There is nothing like Scandinavia and Nordic metal bands, their sound is like no other. Dark Tranquility, Amorphis, and Omnium Gatherum brought that sound to Vegas, and add Moonspell from Portugal to the tour and you have and evening that was unforgettable!
Kicking off the show was OMNIUM GATHERUM from Karhula, Finland, a melodic death metal band that has been around since 1996. Frontman Jukka constantly engaged the crowd, as the band opened up with the song "Frontiers". Being the opener on a stacked bill, Omnium Gatherum had a shorter although powerful set, including "The Unknowing" and "Over the Battlefield", before closing out the night with the song "Ego". The Vegas crowd gave them a rousing applause, and were ready for the mighty Moonspell coming up next.
Omnium Gatherum Photos from Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos
MOONSPELL is from Lisbon, Portugal and is a extreme gothic metal band, and opened their set with lead singer Fernando Ribeiro waving a lantern in the darkness as he began "Em Nome Do Medo". This was followed up with "1755", an epic period piece that had the charismatic Ribeiro coming out onstage wearing a haunting birdlike mask with a long black beak. As Ribeiro explained, this was a period piece about the Lisbon earthquake, and was sung entirely in Portuguese. Moonspell is a dark, heavy band with a sound larger than life, and with their haunting choruses and moody background vocals they set the tone for a dark and eerie time. They were a real treat to see, very performance based, and Ribeiro made a instant connection with the crowd and keep the energy level high thorough to their finale of "Full Moon Madness".
Moonspell Photos from Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos
DARK TRANQUILLITY is another journeyman band hailing from Gothenburg, Sweden, who have been around since 1989, and are a melodic death metal band. Dark Tranquility have been on the road for two years in support of their cd ATOMA. Lead singer Mikael Stanne is a great singer, who looks so at ease onstage and always seems like he is having a great time, and led the band into their first song "Encircled" and mesmerized the crowd until their final "Misery's Crown". This being a co-headlining show, they played a full set that was close to 90 minutes and still the crowd didn't want to see them go.
DARK TRANQUILLITY SETLIST:
Encircled
Monochromatic Stains
Clearing Skies
The Treason Wall
lThe Science of Noise
Forward Moment
The Mundane and the Magic
Atoma
Force of Hand
Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)
Inside the Particle Storm
The Wonders at Your Feet
ThereIn
Lost to Apathy
Misery's Crown
Dark Tranquility Photos from Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos
AMORPHIS from Helsinki closed out the final set of the night, a band who have been around since 1990, and boy, oh boy, what a great band this is! Unlike the other bands, they are a bit darker, with heavier riffs and an completely amazing singer, Tomi Joutsen, who gets down right guttural at times. Amorphis mesmerized me, and I was blown away at their sound and stage show. They used mainly their own lighting, which changed with each song and set the mood as the show progressed. The band was touring in support of their cd titled Queen Of Time, and they opened the show with their current single "The Bee" to roars from the crowd. My favorite song of the night was "Death Of A King", and closing out the show the band played "Black Winter Day". And after five hours of unbelievable metal the night came to an roaring end.
AMORPHIS Setlist:
The Bee
Message in the Amber
Bad Blood
Daughter of Hate
Hopeless Day
The Castaway
Silver Bride
Wrong Direction
Heart of the Giant
House of Sleep
Encore:
Death of a King
Black Winter Day
Amorphis Photos from Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos