EVERGREY, AVATAR, AWAKE On arrival to the gig I was horrified at the lack of people who had actually turned up, and it just proved to me how bloody fickle the British metal public can be about attending gigs. Despite the poor attendance Awake struck out confidently with their brand of melodic metal tinged with keyboards. I am always suspicious of a metal band using keyboards to add atmosphere as it often detracts from the guitar playing. Unfortunately the keyboards did exactly that and whilst the songs did have an epic feeling to them they lacked the ingredients to make an impact, though the lack of punters did not help them one iota.
When Sweden’s Avatar played earlier this year with Impaled Nazarene, I wasn’t impressed at the time. Some months later and getting a second chance to evaluate their abilities, the guys chaotic and much more aggressive approach was pleasing but for some reason they seemed out of place on the bill. It was clear that the bands death metal style guitar work with gruff vocals was not to the taste of the people gathered around watching. As the small numbers watching relegated to the bar area the band decided to make use of the floor space and enjoy themselves with some decent headbanging. The sound seemed very echoic due to the lack of people and was quite messy at times. When the band simplified their songs their accessibility came to the fore with some rather nice riffing. The ideas and creativity in song structures are definitely there and with more practice these ideas will be fully realised and executed.
I have liked Evergrey’s brand of metal for a number of years now and was looking forward to this gig tremendously. Having witnessed the band play before I was anticipating a performance of passion, fervent emotion and awe inspiring power. I got exactly that and the minute “Blinded” started the sound was tremendous, as Tom Englund’s supreme vocals cascaded over the soaring guitar riffs. This guy truly must be one of the best vocalists in metal; his relaxed manner was confident and exuded a certain arrogance that he had the right to have. The band quickly volleyed “End Of Your Days” and “Rulers Of the Mind”, before the magnificent “Obedience” with its spellbinding riff and, for a change in metal, great guitar solos that you actually can remember were delivered with consummate ease. Despite the small crowd the band were not afraid to slow it down with a mournful acoustic passage like “Till Dagmar”, but Evergrey are a heavy metal band without any shadow of doubt, with weighty powerful riffs, great rhythm playing and solid drum work as demonstrated in the title track of the new album “Monday Morning Apocalypse”. The band blended the set with a mixture of tracks spanning all their albums. The older heavier material, such as “Solitude Within”, sat very comfortably alongside the newer tracks from “The Inner Circle” and the aforementioned “Monday Morning Apocalypse”. There were times during the set when I just stood there mesmerised by the sheer emotion of Evergrey’s music, and before I knew it the main part of the set was over. With no time to waste the band sauntered into the title track from “Recreation Day” and created a much better response from the audience. The ever popular “The Masterplan” closed the proceedings with its gigantic chorus and catchy riff. As an added bonus the band stayed behind and signed autographs for anyone wanting them, which I did, and genuinely seemed to appreciate that people had turned up, but they also didn’t understand the poor turnout. I explained to Tom (vocals) that Doro and Motorhead had played recently and that money could be the problem, even though it only cost a measly eight quid to get in. Despite those bands being fine exponents of metal, anyone who stayed at home instead of coming to the gig missed one of the top ten performances of 2006 in my opinion. Astounding and breathtaking metal.
Martin Harris
BRADFORD RIOS 09/11/06