HMV Forum. 23rd October
If someone had told me that Amon Amarth, As I Lay Dying and Septic Flesh were all on the same bill I would have thought they were telling me first announcements of some festival, but no – one stage, one night, one show!
Luckily I was able to get tickets on the door, judging by the line the show looked a sell-out! Having to walk around the block to find the end of the queue, I can’t remember the last time I had actually been in a line for a band!
The security did have their act together and did get us all in post-haste.
Unfortunately I still ended up missing half of SEPTIC FLESH’s insanely short set. I am glad I’ve seen them live before, though I was amazed at how many people hadn’t heard of them, but with their usual solid show I do hope they won over some new fans in the crowd and therefore will be able to come back to the UK, maybe with a more genre-like line-up.
Personally I had no interest in seeing AS I LAY DYING. I saw them back in Australia in 2008, but don’t really remember much of their set, if that is anything to judge by, I’ve however moved away from their style of music.
But like all bands who have made it up on stage, I stay to show respect, and actually enjoyed myself.
One has to admit the band does put on an energetic set, they could tell the crowd wasn’t feeling them, but they soldiered on.
I believe if they had played with bands such as PARKWAY DRIVE, they would have brought the house down; they would have had a crowd of fans actually wanting to hear them and mosh to death with them!
Watching them was a little trip down memory lane; a wall of death, crowd surfing, it was like being back in Australia, I’ve always preferred headbanging to moshing though.
Apart from the crowd, the band had to battle against bad sound, for the whole set sounded like a drum and vocal duo.
But they made it to the end of their set, and we did give them a hearty send off at least.
Waiting for the headliner can be an awful ordeal, but to have the crowd screaming alone to Master Of Puppets while it played over the speakers certainly was some light entertainment to pass the time, bringing us all together like a big drunken family.
The time finally came, the lights went out, the crowd roared, and the well awaited Viking gods AMON AMARTH blasted onto stage, wave on wave of pure Scandinavian metal crashing onto us til the very end.
I first saw Amon Amarth back in Melbourne in 2009, a fierce set of undeniable talent in which I headbanged and screamed my soul away, all while being bathed in more beer then I’ve ever actually consumed.
So we can say Amon Amarth had a lot to live up to in my eyes. But these Swedish boys didn’t falter; they destroyed my expectations, setting themselves a new precedent that only they would be able to smash given a larger venue and better sound.
As usual, I seem to be the “lucky” one who ends up near drunken, unnecessarily rude people in the pit, but I wouldn’t let them ruin this night for me! As I ignored all and just let Amon Amarth steal me away to Valhalla! Hair flying, screams deafening, people surging, pure energetic bliss.
The moment of the end was too fast approaching, and as we screamed and chanted for just a little more we were greeted with the final songs to send us on our way till next time.
I wished I had seen them on the ‘With Oden On Our Side’ tour, for although I do really enjoy the last two albums, It cant beat the one that got me into them, and which I feel they never play enough of live…
Photos are bad to put it lightly, but in a Amon Amarth pit it’s a little hard to keep still for a second to snap, but then again while would you want to keep still?
You were behind me :P
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