AMORPHIS, ORPHANED LAND & GHOST BRIGADE
LONDON ISLINGTON ACADEMY 11/11/10
This was a nice triple bill to drag us out of hibernation on a cold and blustery autumn eve. Ghost Brigade were over in the UK for the first time and played as the venue filled up, quickly getting the attention of the throng as they cast themselves in cold blue and green lighting. I had caught them whilst still bright at Party San but here they really adopted the darkness and this suited their somewhat glum music perfectly. Singer Manne clutches the microphone and his elbows obscure his face most of the time, movement is not really necessary as he stands rooted to the spot. Around him the rest of the band are more dynamic and the music flows with mesmerising and tumultuous flair. This brand of atmospheric doom draws us in and the applause at the end of each song is proof that first visit or not, the band have got some admirers. ‘Into The Black Light’ sent a shiver down the spine in more ways than one. There are times that the Finns play in an almost Indie style which suddenly breaks and pummels into a much faster pace. There is almost an air of acceptability as though the band could appeal to your average stadium rock REM fan at the slower parts, however the battering of ‘Lost In The Loop’ is far removed from this and with the hefty sound from the PA gives us a good old bruising. Considering they had a short set it was ballsy playing an instrumental but damn good it was so there were no complaints. When they left us it was a very much a case of doom, gloom and come back soon from everyone cheering.
Both I and many others I have spoken to thought last Orphaned Land ‘The Never Ending Way Of ORwarriOR’ was indeed never ending, over blown and frankly a bit too pompous for its own good. I like everything they have done before it and seen them kick up a storm live at WOA, so was very much looking forward to this. It was not the full show unfortunately and I am sure the tour bus was not up for accommodating everyone in the Israeli troupe, so we had the five core guys of the band and had to rely on the female vocals being sampled. Singer Kobi Farhi instantly commanded and struck up many a Jesus Christ pose at stage front, arms aloft in supplication whilst the rest of the band were flamboyant and energetic, quickly getting the audience eating out their hands. As for the songs well I recognised many and who needs actual titles, one went na, na, na, na, na, na, nanna, na so work it out yourself,. Parts of ‘Mabool’ were most certainly played too. We were told that this was the sound of Middle Eastern metal and it certainly picks up the many flavoured spices of the region, calling it Israeli would simply be selling it short, this was music to unite the whole troubled region. The band are never likely to be covering Losing My Religion but their twists and turns were infectious full of the passion of the heady land they come from and it went down like a storm. In fact it seemed like every closet metal head from Hendon to Golders Green had come out tonight to join in the revelry. Fever pitch was reached with one song that certainly needed no introduction and ‘Norra El Norra’ had everyone in band and audience singing along, culminating a memorable and for once life affirming display of totally original metal.
How to follow that then? Well with a set of 15 or so songs from a group’s 18 year history perhaps. Boy did it take a huge amount of time for the Amorphis bubble to burst in the UK but when it finally did they were too big for the Underworld and now after a successful Bloodstock visit behind them too, they were not too far short of being too big for this venue as well. Singer Tomi’s dreadlocks are too long for many things such as sitting down and getting up in a hurry and they spent lots of the set whirling about the stage for the faster parts. With two (I am reliably formed) pikes illustrating the sides of the stage it was all a case of fishing for the songs we wanted to hear and I think it is fair to say we all got what we wanted. It was all about the sky at first with the double whammy of ‘Sky Forger’ the excellent title track from last studio album and the corresponding ‘Sky Is Mine.’ Simple as it is to describe, this was all epic, melodic and damn impressive.
I found the perfect vantage point with a pint of £4.15!!! cider and watched from the balcony upstairs as ‘Silent Waters’ cascaded out the speakers and carried us off in its arms. Of course on going back in time we were being taken to a place where different vocalists ruled the land but Tomi has had plenty of time to practice and handled the gruff growls and clean sweeps of numbers such as ‘Song Of The Troubled One’ with aplomb. The thrash laden tumult and savage melody did have us hungering for more from earlier eras but we had to wait patiently for a while before the inevitable ‘Black Winters Day was announced and below me the crowd surged to show appreciation. I thought the set list I had seen earlier had been changed slightly and one particular number had been missed and it definitely would have been if not played but saving ‘Silver Bride’ for the encore was a wise move as by now everyone was again ready to sing along. My last scrawl on the notepad was ‘My Kantele’ and that was a fitting end to a great evening. I wonder what beckons next for Amorphis, England couldn’t seem to get enough of them tonight and about bloody time.
Pete Woods
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