The Bierkeller has been a venue where I have always
wanted to see live music. Ever since heading through
its doors for a club night, the entire atmosphere
of the place seemed perfect for a gig, but only
if it was a metal gig. So that brought me to tonight,
and what would become the heaviest night of my
Alternative Vision career. Although I was there
to look at the Sorrow, the main attraction of
the night were Chimaira and that allowed me to
realise a promise I had made with my best friend
Alex some 4 years previous to see them together
if we ever got the chance. So to say I was looking
forward to the night was a little bit of an understatement.
Of the three support bands on the night, The
Sorrow were up second. Due to the arrival of Alex
slightly late, and then having a conversation
with him, my attention was not placed on the opening
band and therefore it would not be fair to make
a comment on them, although from what I did hear,
they seemed like a reasonable outfit. After they
departed, we did not have to wait long to see
the Austrians I had come to see.
Compared by many in the industry to Killswitch
Engage, who are easily one of my favoured ‘metal’
bands, I had a good image of the night’s
events in my mind prior to hearing them live.
Their album ‘Blessings from a Blackened
Sky’ added to the anticipation, having heard
it for the first time that very morning. The comparisons
seemed very fair from that short listen, but it
is also fair to say that the specifics of that
genre mean that all bands will sound similar.
However, much to my surprise, it became apparent
that there could be comparisons made to another
band when listening to them on the live arena.
The Killswitch tones were definitely there, but
there were also great similarities to Bullet for
My Valentine’s work on the album ‘The
Poison’. Again, this is another band who
I personally like, so it all added to my liking
of the set.
Technically, the sound was very good and the
guys really knew how to play their instruments.
During the interview prior to the set, they suggested
that they were not fans of Chimaira’s work
because it was too monotone. This is not an accusation
you can level at the Sorrow themselves. Their
work was diverse and innovative, and although
their sound could easily have been Killswitch,
the individuality was also plain to see for all.
This was also partly due to the vocal work of
Matze, who came across in a strong and powerful
way. In fact, it was hard to tell that he struggled
with the English language at all, another fear
that he raised during the interview. In many ways,
they sounded quite American and some critics would
label them as generic, but for me this was not
the case.
The set consisted of the songs from the album,
which had been modified from the original demo
and EP so essentially represented the entirety
of their recorded work. The better songs included
the single ‘Knights of Doom’, for
which the band have shot a video, and the excellent
‘Numbers of Failure’ which could well
become the band’s ‘Rose of Sharyn’
as it is a fine piece of metal riffery.
But for me, the best compliment that the band
could have received came from the fans, who really
got into the music with passion and energy. Although
the majority had only come to see Chimaira and
had never even heard of the support bill, they
gave the band the reception that they deserved.
Whilst speaking to other people that I knew who
were there, they all seemed mightily impressed
by what they had seen and all looked to get hold
of their music. It would seem that at least with
Chimaira fans, the Sorrow’s career is about
to take off.
As for the rest of the night, Chimaira’s
set was excellent, although I only lasted 6 songs
in the moshpit before taking a strong forearm
to the head and needed to sit down. But that was
the sort of night it was, a total metal paradise
full of energy and sheer brutality.
Review By Anthony
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