TIAMAT, ORDEN OGAN & STONEMAN
LONDON UNDERWORLD - 29/11/10
Despite the cold weather and yet another tube strike arbitrarily thrown by Bob Crow and his band of lazy militant tossbags, the Underworld was packed out to capacity for the return of the sons of nothing. Since Lord of the Lost pulled out of the tour, it was down to Swiss rockers Stoneman to open proceedings. Stoneman were being touted as the next Deathstars a while back, but they seem to have changed their approach somewhat, coming across on the hard and sleazy side of things and less on the Goth side. Despite singer Mikki Chixx seeming to struggle with his oversized mic stand, managing to look more clumsy than cool, they nevertheless belted out some crowd pleasing hits such as ‘Devil In A Gucci Dress, I Hope You All Die Soon, and Suicide Is A Suicide. With Mikki’s comedy deep spoken vocal, combined with the general look and attitude, they seem to have shifted in the direction of 69 Eyes worship. They ended their set with ‘Zombie Zoo’, which apparently features Wednesday 13 on the album. No surprise there really. He probably saw the word Zombie and sent back a note stating that he heartily endorses this event or product before just phoning in the word ‘zombie’ a few times for recording purposes.
German power metallers Orden Ogan were something of a surprise inclusion on the bill, at first glance really not fitting into the dynamic of the show at all, but enthusiasm is a wonderful thing, and that is one thing these guys have in abundance. Beginning with a command to “Bang your fucking head!” the crowd did just that and was sold from then on. Opening track ‘To New Shores of Sadness’ sounded enormous, and as you would expect from a German power metal band, tighter than a gnome’s foreskin. Elements of Blind Guardian, Helloween and Threshold run deep throughout, and the set is a mixture of tight technical riffing, soaring vocals, synchronised triple headbanging and boundless enthusiasm. Inciting the crowd to yell “Fuck you pussies”, at them was a nice touch, showing a good sense of humour and irony. The inclusion of 3 new tracks from new album ‘Eastern Hope’ was very welcome, including the anthemic ‘We Are Pirates’, which managed to get the whole crowd punching the air. Ending with ‘Angel’s War’ from debut album ‘Testimonium A.D.’, there was no doubt that it was a triumphant performance. Let’s face it, if a power metal band can win over a predominantly Goth crowd, they’ve done a hell of a job! I leave the final word on Orden Ogan to my friend Glen, a confirmed miserable Goth, who said of them, “I really enjoyed them! They made my bottom vibrate!”
So it was left to Tiamat to slow things down and bring a dark mood back over the Underworld following all that happy Power Metal. Opening with ‘Fireflower’ from the Judas Christ album, the atmosphere perceptibly changed to something more like you’d expect, even more so as Johan Edlund and pals treated us to the rarity that is ‘Children of the Underworld’, and how apt it was. Edlund has never been the most chatty or banter driven of frontmen, and tonight’s audience interaction, or lack thereof was no different, just song after song. That’s no problem though when you have a setlist full of greatest hits as Tiamat did tonight. Reeling off old favourites such as ‘Cain’, ‘Whatever That Hurts’, ‘Brighter Than The Sun’ and ‘Cold Seed’, the crowd were rapt, and Edlund's deep voice carried through the dry ice, marking him out as some sort of spiritual successor to Andrew Eldritch. Ending with the double whammy of ‘The Sleeping Beauty’ and ‘Gaia’, the mood within the room was one of total satisfaction. A completely mesmerising and commanding performance.
Review by Lee Kimber
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