Disillusion - Darks Suns - Novembers Fall

My last concert in 2006 quickly turned out to be something very special ;) In support of their brand new album Gloria, DISILLUSION had to face many discussions and saw their record polarizing up and down the country. Good… that offered enough interesting topics for the interview prior the show ;) I actually love Gloria and was bloody curious how they would bring that material on stage, since these gents from Laipzig still have not found a bass player…
They got accompanied by their rehearsal room neighbors DARK SUNS – always again a pleasure to see them live, NOVEMBERS FALL, a band on my personal list longer time, because their demo releases are more than just promising.
Ok, time to head for Oberhausen and the Zentrum Altenberg, where I already saw DARK SUNS sharing the stage with Pain Of Salvation. The smaller hall was used of this evening’s show and arriving more or less on time maybe 80 people had showed up so far, my heart misgives me…

:: pics ::

Much on time the first band entered the stage known as :: PIT OF DOOM ::. I have never heard of them before and was quite surprised what I got offered here. Hardly outgrown of the school age these youngsters emerge as a downright stunning and entertaining trio. Hardly to believe, but they have blown everything for now. Most of all you have “to blame” the cute two girls on guitar and bass for that, while the singing drummer was just a side dish ;) These girls were headbanging is as hell and made the guys in front of the stage drooling. You should have seen this. Just great! Mood was immediately up, heat too ;) Musically I cannot tell you that much about, because I had just two songs (the interview) but what I got to listen to sounded like riff-driven, groovy metal in a more traditional way. We need more metal girls on stage!
Setlist: Intro, Room 101, Freak Show, Symphony, Enchanted By Death, About The Pit

Right on time when :: NOVEMBERS FALL :: kicked off I was back again to enjoy their full set. As expected they played all songs from their 2005 demo Mythaeon plus a brand new one entitled Ghe'tor. For around an half hour the audience got to listen to sophisticated and complex, melancholy-draped death metal much in the veins of Opeth. If you like this style you should in any case check out this band. Their songs can be downloaded from their website for free!
Setlist: Angst im Wald, Question Of Eternity, Ghe'tor, Coral Island

Ok, time for :: DARK SUNS :: who played in almost classic formation their almost classic setlist with songs from their current album Existence ;) Almost because this band still has no new bass player too, utilizing the duties of a session musician who played his last show tonight with the dark suns. And the setlist was a little different from the other ones I got to see performed over this year. Audience has grown up to approx. 200 people (thanks God) and the tonight’s show reached its first highlight. One fan seemed to be very informed about the setlist and was screaming for his favorite songs right on time, making it easy for DARK SUNS singer and drummer Niko to fulfill his wishes ;) He in between announced that the band is already working on a new album set to be released at the end of 2007. Geeez…. Ok, till then everybody can still wallow and enjoy the band’s grandiose sophomore Existence…
Again DARK SUNS delivered a great and atmospheric show, But despite of all the screams they were not allowed to play an encore. Would have been Swanlike as Niko said. Too bad…
Setlist: Intro, You, A Phantom Still, Her And The Element, Daydream, Anemone, The Euphoric Sense, Abiding Space, Patterns Of Oblivion

A little break followed to change the backline (I intensively used to twaddle with a writer/photographer friend I did not seen for a long time) and :: DISILLUSION :: got onto stage to make this concert evening perfect. Between interview and show many coffees must have been drunken or a pallet Red Bull respectively. The guys now looked much better, not that tired and crumpled anymore ;) Ok, the gents kicked with intro and The Black Sea as on their new album Gloria. As expected, many tunes came from the tape. Sound was a bit weak as on the entire evening, only from the middle of the backside you got the perfect sound with all the details this music has to offer. In front of the stage sound was too soft, singing much too quiet. Going on with Alone I Stand In Fires and The Porter the band presented two older songs, much appreciated by the fans who do not like Gloria that much. There was no need to polish up these songs, they were just played with a more rock’n’rolling note and perfectly suited the new ones. Andy, Rajk and Jens played their souls off and the audience – slightly thin out – lied at their feet. Because the light was not the best I put away my cam and very much enjoyed the show stressing my neck a little ;) My personal highlights were the Gloria killer tracks: The Black Sea, Don’t Go Any Further and Gloria. And a special highlight was without a doubt the 16 minute encore Back To Times Of Splendor. Just great! Absolutely amazing!!!
Only one questions remained unanswered: which girlfriend is Gloria, who starts a war while ironing the laundry?
Setlist: The Black Sea, Save The Past, Alone I Stand In Fires, Avalanche, Dread It, Lava, The Hole We Are In, The Porter, Don’t Go Any Further, Gloria // Back To Times Of Splendor,
And The Mirror Cracked

Although the Friday disco started quite early in the big hall, we stayed by ourselves, not getting bothered by strange tunes. Just a couple of people left now and then. As for me the audience could have been doubled. All bands would have deserved that. However… DISILLUSION were just great (I did not mention yet? *lol*) and I absolutely loved how they performed the new material. Captivating, convincing. Same for DARK SUNS, as usual, I just saw them often enough this year. NOVEMBERS FALL and PIT OF DOOM were the surprising aspects of the evening. First one, because of their great music, latter one, because of their visual appearance :) A great evening to finish the year concert-wise! Cheers!