was right. The audience sang along to the "oh-whoa oh-whoa-oh" with a volume that could be heard in all of Gothenburg, and it really was a party through that long solo section. The band seemed to enjoy every moment through out this mastodon of a song.

Welcome to the ring, Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeel Dickinson

And it definitely felt like the band woke up on the right side of the bed this day, especially Bruce Dickinson who acted like a child whom just had a big sip of its parent's coffee. He ran around everywhere, without getting tired one bit, and doing all sort of crazy shit, like doing a monkey dance on "Death Or Glory", and wear various costumes, my favourite being the wrestler mask during "Powerslave". You mean to tell me that this guy had cancer a year ago? I don't believe you.

The rest of the band was on point too of course, duelling, running, and showing off both left and right among that giant Mayan like stage. Seriously you could not tell that these guys were in their 60's, swinging their instruments and fighting rubber lizards (yes, that happened). The funnest moment though was during "The Book of Souls", in which a humongous walking Eddie comes out and starts swinging his axe towards the members, and they interact with him wonderfully, running under him and tricking him. At the end of the solo section of the song, Bruce lures Eddie to him and he just takes his hand, reaches into Eddie's chest, and drags out his heart. Simply put, it was freaking awesome, and that heart was also tossed into the crowd, so some lucky bastard got himself a Eddie heart as a souvenir.

A big Eddie

The second half of the show was more oriented towards the classic stuff, which also meant that the crowd was warmed up and ready to unleash the fury. "Hallowed Be Thy Name" was great and made the crowd jump with excitement, but that was nothing compared to the usual fan favourite, "Fear of The Dark". There are few songs in the universe that can match this song in a live setting, just hearing the crowd sing along here makes every hair on your body rise. A Maiden set list would not be complete without this roof raiser. The main set list ended with "Iron Maiden", and if I thought the Eddie before was big, then I had seen nothing yet. At the end of the song (which was the one that suffered the most from the audio problems), a massive inflatable Eddie appeared in the background, wobbling his head back and forth to the band and the audience. Epic to say the least.

An even bigger Eddie

After an incredibly short break, the encore started with "The Number of The Beast", and a big inflatable beast at the corner of the stage. Together with the looming darkness and some pyrotechnics, this rather worn out song got a neat little face lift. After that though, magic happened. Bruce was going to have another chat with the audience, but he could not get out a word, because the cheers and applause seemed to last an eternity, just making the band shake their heads and take it all in, enjoying every second of this ultimate tribute to them.

The magic continued with the only song from the 00's, "Blood Brothers". The crowd swayed in motion, sang their lungs out, and the ones on the stands took out their cell phones to create a perfect night sky filled with stars. Talk about coming together as blood brothers here, it was pure magic from start to finish. "Wasted Years" ended the show after 2 hours, and yes, there are a ton of songs that I would have loved to be added to the set list. No "Run To The Hills", no "Phantom of The Opera", no "Rime of The Ancient Mariner", no songs from "Seventh Son...", and few newer songs (except for the "The Book of Souls" songs of course), but Maiden has such a huge catalog of amazing songs that any set list they put out is a good set list, and their playful execution will always make sure that you will leave the show with a huge smile on your face.

Even with the rough start and uneven sound, Maiden delivered once again, making sure that they are still one of the best metal acts out there, even after 30+ years of service. I do feel like my first Maiden show back in 2008 was better than this one, but this is not something you can blame on the band, because they did nothing wrong, only right. Ultimately, this was a fantastic show that was spontaneous, fun, and heart warming. Go and see this band while you have the chance, you will not be disappointed, I guarantee you. Up the Irons!

Best: "Blood Brothers" have never been more magical

Worst: The sound was literally all over the place

Rating: 8,5/10

Set List
1. If Eternity Should Fail
2. Speed of Light
3. Children of The Damned
4. Tears of A Clown
5. The Red And The Black
6. The Trooper
7. Powerslave
8. Death of Glory
9. The Book of Souls
10. Hallowed Be Thy Name
11. Fear of The Dark
12. Iron Maiden

Encore
13. The Number of The Beast
14. Blood Brothers
15. Wasted Years

Stay metal!
Robert "Sharkruisher" Andersson

Live Blu-ray review: Ziltoid Live At The Royal Albert Hall

First off, I would like to declare myself as a poopy head, for bringing you this review waaaaaaay later than I expected. By mistake, I ordered the Blu-Ray version instead of the DVD version, and since I do not have a Blu-Ray player, everything went down the crapper, and I had to search for somebody who could borrow their player, or possibly a PS3. Now that I have found someone who was willing to do just that, let me bring you this review. Enjoy!

In my mind, there are only two good reasons to record a live show. Either it has to be a band's last ever show, or it has to be a show that is with all certainty never going to happen again in a million years. Devin Townsend's "Ziltoid Live At The Royal Albert Hall" is one such show. Devin and his companions in the DTP put together a grand spectacle in London this previous spring, a 2 part show were the band did the entire "Dark Matters" record from "Z²" and a "By Request" set. Even if I think this was a cool idea, I was pissed that London got the glory for this type of show from the Canadian mastermind for the second time in 2 years (He performed "The Retinal Circus" there in 2014). But my love for Devin (and Ziltoid) did overtake the disappointment, and I could only wait for the show to be released on video.

As expected from the Jim Carrey of metal, Devin delivers a fun, goofy, and energetic show in the first half. Not only is the band playing the whole "Dark Matters" album from start to finish, but they are doing so while there is a full theater act going on among the band members. We get to witness a full choir with Ziltoid capes, a massive Poozer, and of course, the main characters of the story, Ziltoid, the War Princess (played by Dominique Lenore Persi), and Captai... wait,  where's Captain Spectacular? Turns out, Chris Jerricho could not be on the show, which means we only get pre recorded video shorts from his role. Frankly, I could not care less. Jerricho is a mediocre entertainer, and his over the top acting on those shorts were atrocious.

The best thing about this set list though is the videos that are played in the back ground, giving another dimension to the visualization of the album. Devin has always been keen on giving the audience a full experience, both for ears and eyes, and he certainly does that. Whether you feel like you are flying in warp speed in "Ziltoid Goes Home" or getting crushed by walking machines in "March of The Poozers", you do get engulfed in the show, even if you sit on the sofa. Man, I can only imagine how it would feel like to be a part of the audience.

Speaking of the audience, they do bring yet another dimension to this spectacle, not only with their cheers, applauds, and their collective Karaoke power in "Dimension Z", but in ways that you will probably only encounter in a Devin Townsend show. I cannot count how many people held their Ziltoid puppets up in the air during this set, and then there are those who are as goofy as Devin. For example, there are two people at the front of the pack wearing Stitch and Pikachu Onepiece's. Complete insanity.

On to set 2, which is a set filled with songs that was requested by the fans. Looking at this 13 song set list, I am super pleased with a lot of these choices, especially the duo "Bastard" and "The Death of Music" from the amazing "Ocean Machine: Biomech". Those two tracks are some of my favourite songs ever by Devin, and to finally see them being performed live makes me grin from ear to ear. Other fine choices includes "Namaste", "Earth Day", and "Kingdom".

However, while I think the "By Request" set is overall really good, there are some songs that makes me scratch my head. First off, "Lucky Animals"... really? You get to choose over 20 years of music and you pick this? Oh well, it is goofy, so I can dig it. Second, I dislike the fact that "Deconstruction" is completely left out here. I would have loved to see them perform "The Mighty Masturbator" (with a short guest appearance from Ziltoid of course). Third, I do not know if this was intentional, but I find it hard to believe that none of the original Ziltoid songs were not among the top. I guess Devin filled his Ziltoid quota in the first set. But it is just like Devin says himself, the two sets are just like "Z²", two sides of the same coin. We have the goofy, fun, theatrical side, and the more professional (but still sort of goofy) side of DTP.

Since I am pretty unfamiliar with Blu-ray, I cannot really compare this disc with others, but I will say this, the quality is crisp, and the sound is freaking awesome. This is definitely a release in which you should experience with a surround sound, blasting at 11. Besides from the show itself, we got some extras as well, such as all three Ziltoid TV episodes, the music video for "March of The Poozers", a time lapse of the stage build in Royal Albert Hall, and a documentary in which Devin explains the world of Ziltoid. Well, actually it is more Devin talking about his career, touring and the Royal Albert Hall show... oh, and Ziltoid of course. There is something with Devin's speaking voice and his choice of words that is hypnotizing and intriguing. I could seriously listen to him talk for hours (but just like everyone else, I would rather hear him sing :) ).

Even if it is not much, the extra material does keep you entertained for another half hour, and it also gives the viewer a chance to wind down after a show that had everything and more. Devin is a man who knows how to create a spectacle that is unique, crazy, and corny, and he keeps finding ways to get the fans involved in his works, showing that he really loves his fans. There are only small things that I can complain on, but as a fan of Devin, and as a fan of Ziltoid, I am as happy as a Ziltoidian child in a Starbucks. A must own for all fans of fun music.

Best: "Bastard" and "The Death of Music"

Worst: Next time, make Sweden the location

Rating: 9,5/10 Ultimate coffee beans

Set 1 - Dark Matters
1. Z²
2. From Sleep Awake
3. Ziltoidian Empire
4. War Princess
5. Deathray
6. March of The Poozers
7. Wandering Eye
8. Earth
9. Ziltoid Goes Home
10. Through The Wormhole
11. Dimension Z

Set 2 - By Request
1. Namaste
2. Night
3. Deadhead
4. Earth Day
5. Christeen
6. Supercrush!
7. Kingdom
8. Lucky Animals
9. Heatwave
10. Funeral
11. Bastard
12. The Death of Music
13. Universal Flame

Live review: Between The Buried And Me and Haken at Sticky Fingers, Gothenburg

Gothenburg, the unclaimed metal capital of Sweden. This city has produced tons of great bands over the years. In Flames, Dark Tranquility, At The Gates, HammerFall, The Haunted, the list can go on and on. So of course, it is only fitting that the city offers a great club for those, and other, bands to play on. And that club my friends, is Sticky Fingers.

Locating a stone throw away from Avenyn, Sticky Fingers is a two-part club that at a normal day and night is a good place to hang out, have a beer and meal, and listen to sweet music. But when a band comes to visit, the party is taken up one floor, to a stage that is elevated about 1 and a half meter above the dance moshing floor. For the short crowd, the is also a balcony just so you could get that great view over everyone. I have actually never visited the place before the show (mostly because I live about 160 km away from Gothenburg), so I did not know what to expect. I did enjoy the place though, and I would definitely return there if any other of my favourite bands visited.

Anyway, onto how the shows went.

Opening act: Haken
Opening up for the main act was one of England's finest progressive metal acts, Haken. I do not have too much of a connection with the band, but I did listen to their latest album, "Mountains" from 2013, and since I highly enjoyed it, I hoped the set list would revolve around it.

And it did. The set list included "Cockroach King", "In Memoriam", and "Pareidolia", all of them taken from "Mountains", making 60% of the set list. That was one thing I did not like, but was not surprised over, the short amount of songs in the set list. Since most of Haken's songs are very long, I knew that they would not get the chance to play a lot of songs. The total number of songs was 5, spanning a total play time of around 45 minutes, the other two being "Premonition" and "Crystallised", one of the newest songs from the band, taken from the "Restoration" EP released in 2014. "Crystallised" was massive, the studio version is over 19 minutes, but in the show, it felt like would never end. The complex rhythms, the dazzling riffs, and a keytar made this song the true stand out in this show.

But there were a couple of weird things that went on throughout the show. It often felt like the band was focusing more on not missing any notes than connecting to the audience. I swear that I saw one of the guitarist move like 3 or 4 times in the entire show (okay, I may have exaggerated there, but he did not move much). The only one really connecting with the audience was the singer, Ross Jennings, and he left the stage every time there was a long instrumental part. Okay, the stage is a little small for a band of 6 musicians, but he moved fairly freely when he sang, why not otherwise? And even if they were the opening act, it felt awkward that Ross told us what song they were going to play on every song.

So it was a fairly awkward show, and the audience did not help it too much either, but the band kept it professional and performed well enough for me to enjoy it. A good warm up for the entree.

Best: Crystallised

Worst: The overall weird atmosphere

Rating: 6/10

Set list:
Premonition
In Memoriam
Pareidolia
Cockroach King
Crystallised

Main act: Between The Buried And Me
I have watched Between The Buried And Me one time earlier in my life, and it was a poor show, not because of the band, but because they performed in the smallest stage with the worst sound in a festival that has not returned since 2013. I knew that the show they did in Metaltown was not the best the band had to offer, so I was pleased to finally see them in an environment that was more fitting.

damn this elevated stage, can't see Blake for shit

Since the band had recently released their seventh album "Coma Ecliptic", I was not surprised that the album was the focal point of the performance. The band played three songs from it, "The Coma Machine", "Famine Wolf", and my personal favourite "Memory Palace". It was pretty predictable that they would chose these songs for the tour, but the fans know these songs best, so it gives the band the best possibility to put on a good show.

But it is the older material that goes best among the audience. Starting the show with "Selkies: The Endless Obsession" was a bit of a shocker, but it did the trick pretty well, getting the crowd going instantly. I also liked that the band used the songs "Astral Body" and "Lay Your Ghosts To Rest" as a fusion, making it one solid unit. They did it the last time I saw them as well, so I was not surprised over that either (however I wished they would have chosen "Telos" or "Bloom" from "The Parallax II: Future Sequence" instead).

But ultimately, it was the material from "Colors" that hit the nail on the head, making the show a killer. "Ants of The Sky" ended the main part of the show, and it is a fantastic one with several tempo changes and technical solos. The band looked like they enjoyed it on stage and cooperated well enough to last the distance, and make every last part of the song, even the hillbilly part in the end, as perfect as possible. Another "Colors" piece served as the encore of the show, and even though I was surprised that the well known "Prequel To The Sequel" was left out in the set list, I was pleasantly surprised that it was "White Walls" that served as the closer. A great, final assault that made sure to make every single person in the building smiling when leaving. It sure did the trick on me

Paul Waggoner doing his thing

That has always been a strength of the band, they are always flawless in their performance, whether it comes to being in the studio or playing live. Waggoner rocks the solos like he has not done anything else in his life, and while I had extreme problems in actually seeing Blake Richardson behind his drum kit, I could hear his playing, and it certainly reminded me of why I hold him as one of my favourite drummers. One thing the band still has to learn though is communicating with their audience. There were almost no small talk what so ever during the full 1 h 20 min show, which does make it feel like this was just one done on routine.

To be fair though, the crowd was not helping the matter all too much. The whole floor was separated into rows of people, no shoving at all, which means that this show was not sold out (I guess around 200 attended). It also felt like the two front rows (in which I was a part of) was the only ones really excited over the concert, the rest just standing in the back chilling. It is definitely the quietest crowd I have been around, but it could be because the show happened on a Sunday, so there was probably not much alcohol included here. This also explains the relatively early show time (BTBAM went on around 21:30). So yeah... Sunday shows suck.

Despite these flaws, I did enjoy myself, and I certainly felt that the band got redemption for that show they had to endure back in 2013. I still think they could have put in one or two more songs in, but I like the set list, it has a little of all their famous albums, while still highlighting their new release. There still room for improvement though (both for the band and the crowd), and the first thing to fix is the date, shows on Sundays should be banned.

Best: Ants of The Sky and the perfect instrumentation

Worst: Sundays suck

Rating: 7/10

Set list:
Selkies: The Endless Obsession
The Coma Machine
Astral Body
Lay Your Ghosts To Rest
Memory Palace
Famine Wolf
Ants of The Sky

Encore:
White Walls

Live review: Paul Di'Anno at James Rockbar, Halmstad, Sweden

Soooooo... how did it all come to this? The original voice of Iron Maiden, the greatest and biggest heavy metal band ever emerged, coming to Sweden, 34 years after he got kicked out of the band, for a 4 day, 4 stop mini tour where the main set list consisted of the two albums he contributed with? The metal gods sure work in strange ways, but it is safe to say that Paul Di'Anno has not had it easy since he was replaced by Bruce Dickinson. He has done a series of different project, without any real success, which has almost forced him to live on that he was a part of Maiden's two first albums ("Iron Maiden" and "Killers").

So I had no expectations at all going into the show in James Rockbar, Halmstad, a show that would not have happened if not the HFL festival in Motala canceled out. No matter what, I was ready for a night with some old school Maiden tunes, probably the last time he would ever perform these gems. But first, the opening act.

Opening act: Revelations

Opening up for Paul is the Stockholm band Revelations, who plays classic 70's heavy metal, of course heavily inspired by such bands as Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden (huh, what a coincidence).

They played around 6 or 7 songs during the 40 minutes they were on stage, and it was a fairly solid set that may have started out a little cautious, but improved more as the show went on. Since I have not heard of the band before, it was also the first time I heard the songs, and it was the darker, heavier songs that got to me the most. Especially Sun of Morning and Grip of Darkness impressed me a lot with their dark atmosphere and hypnotizing musicality. Definitely got me interested in what else the band could do.

The band itself did a great job, squeezing the most out of the few that dared to step towards the stage (est. 30 people). I especially liked the singer, Lasse Gudmundsson, who not only did look like a rock star, but sang as one as well. His voice is kind of a mix between Joacim Cans and Rob Halford, which for me spells instant success.

The band did an overall nice job, but since they were opening up the night, they did not play for such a big audience, which is a shame since they deserved more. Oh well, the band is working on their debut record, which should be out soon enough, and you can be sure that I will listen to it whenever it comes. If all of the songs performed this night is in that album, then I am sure it will be a nice listen.

Best: "Grip of Darkness" and "Sun of Morning"

Worst: The band deserved a bigger crowd

Rating: 7,5/10

Set list (not necessarily in this order):
Grip of Darkness
Jealousy
Strange Dreams
Sun of Morning
Time Bomb (think it was called that, idk)
+ 1 or 2 more songs

Main act: Paul Di'Anno

Let me first tell you about the beginning of this night, the 25th of July 2015. Some time before Revelations even started, I was at the bar, having a beer when this peculiar short, sort of fat and bald fellow came into the building, walking on crutches slowly across the floor. I was just thinking "who is that guy? How is he gonna get through the night?" when it suddenly occurred to me. That short, sort of fat and bald dude was Paul Di'Anno himself! Yep, you read that correctly.

And if it was not obvious that he was hurt before, it got crystal clear when he entered the stage, barely making it over 3 steps of stairs, and slowly walking to a chair that was placed in the center. Apparently, he was suffering from a bad knee or something and was waiting for surgery back in England, but instead of sitting home and, in his own words, watch TV and scratch his balls, he might as well be out touring. Should once again be noted that this was the last stop of a 4 day, 4 show tour. That is freaking nuts, the man was in serious pain and he still got up there, ready to deliver a show. Respect!

The beast arises... slowly

Anyway, not surprisingly, the whole set list was focused on the only thing we remember Paul Di'Anno from, his contribution in the two first Iron Maiden albums. All the hits was played during the evening by Paul and his supporting band (couldn't remember what they were called, but they were from Norway), everything from the instrumentals "Genghis Khan" and "Transylvania", the blood pumping "Running Free", and the amazing and versatile "Phantom of The Opera". Only two songs from Paul's career after Maiden was represented in the set list, and both "The Beast Arises" and "Children of Madness" was received mildly by the close to half full local (est. 200 people perhaps). It was clear that the audience wanted Maiden tunes, and nothing else.

The only song that was left out was, a little surprisingly, "Iron Maiden". The excellent punk attack would have been the perfect way to finish the show, but instead, the ending of the show was more or less a cover medley. Starting with the Ramones classic "Blitzkrieg Bop" and some Sex Pistols song I did not recognize (it was definitely not "Anarchy In The U.K."), it really started to go down hill from there, but the ending was saved with two Judas Priest classics, "You've Got Another Thing Coming" and "Breaking The Law". The crowd seemed okay with it and sang loudly together with Paul. Still, feels dumb to make other musicians songs as your grand finale.

But how did Paul perform? Well, I hate to say this, but it is obvious that he is on the final stretch of his career. I barely heard his voice throughout the concert, and the few times I did hear him, he did not sing all too well. It was obvious that he was exhausted and tired, but I still want to give him kudos for sticking it all the way through, wanting to give the people a show. His small talk was great, not giving any fucks over dicks on the dance floor or about whiny pop stars that cancel shows for a common cold.

Who said you have to stand up to rock?

Understandingly, there was no encore, Paul had given his all throughout the around 1 and a half hour show that went on to about 2 am. He got himself some much needed rest, and I really hope that he gets better soon. If he does not, then how the hell is he gonna handle his new musical project Architects of Chaoz? No matter what, this evening was memorable for a lot of reasons, but the thing that probably will stick with me the most is the man's fighting spirit, his drive to give the metal heads in Halmstad a great show. Yes, the show had flaws, but the upsides of it definitely outweighs the downsides. So thank you Paul Di'Anno, for coming here and playing for us, and not sitting in front of your TV, scratching your balls.

Best: "Phantom of The Opera"

Worst: What's with that big cover medley as the big finale?

Rating: 8/10

Set list (all Iron Maiden songs except noted):
The Ides of March
Sanctuary
Wrathchild
Murders In The Rue Morgue
Killers
The Beast Arises (Killers song)
Children of Madness (Paul Di'Anno's Battlezone song)
Genghis Khan
Prowler
Phantom of The Opera
Transylvania
Charlotte The Harlot
Running Free
Blitzkrieg Bop (Ramones cover)
some Sex Pistols song
You've Got Another Thing Coming (Judas Priest cover)
Breaking The Law (Judas Priest cover)

Live review: Mustasch and Lillasyster at Parken, Halmstad, Sweden

When there is a opportunity of were two of your favourite hard rock bands performs on the same stage, the same night, you damn sure take it. Because even if it was not too long ago I saw both Lillasyster and Mustasch, they are still two bands that shows great showmanship and brings 120% to their stage performances, and just hearing that they would come together for one night was just incredible. I was obviously not the only one thinking that, since the arranger announced that the show was sold out. The stage was definitely set for a perfect night of sweat, shoving, alcohol, and of course, metal.

Lillasyster

Last time I saw Lillasyster, it was at James Rockbar (review of that performance can be found here), and it was a hell of a night, so the band had a lot to live up to before entering the stage around 21:45. The big difference between Parken and James is mostly the size of the venue. Parken normally host various dance bands (a Swedish music genre mostly enjoyed by the elderly, and one of few genres I can barely stand) so the stage is sort of divided into two pieces. A dance floor that had to act like the main stage and a outer rim were you could observe the show without the pushing and the shoving. This ultimately affected the overall pressure from the crowd, which is a shame since those attending obviously was excited over the show.

The show itself was nothing surprising, and since the band has not released a new album since the last time I saw them, the set list was more or less unchanged (definitely shortened since they were the opener). I cannot blame them since they only have 3 albums of material to chose from, but once again I think the second album, "Det Här Är Inte Musik, Det Här Är Kärlek", was left out of the set list (I could be mistaken though). It is still a decent set list filled with the bands most well known hits and a tiny hint of LOK in it, but some changes would have been welcome (*cough* Umbrella *cough*)

Even if this performance did not live up to the one I saw around mid September 2013, it was still an enjoyable show, mostly thanks to the passion brought from the band and the audience. Another well executed performance from one of the sweetest bands in Sweden.

Best: "Hårdrock" is seriously the best live song made in Swedish

Worst: The set list is more or less the same since last time

Rating: 7/10

Set list (not necessarily in this order, might have missed some songs):
Total Panik
Hårdrock
Berätta Det För Lina
LOK Står När De Andra Faller (LOK song)
Umbrella (Rihanna cover)
Så Jävla Bra
Nu Har Jag Fått Nog Av Dig

Mustasch

Mustasch is certainly in a hectic schedule right now, doing occasional shows while being in the works for their upcoming album "Testosterone" that is due this fall. Fortunately, they did not look tired at all when entering the stage. They brought their all in the performance and delivered tons of power to the people, and the people did the same in return. Somehow, I actually made it to the absolute front of the crowd and I was literally crushed towards the end of the show, which I only see as a good thing.

The set list was a pretty good mix of hits from their entire discography, from the early steam rollers "I Hunt Alone" and "Down In Black" to the more recent hits like "Feared And Hated" and "Speed Metal". It is a pretty predictable play list indeed, but some surprises was mixed in, like "Deep In The Woods", which made it feel fresh. But between the lines was some small, instrumental breaks, which I guess was necessary since the tempo of the show was pushing the artists to its limits, but I could have gone without some of them. I think they had like 5 of those breaks, 2 would have been enough for me.

It is hard to pick a favourite from the set list since the crowd was on their heels in almost every song, so I have to go with the song that struck me the most this night, which was the ultra heavy semi-ballad "Bring Me Everyone". A fantastic heavy track were the audience just gave their all in the sing-a-long. Amazing. Simply amazing.

The show ended on a high note when Lillasyster joined Mustasch on stage to close it off with the song "Vad Skulle Mamma Säga", a song Mustasch did a guest appearance on in the Lillasyster album "3". Do not think that the crowd knew the lyrics on this one that well, but seeing Ralf, Martin and the rest of the guys was just fun as hell. Ralf stuck around a little longer to join the crowd in a sing-a-long of the Starship classic "We Built This City" to celebrate how good of a metal town Halmstad really can be. Just an amazing end to an amazing evening.

Best: "Bring Me Everyone" crushes any opposition

Worst: There was at least one instrumental break too many

Rating: 9/10

Set list (not necessarily in this order, might have missed some songs):
Feared And Hated
Borderline
Mine
Double Nature
Bring Me Everyone
I Hunt Alone
Black City
I Don't Hate You
Speed Metal
Down In Black
Deep In The Woods
Vad Skulle Mamma Säga (together with Lillasyster)

Live review: HammerFall at Liseberg, Gothenburg, Sweden

We all have that one band that originally got us into the wonderful world that we call metal. For me, that band was HammerFall, and not surprisingly, it was their super hit "Hearts On Fire" from the album "Crimson Thunder" that helped me being what I am today. So why it took over ten years for me to see the band for the first time is beyond my knowledge.

Anyway, the concert was held the 29th of August at the famous amusement park Liseberg that is located in Gothenburg. You might think it is a weird location for a heavy metal show, but Liseberg has experience when it comes to live shows. Just this year, the amusement park have had famous act like Flogging Molly, Snoop Dogg, Graveyard, and later this fall also Ghost. It is also not the first time HammerFall has made an appearance at Liseberg's grand stage (they even recorded a live DVD from one of those shows, entitle "One Crimson Night").

The show started roughly around 8 pm with a furious tempo with the trio "Heeding The Call", "Any Means Necessary" and "Renegade". A little surprising since I expected the band to go with a similar set list they had at Wacken this year (where they played "Glory To The Brave" in its entirety), but at the same time, it was good to know that they were going to bring something from almost every album (only "Threshold" was left behind in the set list).

The show kept on going in a good tempo, only doing a small breather in the intro of "Blood Bound", and you could definitely feel that the band was pumped up for this show. Besides from the show at Wacken, this was the first show after the band's 2 year long hiatus and the first show on their tour. Then again, HammerFall was conceived in Gothenburg, so I can imagine that it felt a little special for the band to play for their home audience.

Then suddenly, disaster strikes. After "Let The Hammer Fall", Joacim says that he needs to take a 5 minute break because he suddenly lost control of his voice. The first thing that went through my mind at that moment was that this was it, that the band's Gothenburg curse once again showed its ugly face. For those of you who don't know, HammerFall have had some bad luck on previous shows in Gothenburg. It was either vocal problems from Joacim or just sound issues that held back the band from performing at a maximum level. Luckily, after the 5 minutes, the band came back and could continue the show. It later proofed to be the pyrotechnics that was the cause of Joacim's sudden problems, but it ultimately worked out, and the show could continue on as planned.

If the sudden break did anything, then it certainly made the audience even more committed, because the volume became incredible on the last three songs before the encore, especially the last song "HammerFall" had some great sing-a-long moments from the audience. I do not think any word in the song did not get left unsung. The end of the normal show also included a world premiere of "Hector's Hymn", one of the new songs from the new album "(r)Evolution". It is certainly one of the better songs from the album, and you could hear that the audience was excited to hear the song in the set list. It definitely got a better reception than "Bushido", whom also comes from "(r)Evolution", but that is nothing surprising since "Hector's Hymn" is much more live friendly than "Bushido".

The encore set only contained 2 songs, the first one being "Bushido" and the other, of course, being "Hearts On Fire". I definitely hoped for another song on the encore set, but I was still pleased with the overall set list, even if it felt like a "best of" set list with few surprises. I would have loved to see songs like "Steel Meets Steel", "Fury of The Wild" and "666 - The Enemy Within", but I cannot be too picky when it comes to the set list.

The night ended with a signing session where you got to meet the band in person and get your stuff signed (and also a picture taken if you wanted to). I got to wait like over an hour to reach the band, but it was worth it, because it was an overall successful late summer evening. Decent weather, great audience that was mixed with both old and young fans, and a band that obviously has missed playing live in front of the fans. The only miss hap was the unexpected break in the middle of the show, but other than that, I can without a doubt say that HammerFall delivered, even if Hector was not heavily involved in the show itself (only his hammer and helm was present, which was just weird).

Set list:
1. Heeding The Call
2. Any Means Necessary
3. Renegade
4. B.Y.H
5. Blood Bound
6. Child of The Damned (Warlord Cover)
7. The Metal Age
8. Let The Hammer Fall
9. Last Man Standing
10. Hector's Hymn (world premiere)
11. HammerFall

Encore:
12. Bushido
13. Hearts On Fire

Best: "HammerFall" and the band's enthusiasm

Worst: the pyrotechnician did not bring his A-game

Rating: 8/10 Renegades