The Circus, Helsinki, Finland
27th September 2012
Anathema & Von Hertzen Brothers
To be honest, before I got to know ANATHEMA’s music, I always thought that the band should be very brutal. While these English rockers, born as a band in 1990, are considered to be one of the founders of death-doom metal, their present style is quite different. The present tour is supporting their recent release ‘Weather Systems’.
First, few lines about the club. It’s among few available middle-sized venues in Helsinki, and s it hosts quite a bit of Finnish capital’s gigs of quite famous musicians (with Devin Townsend, Katatonia, Sabaton and Europe hitting the stage later this year). Being large enough, however, the club leaves an impression where pop-disco events would be more appropriate. You can fit plenty of people inside, but the floor is elongated and a lounge area with bar is located right behind the FOH stands, effectively separated from “listening area”. You can see something barely from the back of the fan zone; as if, what’s going on stage is not as important as a sound and crowd next to you. 
Do not know if it was a temporal effect — it was a harsh rain outside — but ventilation did not cope with the large crowd and it was quite steamy. A light engineer also preferred light to the crowd, making it really tricky to photograph musicians. Nevertheless, the gig attracted quite a bit of people of a wide range of ages. Former founders of death-doom nowadays attract people who look more casual, in accord with the present musical style of the band.
The opening act were famous English-singing VON HERTZEN BROTHERS from Finland, a prog-related band that was first published in 2001. Initial schedule of the evening would give them enough time to play a descent set, but later their time was reduced to tiny 30 minutes. I would say, it felt rather unfair giving the level of their material. Secured a solid place in Finnish rock stage, the band played a great, melodic, pleasant set. It resonated. While VHB are usually described as progressive, their style would remind of good old examples of 1970-s, such as Pink Floyd. On the stage there are plenty of rock-n-roll moves, sadly, lighting conditions were not too great to see most of them.
The ANATHEMA gig had to wait for another hour, during which more people were arriving. The connection between audience and the (barely visible — thanks again, light engineer) Vincent Cavanagh and company was solid. As usual, first rows were the most active, but the whole floor was listening patiently. The gig itself was large. While ‘Weather Systems’ has only 8 tracks, much more were on the setlist. It is well known that present music of Anathema is not a metal, but a masterfully performed progressive rock, and Weather Systems songs are named after, well, a weather. It is largely acoustic, symphonic and beautiful — a great record. Although I should note that with this material live gig was lacking the deep sense that you’re getting from playing something like ‘The Gathering of the Clouds’ in your headphones.
Bottom line: while musically both bands are simply great, opening act was somewhat better suited for the live gig. http://www.anathema.ws / http://www.vonhertzenbrothers.com/
All pictures by Askar Ibragimov
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