By Jason Williams
February 22nd 2014, House Of Blues Sunset Strip, West Hollywood CA: When one talks about the ‘Big 3’ of melodic death metal, the first band that comes to mind is probably In Flames. At the Gates would be the second most likely choice. And in that same list, yet not quite as mentioned for some precarious reason, are Dark Tranquillity. Not many know it, but they actually formed before the aforementioned bands. 1989 would be the year that Mikael Stanne and Niklas Sundin created a band that would help pioneer one of the most popular genres of extreme, underground metal. Not going in the new direction that In Flames have gone for the past several years or reforming and playing select venues and festivals as At the Gates, Dark Tranquillity have been consistenly putting out quality albums for the past 23 years, and their tenth album Construct was met with wide acclaim. This was to be their first US tour in nearly four years. Joining the Gothenburg pioneers were techincal thrash band Exmortus and highly anticipated on their first US tour, Finland’s own Omnium Gatherum. This was to be my first time seeing any of these bands live and I couldn’t wait. With longstanding power metallers Manowar playing the very same night in Pomona, I was wondering how the attendance would be for this show, considering Manowar tours once nearly every half a decade in the US.
Doors opened at 7 PM, on schedule, and the line was full of eager fans awaiting their dose of melody and brutality for the night. A good-sized crowd was in attendance and by the time Exmortus came on at 8, more flocked in. From the moment the 4-piece band made their way to the stage, Exmortus played an interesting style of thrash/death metal. “Rising” off their new record ‘Slave to the Sword’ opened the night with a style of somewhat dissonant chording and blistering lead guitarwork. I wondered how they would fit on this bill of melodic death metal and sure enough, guitarists Conan and David Rivera fulfilled expectations with some nifty lead melodies played together. Catchy, fast and solid musicianship, their style of playing certain had the crowd headbanging in motion. By the time “Immortality Made Flesh” came on, a moshpit ensued and the fun was really beginning. The crowd also enjoyed the guitarists’ soloing, as they had many flashy and complicated guitar solo tradeoffs with one another. I could tell the crowd here was having a great time, as evident by the cheering and headbanging throughout the set. Exmortus played a solid 30 minutes and I enjoyed their musicianship and songs themselves.
Visit Exmortus on the web:
facebook.com/ExmortusOfficial
Set List:
01. Rising
02. Slave To The Sword
03. Immortality Made Flesh
04. Kneel Before The Steel
05. Triumph By Fire
Right on schedule, Omnium Gatherum took the stage at 8:50 PM to a large roar and cheer. By this time, I was pleasantly surprised how packed the venue was. I’ve been hearing throughout the crowd earlier in the night how excited people were for them to finally make it to the US. Playing a style similar to their contempories within the Gothenburg genre, yet making it their own with a very different style of keyboard, in terms of sound and usage. By the time “Luono” came on, cheers, headbanging and pure excitement filled the air to a large degree. Frontman Jukka Pelkonen looked like he won the lottery that night. Giving the horns and thumbs many times to specific people throughout the crowd singing along, going to each member with a smile and headbanging, constantly moving. Their first LA appearance ever, and they were absolutely loving it. It fed off to the crowd and as “New World Shadows” was annouced, the audience went insane. One of their most well-known songs, the circle pit responded in kind, as there was nowhere to hide from it, taking up much of the floor. A true sense of happiness was in the air, not only for the quality of the bands, but LA was really showing what a solid metal show should be like. Throughout their set, Jukka said this show was a “Metal Party” and no one should be shy when showing it. “The Unknowing” was a personal favorite of mine, with a gorgeous beginning riff set followed by a beautiful guitar and keyboard harmony playing together. 50 minutes went by seemingly quickly and by the last song of the set, “Deep Cold”, Omnium Gatherum were extremely well-received and thanked the crowd immensely for it. I believe with the right kind of touring and promotion, they could really make an impact in the US.
Visit Omnium Gatherum on the web:
OmniumGatherum.org
facebook.com/OmniumGatherumBand
twitter.com/OGband
Set List:
01. Luoto
02. New Dynamic
03. New World Shadows
04. The Sonic Sign
05. Soul Journeys
06. Living In Me
07. The Unknowing
08. Nail
09. Deep Cold
10 PM finally arrived and as the curtains went down, there was a large projection screen on the background, a purposeful grainy black and white screen with the Construct album cover on it. The venue erupted as Dark Tranqullity took the stage. I’ve always felt they’ve never gotten the proper appreciation they should. They’ve always been the most consistent and ‘true’, I guess if you want to word it that way, in regards to their style. Their albums are never the same, as Construct certainly brings a more melancholic sound to their style. However, they’ve never wanted the spotlight. They simply wanted to play their brand of Gothenburg metal. We got that in spades, as with “The Silence of Noise” the band had the crowd absolutely in their hands. Everyone in the crowd were certainly here for them, evident by the loud cheering throughout the entire set, singing along to nearly every word and even singing out the guitar melodies, something I’ve always loved hearing at a show. Frontman and one of two founding members of Dark Tranquillity, Mikael Stanne, was having a blast on stage. Constantly moving on stage and giving the crowd big smiles and acknowledgment, it was something to see of his caliber to enjoy it so much. Other founding member and perhaps one of the most important musicians of the genre, longstanding guitarist Niklas Sundin treated us with those riffs, melodies, catchiness and leads that many mainstream metal bands have taken from them, not giving them the credit they most certainly deserve.
The only curious thing was there was no bassist present. Martin Henriksson plays bass for them as well, but I thought there maybe would be a live musician taking his place. One of their most well known aspects are their keyboards. Not just used as synth, but a much more dominant role in their sound. Not too heavy or light, the keyboard parts accented the music just right for the live setting. Throughout the show, each song would have a different projection on the screen, and some of them would be their music videos. Something Megadeth have been recently doing, it’s certainly a joy to see bands raise up the production level to something vividly beautiful to the eye as well as the ears.
Something that should absolutely be noted, the highlight of the evening was in the form of “The Mundane and the Magic”. Fans in attendance sang the song very loudly and in top form. This song has a guest female vocalist on its studio recording, and to a female fan in the front row up against the barricade was singing her heart out through the song. The special thing about this song was, Mikael noticed her and as the part of the song that would have the female vocals, he came down from the stage to the barricade, got to within only inches from her face and gave her the mic to sing those words. Nervous and teary-eyed, she actually sang the parts extremely well and the duet between the two was incredibly strong and powerful to witness. I’m actually tearing a bit writing this, as I was seeing it, just to see how much that moment impacted her as well as how moved the entire crowd was by this unbelievable gesture. As a hardcore fan of Dark Tranquillity, I’m certain it made her day, night and year. The end part had the same role, so he came down again and finished the song with her. As the song ended, the crowd lifted her to Mikael with a big hug and a monstrous cheer and roar. Bands who truly love their fans and are passionate of what they do need to be recognized when they do. Of my 12 years of attending shows, that was an unforgettable highlight for me.
My favorite track of theirs, “Punish My Heaven” from their 1995 masterpiece The Gallery was played as well as other classics such as “Terminus”, “Final Resistance”, “The Fatalist” and many more played through their exciting 90-minute set. Their encore consisted of three songs, something more bands should be trying to do. “Lethe”, “Endtime Hearts” and “Misery’s Crown” closed this incredible evening of beautiful music. Chants of “Dark Tranquillity” rose through the venue as the band was greeting and thanking the crowd after the show ended.
My expectations for this show were high, but even I couldn’t expect this Satuday night to be as incredibly joyful, positive and amazing as it was. Dark Tranquillity, in my opinion, put out a performance that outshined At the Gates and In Flames. Also, major props to this crowd that showed up in large numbers. LA shows have the crowd somewhat disinterested, but tonight was absolutely not the case. Four more years is too long to wait for Dark Tranquillity to come back, so you do no want to miss out on any show they perform here on this tour.
Visit Dark Tranquillity on the web:
DarkTranquillity.com
facebook/com/DTofficial
twitter.com/DTofficial
youtube.com/DTofficial
Set List:
01. The Science Of Noise
02. White Noise/Black Silence
03. Lost To Apathy
04. What Only You Know
05. The Fatalist
06. The Silence in Between
07. Zero Distance
08. The Mundane And The Magic
09. Punish My Heaven
10. The Wonders At Your Feet
11. Monochromatic Stains
12. Iridium
13. Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)
14. State of Trust
15. ThereIn
16. Endtime Hearts
Encore:
17. Final Resistance
18. Lethe
19. Misery’s Crown
Remaining Tour Dates:
02/23 – Tempe, AZ – Club Red
02/25 – Dallas, TX – Trees
02/26 – Houston, TX – Scout Bar
02/28 – Louisville, KY – Diamond Pub and Billiards
03/01 – Pittsburgh, PA – Altar Bar
03/02 – Philadelphia, PA – The Trocader