It’s been 1,187 days, or is it nights, since I last reviewed a live show. and I must admit I was really looking forward to attending this gig.

Unfortunately, it would appear I misread the start time and arriving shortly after 7 the first band of the night Asymmetric Universe, whom I was hoping to use as a palate cleansing appetite wetter for the evening had already come and gone, with Persefone already on stage and a couple of songs into their set. “Prison Skin” was played with flair and the keyboards also gave it an ethereal touch while the dual clean and death vocals complemented each other well as they were used appropriately during heavier and mellower parts of the song. This was my first encounter with the Andorran sextet and while I really enjoyed “Living Waves”, I did find the staccato triplets becoming a little distracting by the end of the song, but it was also a testament to how tight they are as a band to pull them off live so effortlessly. They followed this up with “Katabasis” where they had absolutely no issues switching between blasting with death vocals to quiet keyboards with soaring operatic vocals, interspersed with manic leads played with precision and intensity. “Merkabah” was once again triplet heavy but the orchestral elements on the keyboards blended perfectly with the clean guitars and melodious vocals. They ended their set with “The Majestic of Gaia”, which went down a storm and there was barely a still head during the lead breaks, bar those that had their eyes glued to the guitarists hands as they tried to follow the mesmerising fretwork.

After a brief period with the lights on, as I made my way towards the front of the venue while others headed to the bars, I still landed up having someone taller than me place himself directly in my line of sight of the entire stage. Guess that’s one thing I haven’t missed about live gigs, along with the olfactory assault that is truly uncalled for. Ne Obliviscaris started their set gently with “Intra Venus”, but as soon as the death vocals commenced, I questioned what Xen had done to change his distinctive raven mane to blond curls and matching beard, but more on that later. The way Benjamin Baret and Tim Charles merge the lead guitars and violins was spectacular to watch and hear, as was the clarity of Tim’s clean vocal that was delivered with ease. However, it was the hush that descended on the venue as the soft-spoken frontman introduced the next song that was truly astounding, as the usual cacophony of voices was entirely absent as we hung on his every word. Following back-to-back-to-back were “Equus”, “Misericorde I – As the Flesh Falls” and “Misericorde II – Anatomy of Quiescence” and in what felt like mere moments… half an hour had passed.

Tim’s soaring vocals and violins gave the songs their required majesty, while Benjamin and Matt Klavins did all the heavy lifting with thunderous guitars, while Martino Garattoni appeared to be playing twice as many notes on his bass completely effortlessly and with the occasional grin on his face. It was at this point that we were informed that Xenoyr had taken ill shortly before the tour began, so had to be replaced by Black Crown Initiate vocalist James Dorton, who had had 10 days to learn the nine songs on their set, and a job bloody well done. Slowing things down dramatically for mere moment, we were returned to ‘Urn’ for “Libera (Part I): Saturnine Spheres” where the frenetic footwork and opposing tempos on the toms gave the drummer no cause for concern, which was explained by his introduction as Kévin Paradis where his work in Benighted, along with a myriad of other bands, was more than ample training. Next up was their namesake, “Forget Not” with its acoustic guitars, violins and captivating bassline which was a spectacle to behold being played live. James was definitely put through his paces on “Devour Me, Colossus (Part I): Blackholes”, where his and Tim’s duets sounded perfectly in sync and he had to deliver death growls, black metal rasps and lengthy roars, but it’s the violin piece that really hit an emotional chord. They ended their set with their latest single “Graal”, with its flurry of violins, intense and clean guitars matched with hypnotic bass work and the mandatory dual vocals.

What I found amusing was the chanting of ‘one more song, one more song’, sure we get 12 minutes out of “And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope”, but what if we wanted more? Oh, yeah, James didn’t know more, so we would have had to settle for that no matter what, but it was definitely a fitting end to a great night out with some superb music and talent on display.

(Marco Gaminara)