Power Quest, Neonfly, Lethal Fixx
London, The Purple Turtle 3/12/09 Review and photo by James Young
Somewhere far across the blue horizon, Camden Town to be precise,
there were quite a few fans donning their air swords and shields in
anticipation of Power Quest’s first headlining show for a good long
while. Hot on the back of a tremendous album, Master Of Illusion, it
would be great seeing some of the newer stuff played tonight, as
well as some of the older classics.
Tonight’s headliners are never shy of showing a bit of hard rock
influence, so the choice for openers,
Lethal Fixx, was more than justified. Unfortunately the
start of their set signalled the end of the pole dancing which the
crowd was quite enjoying, but just as filthy were the riffs of these
Brits, who did an ample job of warming up the hordes with some dirty
rock n roll. They pretty much lived up to every hard rock cliché in
the book, including silly hats, tattoos, and luckily, some excellent
guitar work courtesy of Joe. ‘End Of Days’ had a fairly mellow vibe
compared to the first number, and then we were told things would be
slowed down even further for ‘R.I.P. Democracy’, which despite its
cheesy Skid Row-esque intro and social commentary, worked pretty
well as a ballad and had a few lighters-in-the-air moments. For a
non-mainstream band, these guys could write a good song, and despite
showing their influences, which is inevitable in such a well-trodden
genre, they went down pretty well tonight.
And who said the cheese had ended? My friends, it had only just
begun, for what followed was a power metal meets hard rock outfit
called Neonfly. This mixture of
genres came across at times a lot like the headliners’ Neverworld
era, especially in songs such as ‘Reality Shift’, with the
high-pitched croons of Tamas Csemez throughout. If someone would
have played me ‘Broken Wings’ and told me it was by Power Quest, I
probably would have believed them, with its happy sound and
bombastic double bass drumming. However, the hard rocking nature of
these guys emerged stronger than ever at times, in the bizarre ‘I
Think I Saw A U.F.O.’, and this came to an apex with a cover of Bon
Jovi classic ‘You Give Love A Bad Name’. All this was good fun in
the name of rock n roll, and was probably better than a generic
power metal support, and it certainly got the crowd going, which had
grown to the biggest it would be the whole night long. The stage
presence was impressive too, with the band throwing out non-descript
‘free stuff’ of some sort, grinning like Cheshire cats, and flinging
their hair - or in the case of bassist Paul Miller, dreads - about
the place. Their set was well-meant, and certainly well-received,
and it definitely got everyone in the mood for the headliner. |
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Power Quest have the knack of
constantly reinventing themselves to create better and better tunes
with every album. The line-up looked a little different tonight from
on previous occasions - unfortunately bassist Steve Scott could not
play, being replaced by a stand-in who I was not familiar with,
whilst there was also the presence of a new second guitarist, Bill
Hudson. We were treated to the cream of the new material, such as
‘Cemetery Gates’, and the more progressive ‘Civilised?’ and ‘Master
Of Illusion’, which all sounded fantastic, and would have been
perfect had it not been for the slightly low keyboard sound, which
is so integral to the symphonic element of the music. The brilliance
of Bill Hudson’s recruitment as second guitarist was even more
evident in songs which he didn’t previously feature on, such as the
Magic Never Dies album, from which the title track, ‘Soulfire’ and
ballad ‘Hold |
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On To Love’ were played, in which new guitar harmonies and double
team riffing made them sound better than ever. Personal favourite
‘Temple Of Fire’ had everyone joining in with the falsetto of
Alessio Garavello, and the stage presence was as flamboyant as ever,
with Andrea Martongelli pulling all sorts of faces as he
effortlessly shredded through the jaw-dropping solos. New-ish
drummer Francesco Tresca continued to prove his value with some
outstanding playing, even through the older Wings of Forever
material which features slightly more one-dimensional playing.
Nevertheless, the singalong title track and ‘Far Away’ (sans
acapella chorus) are mainstays in the setlist and fans wouldn’t have
it any other way. As an encore, we were taken off to Neverworld, the
fantastic nine-minute epic opener to the 2003 album, but in
tonight’s case, a brilliant closer to a great gig.
Still one of the best power metal bands in the country (they might
have Italian and American members but we’re claiming them…), and
getting better all the time, there’s no telling where Power Quest
could go in the future. Although the crowd had slightly diminished
by the end of the gig, those who stayed to the end knew they had
witnessed greatness. Perfecto! |
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Negură Bunget, Fen, Scythian
London. The Purple Turtle 27/11/09 Review and photo by James Young
Arcane are good at putting on diverse and rare bills that please all
of the fans involved, and tonight was no different. There was no
doubt that ticket sales had gone well, and the only niggling doubt
left in anyone’s mind was how on earth Negură Bunget’s entourage
would fit on the spatially challenged Purple Turtle stage.
Kicking off tonight’s proceedings were a UK bunch called
Scythian, and despite not having
high hopes for them (ever the optimist), in the first couple of
songs I was blown away by the unholy concoction of black, death and
thrash metal. Bringing to mind the likes of Destruction 666, Bathory
and Possessed, and boasting a cleaner sound than on record which I
have heard since, the face-melting riffs of Alex de Moller blended
with the abrasively thrashy snare attack of Jacek Wesolowski to wow
even the most cynical of metalheads. Tracks such as ‘Pray To War’
even had a bit of doomy edge, although it didn’t last long, soon
turning into an epic guitar harmony. It’s probably correct to say
that most of the 2007 demo was showcased, with the track ‘Shattered
Idols’ being a great extreme number, with a good ear for melodies
and dual guitar harmonies. I would certainly not object to seeing
these guys added to more bills in the future.
Fen were tonight’s main support,
and as such they had about forty minutes of stage time to play about
with. This was probably for the best, considering their songs clock
in at about seven to eight minutes each. Blending the atmospheres of
Opeth and Agalloch with some vicious black metal passages, we were
left with an almost ambient, yet sometimes schizophrenic experience,
where you could never relax one minute for fear of being punished
the next. The sound was not as good as could be hoped for, but the
hypnotic keyboards of Draugluin could be heard sufficiently, which
created an almost post-rock sound at times. Frontman The Watcher
could seriously play his guitar, and the wonderfully intricate clean
playing in tracks such as ‘As Buried Spirits Stir’ was a pleasure to
watch. The growled vocals were savage also, and the clean vocals,
whilst not as powerful as they could have been, sounded nicely
ethereal in a live environment. The opener and closer from the
latest album The Malediction Fields were played, which themselves
took up half the set, and the emotions and sounds capes conjured up
proved that these guys were the perfect compliment to the headliner. |
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Negură Bunget visited these
shores, they were relegated to a support slot, but tonight, we were
in for a full ninety minutes of the progressive / folk / black metal
/ whatever-you-want-to-call-them innovators. The sound was not
perfect from the off, with the guitars being far too low in the mix
to do the Romanians’ rich sound justice, but then again, mixing the
instruments of eight people on stage isn’t the easiest job in the
world. The majority of the songs came from the latest Om album, but
due to the long and foreign nature of the titles, a few of them went
over my head. Definitely played though were ‘Ceasuri Rele’, the
majestic ‘Ţesarul De Lumini’, and the wonderful ‘Înarborat’, with
the dual oddities of a long horn which resembled a didgeridoo, and a
plank of wood hit by hammers (which I’m sure has a much more
sophisticated name than that). The band were not - and didn’t have
to be - the most energetic stage presence ever, as it was the music
that did the talking, and it was very easy to get lost in the rich
atmospheres which were stoked up tonight. Hupogrammos Disciple's cut
a sinister figure on stage, delivering his growled vocals with a
frightening sincerity, despite the severe lack of space, made even
worse when a six foot horn was introduced into the fray. The crowd
were appreciative between |
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songs, but
understandably when songs such as ‘Cunoaşterea Tăcută’ brought
itself upon us, layer by layer, the many people present simply stood
transfixed. As an encore, the bearded horde (apart from the good
looking female keyboardist Inia) saved the best till last in the
form of ‘Plecăciunea Morţii’ from Măiastru Sfetnic, which brought
the band back to their proverbial roots with some sinister black
metal riffs, finishing things off with an intense bang.
A nice and ‘different’ night of extreme music for our enjoyment was
experienced tonight - some sublime talent was seen and heard, and
I’m sure it was more than just Negură that went away with the horn
(ahem). Those who haven’t heard these guys recently should certainly
get their fangs into Om, and if the opportunity arises again, check
these guys out live. Wonderful.
www.arcanepromotions.co.uk |
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