Röhre, Stuttgart, Germany18th October 2007
Pain, Zonaria
I must first confess that I am an absolute fan of PAIN / HYPOCRISY. They are some of my favourite bands so I was very pleased to write the review of this concert. Unfortunately, there was only one flaw; the event should take place at the Röhre in Stuttgart. The Röhre is not well known for their good sound conditions, and all the fans could only hope to get the best sound quality this evening.
Exactly at eight o’clock the Röhre opened their doors and the few fans already waiting in the cold got slowly in. The small bar in the background of the stage was the first contact and meeting point on this evening. The sound engineers reviewed their equipment and started a small sound-check. There was no onslaught of fans which I first feared, only a small group of PAIN-devotees filled the room. PAIN Fans are probably more from the older age and unlike the HAMMERFALL concert on 14th October 2007 at the Rockfabrik Ludwigsburg, we saw relatively few younger people. But this was certainly not necessary because the older ones know to party as well.
One hour later there were still no large masses in the room and that’s really surprising. I mentioned it was really disappointing for such a good band like PAIN. The only thing still coming through the entrance was the cold air from outside. Actually no more fans could be seen before the beginning of the concert. The concert temporarily resembled a small private celebration more than the usual festival we already know from PAIN. There were very few people around compared with the appearance of PAIN at the M'era Luna or Summer Breeze festivals.
Shortly after nine o’clock the first smoke raised from the stage but unfortunately nothing happened. The small pack of fans stood there engulfed by a mystical swamp, waiting for the shadows of the night to come.
ZONARIA
ZONARIA first took form in the year 2002 under the leadership of guitarist, songwriter and vocalist Simon Berglung. After two years they recorded and released their demo ‘Evolution Overdose’. Their demo, traditional Swedish Death Metal with some Black and Doom Metal influences ranging from HYPOCRISY and DIMMU BORGIR to ARCH ENEMY, was well received in the European underground. In the spring of 2006 ZONARIA started to record ‘Rendered In Vain’ which featured three new songs. This small album proved to be a momentous step forward for ZONARIA both lyrically and musically, selling out of stock as soon as copies could be pressed. 2006 also marked the bands transition from local status to that of internationally renowned artist. http://www.zonaria.com/
Music
Creaking of old doors combined with slow drumbeats extinguished the light. With a thundering massacre from their drums and hard bombastically played guitars ZONARIA started this evening with their unique Death-Doom Metal combination. They hammered the fans in front of the stage down with their misanthropic medley of brutal riffs and melodic harmonies. “Sending Stuttgart some fucking noise” as the leader of the band announced, and so should it be. Maniacally played drums only added by guitars played at high speed crowned with the harsh and growling voice scythed through the fans like death himself. Swedish Death Metal at its best was presented on the stage. But only some few fans who gathered around the stage came to their cost. Music and melody comparable with SYSTEM SHOCK and DIMMU BORGIR, they played song after song, unfortunately not quite as enthusiastic as it should be. Smouldering heat rose up and strengthened the four guys on the stage to play as furious as they could. The crowd also rose up from their slumber and applauded even more.
Performance
The leader initially sought to inspire the few people in front of the stage and to draw them in the dark maelstrom of Death Metal. But only a few ones got the right mood at this time and jumped into the whirling darkness. The other ones refused to participate in the party. In my opinion ZONARIA had some difficulties with their guitars at the first three tracks of their setlist. The announcements of the singer were lacking the needed fire to get the crowd into the right mood. Nevertheless, he tried to get the fans in front of the stage to a boiling point again and again. The show was rather average and except the usual head banging and guitar solos nothing exceptional outstanding. Unfortunately ZONARIA didn’t manage to prepare the fans for PAIN
Rating
Music: 7
Performance: 6-7
Sound: 7
Light: 7
Total: 6.8
PAIN
Tägtgren’s career began with HYPOCRISY, an atmospheric Death Metal band that he created, fronted and led. He realized that he wanted to write some more heavy Metal music, but he didn’t want to change HYPOCRISY anyway. 1996 Tägtgren signed his first contract with the German label Nuclear Blast and published the self-titled debut PAIN in the same year. With a few exceptions Tägtgren alone is responsible for all songs and arrangements; he plays all the instruments himself. With his new album ‘Psalms of Extinction’ he now wants to take things one step further. Now, in his own words, he’s ready to make his band PAIN “the biggest fucking band in the genre. I want this to be huge on a worldwide scale”. It's not surprising that Tägtgren is one of Sweden’s most respected musicians and producers with his exceptional ideas to push boundaries to both their logical and illogical extremes. http://www.pain.cd/
Music
The last sound and applause from the supporting band ZONARIA faded away in this former car tube. The few fans of PAIN returned to their everyday and so waited for the main act with a beer in their hand. The empty place in front of the stage filled slowly with the remaining fans pouring from the back of the room. Many people unseen there before filled the small space in front of the stage waiting that PAIN would finally reveal themselves. Almost at ten o’clock the next sound-check started again and soon the background music faded away. Like a living being silence crawled through the crowd. Fog flew down from the stage clawing at the legs of any bystander like another living being. But before the crowd became impatient they were all bathed in bright light. Fountains of fog rose to the ceiling and the first thundering basses smashed the stomach of the bystanders like a fist right from heaven.
‘The Same Old Song’ was the opener for this evening and the crowd hit the boiling point immediately. Lances of light and lightning swept from the main-stage, burning through the eyes of the waiting PAIN devotees, strengthening the already stunning effect from the hammering basses, the excellent played drums and superb tuned guitars. Without a break ‘Crashed’ followed right after. Hard, bombastic and like molten lava this second song flowed through the masses in front of the stage. Peter Tägtgren showed no mercy and gave the crowd no chance to take a breath. He nailed his fans to the ground with his harsh but hypnotizing voice. ‘Nailed to the Ground’ with its thunderous played bass ripped the feet right from the floor and simultaneously nailed the body firmly to the ground. The guitars joined this symphony of PAIN.
The crowd already could guess where this evening would lead. Everything was represented from old painful wounds to the new biblical psalms of extinction. ‘Shut Your Mouth’ started relatively quiet and slow so the folks could recover a little bit but the speed and sound increased gradually to a wonderful head splitting pleasure. Like an exploding supernova beams of light hitting through the crowd in front of the stage. Bombastic played guitar solos made ‘Suicide Machine’ an extraordinary pleasure. Even the last fan of PAIN, who found no space in front of the stage, celebrated an unforgettable party now. After his heavy bombardment with maniacally played bass, hard hitting drums, relentlessly played guitars and very pleasant voice he intoned ‘Injected Paradise’. So his fans could recover from the five beginning parts of the upcoming hurricane.
But this recovery should not last for long; he opened the graves of the dead with ‘Zombie Slam’ only to cut the few survivors still standing with guitar sweeps and thundering drums. The crowd could not longer stand this and were stomped in the humid darkness from which there is no escape. Some of them hoped to take a breath between two songs but Tägtgren started slowly but unstoppable to put the earth back on the grave. The last tone of this song faded away and you could already hear ‘Stay Away’ with it’s hard riffs, hammering bass and groundbreaking drums only to throw the last man standing to the ground. Suddenly the music fell silent and Peter was enlightened from behind, like a dark messiah of pain he stood there silently observing the crowd. Only with his voice and dark aura he drove his fans into another state of frenzy. With ‘Walking on Glass’ he exactly hit the point and the surrounding fans hypnotically followed him even deeper into the realms of PAIN.
The Psalms of Extinctions were recited continually there was no time to take a little breath, no time to swallow some cold beer and only little time to brace against this smashing hurricane. PAIN was served at its best, Tägtgren surrounded by green mist, looking like an ancient Celtic god, revealed the true nature of his stunning music. Immersed into a different world the fans desired that this evening would never end. Tägtgren made only few announcements but these were absolutely enough, even with his few words he could put a spell on the crowd. ‘Just Hate Me’ delivered the urgently needed break after this ongoing bombardment. The light vanished and the crowd bathed in darkness; some feared that this could be the end but Peter calmed the crowd, with his words “this is not the end” he immediately started a song from his new album.
‘Clouds on Ecstasy’ was never one of my favourite songs and also some other fans took this opportunity to make a small break and cooled down their burning feet. ‘On And On’ put the small crowd in front of the stage into frenzy. These classical violin elements combined with celestially played guitars crowned with a true firework of light wouldn’t leave my brain anymore. The drums and hard played bass alternately hammered the stomach from the bystanders and nobody in this room could withstand this anymore. With the last fading sounds Tägtgren and his band left the stage and only the desperate PAIN shouting echoed from the walls. PAIN showed some mercy for their fans and called to the dance with the dead.
‘Dancing with the Dead’ presented like a pearl in a wonderful necklace mobilized the last strength from the fans. With his announcement “And this is one for the ladies”, a real whirling storm resembled by hard hitting drums and guitars played at their limit refined with his icy voice ‘Bitch’ was intoned. Peter Tägtgren managed with his hard and icy nevertheless burning voice to boil the blood in the veins of all the girls so they went in an absolute state of ecstasy. The darkness swallowed the crowd again only to bring the Pain back on stage for their last, hard hitting song. ‘Greed’ resembled a sledgehammer hitting right into the face. This hard punk rock song smashed through the masses like a cargo train out of control. PAIN played merciless and hard until the end had come for this evening.
Performance
There is nothing more to say. This evening was an absolute celestial joy. With its hammering basses and perfectly played guitars the crowd went into another state of frenzy from the first song to the last encore. Peter Tägtgren gave his fans little time to take some breath, but he always knows what they needed most. His announcement and comments were short and sufficient I got always the feeling that the people in front of the stage followed him hypnotized. In contrast to the supporting band, the sound seemed far better coordinated and was quite above the normal standards of the Röhre / Stuttgart.
With their hard and relentlessly played bass, pounding and precisely played drums combined with perfectly and mesmerizing guitar riffs contributed next to the intoxicating voice of Peter Tägtgren PAIN delivered us more than an excellent musical performance. Despite this truly wonderful music there was a slight tremble in the voice at half of the concert, but that’s only a little flaw for this wonderful evening. The show which the band delivered to us looked quiet normal, nothing more than the usual head banging some changes in position and slight animation of the front row. Due to the good lighting effects and right usage of the smoke-machine I got the feeling to take part in a dark celebration of pain. The mixture of old and new songs tied the fans to PAIN on this evening. Only few fans were represented although this was an absolutely brilliant night.
Rating
Music: 9
Performance: 8
Sound: 9
Light: 7-8
Total: 8.5
All pictures by Ruth Gräbeldinger
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