30.11.2004
SAMAEL
FLOWING TEARS
10 November 2004 - at Alpheus - ROME - I
review by Gino Chiarizia
- all photos © by Gino Chiarizia
The public use of these photos is strictly prohibited without written permission
INTRO
I
reached Rome at about 18:00, and I move towards the Alpheus to attend to
what will be a great concert! With me Marco, lead vocalist and guitarist
of the very good band Klimt 1918, that shuttled me around Roma and offered
me a place to sleep as well after the concert.
We
get to the place too soon, and manage to see the Flowing Tears in
sound-check. So meanwhile we go for a walk (even before there was no one
yet), we had a small pizza for dinner, and a good chat, then back to the
Alpheus we see that at last some people was gathering there.
We’re
in, few minutes of wait and the lights fade out to gather the audience
around the stage.
Off
we go with Flowing Tears. A
sound strike efficacious indeed! First time that the acoustic in the
Alpheus is appropriate to the bands in concert! This is because quite
often the sound quality in this place has not been at level for bands such
as Katatonia (which I saw in the Viva Emptiness tour). Therefore my
compliments must go to the sound engineers and to the organization.
But
let’s go back to the show, the opener is the title-track of their last
full-length Razorbliss that immediately makes clear the gothic metal
intentions of the band, sometimes catchy, sometimes with more driving
vocal tracks, remarking the excellent dynamics of the drummer, wisely
stomping his drum kit.
We
follow through with “Serpentine”, the title track of the previous
album, that better underlines the modern gothic veins with interesting and
pleasant riffs – even though, alas, a bit foreseen. The beautiful singer
invites the timid audience to show their best in the name of
heavy metal, thereby summoning a girl from the audience and dancing in
duet with her on the stage.
What
follows are tracks from the latest work. Easily flow “Unspoken”,
”Believe”, ”Pitchblack Water”, ”Undying”, the slow ”Starfish
Ride”, pulsating ”Merlin” and the final “Virago”, while a
desperate and angry fan was showing them a copy of their CD Jade from
which no song has found place in the small setlist of the Flowing Tears.
All in all a very good concert, very well performed with an excellent
scenic presence and but one flaw in the songs sometimes too repetitive or
foreseen that will emerge only with much difficulty from the chaotic
waters of the bands trapped in the gothic metal clichés.
-SETLIST-
Razorbliss
Serpentine
Unspoken
Believe
Pitchblack
Water
Undying
Starfish
Ride
Merlin
Virago
And
we cannot talk about any cliché with the Swiss Samael that managed to remain an extreme band even adding electric
– yet very powerful – sounds! First thing to remark is the unusual and
essential drumkit of Xy made of some drums, a couple of cymbals and a lot
of electronic systems that will be the engine of the show. Moreover, two
projectors have been set up that, according to each song, visualized on the
backstage some images mixed with live moments thanks to a web-cam placed
on Xy’s station.
A
brief intro, and the the band’s on stage, starting powerfully with
“Rain” that, to be honest, I did not immediately recognized due to the
massive samplings that almost made it disappear. The audience seems
already involved – and now it’s larger as well. The charge of our
musicians follows on, fishing from Passage the splendid “Shining
Kingdom” that heralds the introduction of the new songs from Reign Of
Light. Therefore flow strong and powerful “Inc’Allah”, “On
Earth”, the title-track, the single “Telepath”, and “High
Above”, with the intermission of “Jupiterian Vibe”, “Nautilus
& Zeppelin”, “Year Zero”, “Black Trip” e “Baphomet’s
Throne”, summoning back the passages of Ceremony Of Opposites, Passage
ed Eternal, ending the show with the dramatic “Infragalaxia” and
“The Ones Who Came Before” greeting and thanking the audience for the
excellent welcome! The audience, in full delirium, scream for Samael
asking to go on with the show! And here’s the encore!
Here
they go again as the driving “Moongate” marches on calling up a
headbanging from the whole audience! The sound
assault has no comparison! The
violence of the samples mixed up with the cutting guitar sounds make the
whole show simply irresistible. So the show ends with “The Cross” and
the concluding “My Saviour” screamed by the charismatic Vorph still
energetic and wanting to play music... that Samael music!
The
show astonished me and overcharged my ears. But it has been worthwhile to
see such a sonic bomb. Great Samael! A
special thank to Marco from Marshall for the technical support, to
Kick
Promotion for this exceptional organization and for having allowed GM to
be here, to the sound engineers that worked exceptionally, to Dalia for
the trust and finally to Marco from Klimt 1918 with whom I have had the
pleasure to see some news about his band and his new
album ... but that’s
another story...
-SETLIST-
Intro
Rain
Shining
Kingdom
Inc’
Allah
On
Earth
Jupiterian
Vibe
Reign
Of Light
Telepath
Nautilus
& Zeppelin
Black
Trip
Baphometh’s
Throne
Year
Zero
High
Above
Infragalaxia
The
Ones Who Came Before
Moongate
The
Cross
My
Saviour
top - inizio pagina
presentation|news|reviews|interviews|live reports|specials|f**king bollox|tours|dates
in store|upcoming releases|underground|artwork|videoclip|MP3's|venues|cd's archive
Niederrohrdorf
- Switzerland