ENDTIME SIGNALS EUROPEAN TOUR 2024
The concert was opened by HIRAES, a band that plays melodic death metal. Rising from the ashes of Dawn of Disease, Melodic Death Metal outfit HIRAES began their journey in 2020 and are currently under the label Napalm Records. This formidable group unites the instrumental prowess of ex-Dawn of Disease members Lukas Kerk, Oliver Kirchner, Christian Wösten, and Mathias Blässe with the fierce and commanding vocals of Britta Görtz (formerly of Critical Mess and Cripper), creating a fresh and electrifying force in the melodic death metal scene. The band’s name and concept draw from the Welsh term “hiraeth,” evoking a deep sense of longing and nostalgia for a home or place that may never have existed.
HIRAES delivered their unique blend of anthemic melodies, powerful guitar riffs, and gripping hooks, driven by unrelenting drumming and wrapped in a melancholic atmosphere that sounded very exciting live. Most interesting part was Britta’s versatile and forceful growls that brought a unique depth and intensity to their sound. A very interesting band we will surely follow in the future!
WOLFHEART began as a solo project by Tuomas Saukkonen, after he disbanded all of his other bands. By June 30th, 2014, the project had evolved into a full band. The band formed in Finland within a genre: melodic death metal, deals with specific themes such as winter, nature, apocalypse, wolves, warriors, bloodshed, battle, melancholy.
He had many occasions to see Wolfheart live as they held many captivating live acts throughout Europe. Unfortunately, their set list wasn’t fully satisfactory, although it included beautiful songs such as “Zero Gravity”, “Burning Sky”, “Ghost of Karelia” and others. Hopefully the band will include our most favourite songs for their shorter performances eg. when playing with other bands as I also believe they will more successfully gather new fans in that way. They ended their set with “Grave” which was a very strong highlight of their performance.
With over 30 years of experience, Portugal’s MOONSPELL has consistently been a driving force in the world of metal, defying time and refusing to compromise their creative spirit. Their most recent album, 1755, captivated fans with its powerful fusion of history and metal. Sung entirely in Portuguese, the album recounts the tragic events of Lisbon’s darkest day—the devastating earthquake of November 1, 1755.
Moonspell has won the audience through its dramatic and theatrical performances. Their profound emotional themes and atmosphere resonates through their evocative lyrics and darkly immersive music. Their unique south European brand of dark and gothic metal captivates and enchants throughout numerous generations and brings us instantly into happier times we associate with their greatest hits! The set list was perfect and we were amazed as they changed the setlist after transitioning from one city to another as that is a great gift to fans that travel to see the band on as many concerts as possible! The gig was purely amazing and the absolute highlight was the second we heard the lines “Carry the weight or crush under it” from “Breathe (Until We Are No More)”. Gig included various other great performances and other highlights were also “Extinct”, “Night Eternal” and “Vampiria”. THE concert ended up spectacular with “Alma Mater” and “Full Moon Madness”.
DARK TRANQUILLITY, a Swedish melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, is considered as one of the pioneering acts of the Gothenburg metal scene, which also includes bands such as In Flames and At the Gates – regarded as the Gothenburg fathers in the film entitled Out of Nothing: A DT Documentary released by Century Media. After a nearly three-decade long collaboration of four founding members, frequent lineup changes between 2016 and 2021 have left only vocalist Mikael Stanne as an original member, together with long-time keyboardist Martin Brändström.
The band itself performed excellently but unfortunately the sound wasn’t aligned perfectly. We watched a very long light tuning and we were very sorry that there were issues with the sound as the band and fans really don’t deserve that. Die-hard fans were nevertheless thrilled with an extensive setlist and the effort, grace and energy the band has put into their performance! The band has put together a heartfelt setlist and included some of the songs that were not played often and the magic of Mikaels interaction with the audience was undeniable, but the positive and uplifting energy from all the band members could be easily felt. Purely genius and great performance! Some of the many highlights of the night were performances of: “Final Resistance”, “Atoma”, “Not Nothing” and “Therein”. Encore included three songs and of course, the beloved “Lost to Apathy” and “Misery’s Crown”.
GALLERY:
DARK TRANQUILLITY, MOONSPELL, WOLFHEART, HIRAES, Barba Negra, Budapest, 20.11.2024