12th December 2022
Nightwish - “HUMAN.:||:NATURE European Tour” 2022 - Support: Beast In Black & Turmion Kätilöt
Weaved into the dark movement of nebulous musical strands, Symphonic Metal has been stealthily building up a growing army of followers. And Scandinavia has, for some time, been a hotbed of Gothic Symphonic Metal helmed by Finland’s NIGHTWISH who have re-emerged with the latest double CD opus of their inimitable addition to this genre. Actually, “HUMAN.:||:NATURE European Tour” was waiting in the wings to present the songs from the new album to the public. First, the Corona epidemic, then Floor’s illness, but fortunately everything worked out and the band gives concerts around Europe with renewed vigor.
As special guests for the Hamburg show were invited a couple of Finnish powerhouse bands, TURMION KÄTILÖT and their spin on Industrial Disco Metal, a band we’ve not caught before, and the Finnish-Greek Power Metal band BEAST IN BLACK with the amazing voice of Greek, Yiannis Papadopoulos.
Turmion Kätilöt
TURMION KÄTILÖT is a hard-hitting, disco-infused Metal band. The 80s and 90s disco beats that feature throughout each song, have the darker, heavy elements of distorted guitars, heavy drum beats, and the guttural growls of the two vocalists entwined within its layers. This fusion has your head nodding from the get-go and a smile on your face as you recognize the keyboard driven 80s disco sounds. The main feature of the band is undoubtedly sung entirely in the Finnish language. You can see influences from formations such as RAMMSTEIN, but also something from the various PAIN, HANZEL UND GRETYL, and so on, with a result that we could define from the very first tolls as pleasant and very suitable for satisfying ears looking for a certain style of music entertainment.
In fact, their music can be danced with serenity, and despite some slight deficits on the sound side, the definition of the individual elements is still good, leading many present to express their enjoyment, especially those who had never heard of the aforementioned band before. Maybe they will not be the showmen of the decade, but even the stage presence works well, after all, still leading us to promote the show with a smile.
Rating
Music: 6
Performance: 6
Sound: 7
Light: 8
Total: 6.8 / 10
Beast In Black
THE BEAST IN BLACK now represents reality in total ascent within the market, it is always a healthy dose of synth-tinged Heavy / Power Metal packaged with maniacal care and played very well by a combo of amused and prepared musicians, especially the leader / guitarist Anton Kabanen and that screaming beast Yannis Papadopoulos touches some octaves that literally make the structure tremble. We like the line-up and it covers all three of their very pleasant studio-works: the opening with ‘Blade Runner’ is obvious, the inevitable hit ‘Blind and Frozen’ and the unexpected very edgy ‘Sweet True Lies’. The audience itself is pleasantly involved and there are so many present wearing their t-shirts or in any case intent on singing their songs, despite even here a not flawless start on the sound side.
Setlist
01. Blade Runner
02. From Hell With Love
03. Beast in Black
04. Sweet True Lies
05. Die by the Blade
06. Moonlight Rendezvous
07. One Night in Tokyo
08. Blind and Frozen
09. End of the World
Rating
Music: 8.5
Performance: 9
Sound: 9
Light: 8.5
Total: 8.8 / 10
Nightwish
The concerts of the most popular Finnish band in the world are always a bit divisive for various reasons: among those who object to the current size of the line-up involved (which is renewed in many respects), those who would like a setlist more focused on the classics, those who still dream of improbable reunions of varying actual usefulness and so on. For our part, however, we would like to evaluate the show for what it is, and we sincerely believe that it’s hard to ask for more at the moment: the set design is essential but impactful, especially thanks to the skillful use of flames, and the individual musicians are perfectly on the ball right from the opening track ‘Noise’, especially the good Tuomas Holopainen and the beautiful Floor Jansen, whose energetic presence on stage warms our hearts, considering the health problems that have just occurred.
Kai Hahto and Jukka Koskinen, both from WINTERSUN and dedicated to the rocky rhythm section, and the multi-instrumentalist Troy Donockley, whose contribution seems fundamental to compensate for the departure of the legendary Marco Hietala from behind the second microphone, who we hope will soon return with a personal project. Less sparkling was Emppu Vuorinen’s contribution on the six-string, who, as in every venue, limited himself to doing his own thing. Even though the audience is not much inclined to certain displays of adrenalin or pogo eruptions, to the point of creating some isolated controversy with the few people present who want some physical contact, right from the start they show an emotional involvement that inevitably peaks on classics like ‘Dark Chest Of Wonders’, ‘Nemo’ and ‘Ghost Love Score’, but also on more recent anthems like ‘Storytime’, ‘I Want My Tears Back’ and ‘Last Ride Of The Day’.
Highs and lows on the reception given to the newer tracks from the last two releases, evidently liked by some, but less so by others. There are a few relative dead moments here and there, but the concert goes by quickly and without stumbling, with a huge final phase dedicated to the evocative suite ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’, after which the feeling is of having witnessed a NIGHTWISH show of good workmanship, perhaps inferior to what we’ve seen on certain occasions, but nevertheless worthy of several positive mentions and in line with today’s expectations. We shall see what the future holds for what, for better or worse, is one of the most iconic acts on the European metal scene.
Setlist
01. Noise
02. Storytime
03. Tribal
04. Élan
05. 7 Days to the Wolves
06. Dark Chest of Wonders
07. Harvest
08. I Want My Tears Back
09. Sahara
10. Our Decades in the Sun (Acoustic, live debut by Nightwish)
11. Nemo
12. Shoemaker
13. Last Ride of the Day
14. Ghost Love Score
15. The Greatest Show on Earth (with small Metallica snippet by Tuomas)
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 10
Sound: 8
Light: 9
Total: 9 / 10
All pictures by Marina Galantseva
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