P60, Amstelveen, The Netherlands
17th November 2011
Autumn, Only Fate Remains
Fans of female fronted prog rock / metal will be delighted with tonight’s line-up at P60, Amstelveen. AUTUMN is a well known name in the scene and has just released their fifth album ‘Cold Comfort’. ONLY FATE REMAINS has had several line-up changes over the years, even changed their name and signed a record deal this year and released their debut album.
Only Fate Remains
Although not many will have heard from ONLY FATE REMAINS, the band has been familiar with the scene for quite some years. Formally known as TRISOMY and founded in 1997, the band played with big names in the Dutch gothic metal scene such as EPICA, AFTER FOREVER, STREAM OF PASSION and THE GATHERING. The band has an impressive list of past gigs and released a demo ‘V’ which was downloaded from their website over 30,000 times from more than 100 countries all over the world. It wasn’t until 2010 though, that ONLY FATE REMAINS signed a record deal at the British label Ravenheart Music Records. Their first official album ‘Breathe’ has been released this fall. The style of ONLY FATE REMAINS is characterized as rock / metal consisting of melodic, atmospheric, gothic and progressive influences. ONLY FATE REMAINS is Eva Kokken (vocals), Michiel van Veen (guitar), Jacques Maas (guitar), Pieter van den Berkmortel (bass), Marc Bruin (drums) and Maarten Siem (synths). www.onlyfateremains.com / http://www.myspace.com/onlyfateremains
Music & Performance
After a few hesitant moments (the audience could hardly hear the intro, seemed like some tweaking on the volume controls was necessary), ONLY FATE REMAINS starts off with the song ‘Nightly Walks’ from their debut album ‘Breathe’. Up next is ‘Fall’ which has the catchiness of a pop song, but in a positive way. Their repertoire consists of dynamically structured songs that have a good balance between bombastic / energetic parts with a very nice flow in between, not in the last part because of Eva’s pretty voice. The band members visibly enjoy themselves on stage, guitar players Jacques and Michiel interacting with a big smile on their face. ‘Freaked Mind’ and especially ‘Shallow Water’ treats the audience to more advanced & complex songs. ONLY FATE REMAINS’ music doesn’t have any dull moments, keeping the attention of the audience towards the stage. 
Singer Eva informs whether everybody is looking forward to AUTUMN tonight, responded to with a confident cheer from the audience. Next, Eva introduces a more quiet song called ‘Cravings’ where here clear strong vocals play a key role. After presenting ‘Keepsakes’ which is a new song the band has been working on, ONLY FATE REMAINS concludes their set with the launch of their first single and video clip. Again here seemed to be some technical problems leaving a black screen on stage. Eva jokes that their video is “very minimalistic”. Soon after, the video launch fortunately was a fact, and the band played along with their single ‘The Real You’. The video clip, probably to be found on YouTube in the next few days as well, was a great addition to their energetic live show. Keep your eyes and ears open for ONLY FATE REMAINS in the future!
Setlist
01. Nightly Walks
02. Fall
03. Lost
04. Heal Me
05. The Essence
06. Freaked Mind
07. Shallow Water
08. Cravings
09. Keepsakes
10. The Real You
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 8
Sound: 6
Light: 7
Total: 7 / 10
Autumn
AUTUMN is a Dutch female fronted heavy rock band formed in 1995. Their first album ‘When Lust Evokes The Curse’ can be classified as gothic metal though and was released in 2002. Two more albums were released with Nienke de Jong on vocals, ‘Summers’ End’ (2004) and ‘My New Time’ (2007). Over the next years, their style changed towards more progressive and alternative rock / metal with the album as ‘Altitude’ (2009) also characterized by the new lead vocals of Marjan Welman, known in the scene by her appearance on the AYREON's ‘01011001’ album. AUTUMN’s latest album was very well received and made the band enter the line-up of big festivals such as MFVF and Paaspop. AUTUMN also supported THE GATHERING in 2010 on their European tour. Just a few weeks ago, AUTUMN released their fifth studio album called ‘Cold Comfort’. AUTUMN is Marjan Welman (vocals), Jeroen Vrielink (bass), Jan Munnik (keyboards), Jan Grijpstra (drums), Mats van der Valk (guitar & backing vocals) and Jens van der Valk (guitar & backing vocals). http://www.autumn-band.com / https://www.facebook.com/AutumnBand
Music & Performance
AUTUMN starts off in pitch black with the quiet song ‘Alloy’ from the new album ‘Cold Comfort’. Singer Marjan enchants the audience with her magnificent voice, later on enforced by the backing vocals of guitar player Jens. ‘Alloy’ very subtly and slowly swells and grows, introducing more instruments and leaving goose bumps on my arms. There’s no time to recover though, as AUTUMN continues with the energetic ‘Paradise Nox’ from the previous album ‘Altitude’ and ‘Blue Wine’ from ‘My New Time’. Two more songs from their new album follow: ‘The Scarecrow’ and title song ‘Cold Comfort’. AUTUMN’s new work is clearly distinguishable by a more dynamic build up of the songs, which is a big plus in my opinion. 
The male backing vocals work out really well on stage, presenting the band as a strong team. During their show, the stage is often quite dark, leaving only silhouettes of the musicians and canalizing all attention towards the music and vocals. After another old song, ‘The heart demands’, AUTUMN presents four more songs from ‘Cold Comfort’, all characterized by the striking voice of Marjan, effortlessly getting every tone right. AUTUMN fans gathered in P60 to check out their new work, and where visibly satisfied by what they got. Tonight’s gig finishes with something old and something new, treating the audience to ‘The Venamoured’ and ‘Altitude’. AUTUMN presents a strong live show that is solid as a rock, with energetic musicians and great vocals of both singer Marjan as her backing vocalists Jens and Mats. The new album is definitely another big leap forward and I would surely recommend to check out one of their live shows!
Setlist
01. Intro
02. Alloy
03. Paradise Nox
04. Blue wine
05. The Scarecrow
06. Cold Comfort
07. The Heart Demands
08. Retrospect
09. End of Sorrow
10. Black Stars in a Blue Sky
11. Naeon
12. Satellites
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13. The Venamoured
14. Altitude
Rating
Music: 8
Performance: 8
Sound: 8
Light: 6
Total: 7.7 / 10
All pics by Ruth Mampuys (www.ruth-less.nl)
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