Plaguewielder - Chambers of Death

To start off this funeral doom album review with both a pessimistic and thus fitting statement to set the mood, let me just come clean and state that despite my eager will to promote my home-countries' metal scene, I have pretty much given up on it at this point. Rare seem to be the bands that escape the tendency to string together gimmicky , uninspired and incoherent riff collages to step back and simply pay attention to the overall compositions, which truly saddens me. It is for this reason that I am extremely proud and excited to bring you my review of this debut-record by Plaguewielder from Luxemburg, a lone Funeral Doom band in a country void of any doom metal scene to hold on to.

Like I've said before, one of the most poignant elements that sets this band apart from the rest of the scene is its maturity when it comes to composition and its strong attention to atmosphere and ambience. Right from the start of the record, Chambers of Death captivates the listeners' attention and immerses the listener into its bleak, haunting atmosphere with the majestic "Existence is our Exile", which starts out with the vocalists' hair-raising howling, tortured screams (think Asphyx or Suicidal Black Metal).
With its 48 minute runtime spanning split into 5 lengthy compositions, the band manages to justify its grand sense of ambition with an overall great sense of experimentation complemented by the albums' equally polished sense of progression from start to finish. Thankfully, the albums' production quality, while not airtight by any means, adds a great sense of authenticity to the bands' performance while also offering the band enough means to build up a captivating atmosphere nonetheless. It seems as though the band were well aware of the possibilities offered by their recording conditions and decided to make the most of it, turning it into an asset rather than a limitation.
Whereas Funeral Doom can easily succomb to its' inherent risk at sounding monotonous or long-winded, Plaguewielders' Chambers of Death shows a great deal of diversity and nuance while balancing out the right amount of repetition and ambience to keep a hypnotic, sombre vibe throughout the entirety of the albums' playtime. About half-way into the album, the band introduces some orgue-type synths, creating an interesting mix between the guitars ringing like desolate chimes from a barren cathedral and the 70s' style Dario Argento Horror soundtrack synth melodies. The second to last track of the record also takes an interesting turn with its shrill piano melodies and its heavy post-rock influences. The track picks up the pace and eventually begins its ascent into a beautiful climactic buildup with echoing tremolo picked guitars, sunny synth layers and roomy drums battering in the distance. While this description may make the track seems out of place on a doom record, this temporary change of mood, oddly enough, fits and a complements the overall vibe of the album, adding a nice layer of nuance to the overal sound of the record without ever breaking its progression or mood. The track actually leads into one of the darkest tracks of the whole record "Funeral March", with its massive droning riffs and its gripping sense of gloom; a dark, epic outro toward the albums' conclusion.

Overall, despite a few hiccups here and there in terms of production and "tightness", "Chamber of Death" is a great debut album that shows the bands' great potential and talent.Thanks to the bands' close focus on feeling, ambience and atmosphere, Plaguewielder have put out a gripping, well-crafted record combining tradition and well justified experimentation. The band has nothing to envy from its fellow Funeral Doom counterparts overseas and I dare say this might well be one of the only Luxemburgish band to pull it off. For fans Doom Metal, Depressive Black Metal or even Post-Metal, this is one band from my homecountry that I am proud to present and endorse.

Plaguewielder
Official bandcamp
https://plaguewielderdoom.bandcamp.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Plaguewielderband

Slash ft.Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators w/Hawk Eyes in Luxemburg (@Rockhal, 17/06/2015)

After the magnificient Judas Priest gig the night before, here I was standing yet again before Luxemburg's Rockhal, here to cover the live performance of a equally grand figure in rock music. To put things simply for those out there who've been living under a rock for the past few decades, Slash is no less than one of rock n' roll's most popular and biggest guitar heroes in history. After having left his position as lead guitarist for Guns n' Roses, the man has managed to keep his his iconic status intact through his subsquent projects. The mere fact that the formation playing tonight goes by the name "Slash ft.Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators" comes to show the sheer extent with which Slash's legendary stature knows no precedence.

Considering my experience with opening acts playing before heavyweight Rock n' Roll megastars, I will admit that I wasn't expecting much from this band Hawk Eyes from Leeds that I had never even heard about. Moreover, after waiting over an hour standing within a packed venue with limited airspace in order to keep my good spot for the headlining show, I will admit to praying for this show to be over as quickly as possible. Despite being faced with an audience as sceptical as I first was, the band pulled off a remarkable show. The band put up a great performance playing a unique formula of catchy rock n' roll tunes with a distinct edge to them. By alternating melodic, power rock hooks à la Foo Fighters with clunky, sinuous riffs and syncopated rhythms from the likes of noise rock and math rock acts, the bands managed to craft themselves a unique and effective sonic identity with a great sense of composition and character.
For a band opening for an 80s' style Hard Rock act like Slash, the rougher, more dissonant edges of the band's unique sound did make them seem slightly out of place at times, which only added to the initially cold reception of an already sceptical hard rock crowd. However, after consistently delivering one left-hook song after the next with blood-pumping passion and energy throughout their set, the band's divergent sound rightfully earned itself a warmer and warmer reception as the show went on, winning over a reasonnable amount of fans. To further add to the contrast between the bands' modest punk rock spirit and our crowd of rockstar enthusiasts, audiences were bewildered to hear Hawk Eyes frontman daringly state "Go on the internet and find our albums, you have my permission". Overall this was an excellent opening set. I'll be sure to keep an eye on these guys, and so should you. While the band did seem to be slightly out of place at this show, I wish these guys all the best in getting there music out there and getting the fanbase they deserve.

After this surprisingly great set came the time for Slash and his boys to tear things up. Slash stepped to the stage looking buff as ever, wearing his trademark hat, piercing and chains, to the deafening roars of an extatic audience and thus ensued a nearly two hour long show of classic hard rock riffs and pentatonic solo frenzies delivered by the man behind hard rocks' most iconic licks. More than a mere guitar player, one only needs to witness the ease and style with which the man shreds through each song to comprehend why Slash has come to be known as a guitar legend. Not even a string break can stop the man in his way, as the man himself proved to us during a solo section where he carries on, effortlessly shredding on as though nothing happened. Being that Slash is the main star of the show, every song of the set gave him a place in the spotlight to unleash his solos. Despite being led by Slash, the main difference between this act and that of most other guitar hero shows is that a great amount of attention is put into the rest of the songs besides the solo sections; rather than indulging in a whole show of continuous shredding, Slash puts great care in the actual compositions and the vibe of each song, leaving enough space for the rest of the band to shine through. Over the course of the evening, fans were greeted to a setlist of 21 songs, half of which consisted of cover songs from Slashs' back catalog : 7 Guns n' Roses tracks, one Velvet Revolver song as well as a couple of tracks off of his 1st solo album.
Handling vocal duties, Myles Kennedy was in top form, harvesting the crowds energy through his great performance and great stage presence. To my great surprise, the frontman also proved himself to be a great substitute for Axl Rose as demonstrated on his rendition of "Nightrain", "You Could be Mine" and "Sweet Child of Mine" namely, clearly outshining anything that we've heard from Guns' N Roses live as of recently. The man also managed to dodge a glass being thrown at him during "Sweet Child o' Mine", responding with a playful "Ha ha! You missed me motherfucker!". If only other frontmen could react in the same way... For a few spots during the show, the bands' bassist Todd Kerns took over the vocal duties, making for an impressive rendition of "Doctor Alibi" (originally sung by Lemmy) and "Welcome to the Jungle".
The setlist went by at a pretty fast pace, though the latter half of the set made way for a guitar solo break that went on for what I could only modestly describe as "awfully long". Going over 7 minutes without any particular hooks or any of his trademark tasteful licks to hold on to, Slashs' spotlight moment of the show surprisingly lost the attention from the audience, who were looking around, waiting for the end of the solo only halfway into it. Considering the mans' stature, I couldn't help but feel as though this could've been the extatic highlight of the show rather than its flaw. After a finale consisting of "Sweet Child o' Mine", "Slither" followed by an encore with "Paradise City", the show ended majestically with confetti shooting across the venue and the crowd going absolutely mental for the climax of the show.

Robin

PS : A huge thank you goes out to the Rockhal staff for their incredible hospitality and support.

Hawk Eyes
Official Website
http://www.hawkeyesmusic.com/
Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/HawkEyesMusic
Bandcamp
https://hawkeyesmusic.bandcamp.com/


Setlist
1. You're a Lie 
2. Nightrain  (Guns N’ Roses)
3. Avalon 
4. Standing in the Sun 
5. Back from Cali (Slash cover)
6. Wicked Stone 
7. Double Talkin' Jive (Guns N’ Roses)
8. You Could Be Mine  (Guns N’ Roses)
9. Doctor Alibi  (Slash) (Todd Kerns on lead vocals)
10.Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N’ Roses) (Todd Kerns on lead vocals)
11.Starlight (Slash)
12.Beneath the Savage Sun 
13.The Dissident 
14.Rocket Queen (Guns N’ Roses)
15.Bent to Fly 
16.World on Fire 
17.Anastasia 
18.Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns N’ Roses)
19.Slither (Velvet Revolver)
Encore:
20. Paradise City (Guns N’ Roses)

Judas Priest in Luxemburg (@Rockhal 16/06/2015)

As though the onset of summer hadn’t bestowed enough blessing upon me, my beloved home country of Luxemburgs’ Rockhal have granted me the opportunity to catch none other than heavy metal legends Judas Priest live, currently on tour promoting their latest album Redeemer of Souls. Notwithstanding the costly fees that come with my frequent trips to Luxemburg, I made no further delay on booking my train trip. Being a freelance journalist that writes for a metal music website as well as being a longtime fan having grown up to the bands’ music, I could not believe and will still need a bit more time to process what was happening.

Touring alongside the metal gods as a supporting act were Los Angeles based metal band Five Finger Death Punch,  whose set I will try to cover only briefly so as to spare any unnecessary bad publicity or offense to any FFDP fans. The band took to the stage wearing what I assume to be their flashy signature stage outfits assorted to the bands’ equally edgy stage setup revolving around eagles, skulls firearms. I simply knew I was going to be in for an entertaining and interesting show as soon as I saw them step to the stage like WWE fighters, with their vocalist wielding a baseball bat bearing the word FUCK (the cornerstone of edginess). Sparing all traces of dishonesty, the show truly felt like a wrestling match rather than a live show. Our LA rockstars were sporting endorsements from head to toe and posing for photos like rockstars all throughout the show, throwing a monstrous amount of guitar picks throughout their set, averaging around at least a dozen picks per song (seriously).I am aware that I am somewhat dwelling on the bands’ appearance rather than focusing on their music, yet for this act in particular this only seems appropriate considering how much effort and thought they obviously put into the visual aspect of the show, with every bit of clothing branded and calculated down to their socks and wristbands. The bands thus engaged in delivering their testosterone-fueled, Monster Energy drink sponsored set of radio-marketed nu-metal inspired by Slipknot, Stone Sour and Disturbed. Now I must give credit where credit is due; the band did manage to get their crowd pumped up nonetheless. A good deal of the venue consisted of fans having paid good money to see them play less than an hour worth’s’ of material and they were visibly very satisfied with the show they got, that's the best verdict I can give that goes beyond my distaste for this band.

Needless to say the wait was very long but eventually came the time for us to meet with the gods and feast on some pure, classic heavy metal. The large band logo-bearing curtain that had been set up before the stage during the intermission finally dropped and the whole venue was set ablaze by the opening riffs to Dragonaut and by the fancy giant screens flashing fiery red images all along the set. Vocalist Rob Halford stepped to the stage to the raging cheers of an extatic audience wearing his ever-so-classic outfits of leather, chains and still sporting his now trademark sunglasses and beard. Considering the bands' 45 year lifespan, one can only be absolutely baffled by how well the legends hold up in delivering their timeless classics as well as their newer material live.
Rob Halford visibly has no intention of stepping down from his title of metal god, as demonstrated by his impressive performance. Granted, a few verses were slightly rearranged  to fit his current stamina, Rob Halfords' operatic vocals and high pitched heavy metal screams still have some bright days ahead of them. I will admit that Rob's current rendition of  Beyond the Realms of Death does struggle to live up to the bands' emotionnally gripping previous renditions of the song, though it was still awesome to hear this old favorite of mine being played live. On a brief yet noteworthy sidenote I was also pretty surprised to hear our beloved frontman let out a few growls a couple of times during the set. After having been kept out of the spotlight for a little while during the first few tours filling in as the second half of the famous twin guitarist combo, guitarist Richie Faulkner was on full display during the show, with his tremenduous stage presence bringing bringing back some of that young energy we had not seen since the bands' earlier days, to the point where I dare say that he stole the show on more than one occasion that night. The 35 year old newcomer shreds through the songs with virtuosity and energy, winning the hard-earned praise of longtime fans by filling in for one of the toughest jobs to fill in for.
From the epic, anthemic title track to their most recent record up to the electrifying, goosebump inducing The Helion/Electric Eye combo, Judas Priests' shows have visibly not lost a bit of their charm. The setlist for the night perfectly balanced the right amount of older and newer material, hard rocking anthemic classics and electric, adrenaline-fueled blood-curlers.
One of my few slight disappointments came during the last encore of the night but really comes with the fact that the band managed to put on such a great show that we had all pretty much forgotten how old these veterans of heavy metal really are: the bands' rendition of Painkiller did make for a slight anticlimactic end for the show due to the fact that the song was slowed down considerably compared to the studio version. Glen Tipton's solo also did sound suprisingly messy, which also came off as a surprising yet understandable disappointment. Thankfully, the band carried out one final song for the night, closing off beautifully with Living after Midnight.

To answer one of the most commonly asked questions I got asked when I got back from the show: yes, after all of these years Judas has still got it. As unbelievable as it may sound, the leaders and founding figures of heavy metal music have still got what it takes to stay relevant as a live act today. When one considers the fact that the band is close to reaching a half-century long career, the simple fact that the band still manages to live up to their status and makes us forget their age is absolutely baffling. An excellent performance by a truly timeless band.

Robin

PS : A huge thank you goes out to the Rockhal staff for their incredible hospitality and support.

Judas Priest Setlist
1. Dragonaut
2. Metal Gods
3. Devil's Child
4. Victim of Changes
5. Halls of Valhalla
6. Love Bites
7. March of the Damned
8. Turbo Lover
9. Redeemer of Souls
10.Beyond the Realms of Death
11.Jawbreaker
12.Breaking the Law
13.Hell Bent for Leather
Encore:
14.The Hellion
15.Electric Eye
16.You've Got Another Thing Comin'
Second Encore:
17.Painkiller
18.Living After Midnight