» D. T/Fear Factory 2012 11 10 |
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Fear FactoryA somewhat odd combination of Devin Townsend Project and Fear Factory are touring together as double headliners on the The Epic Industrialist Tour, referring the their new albums Epicloud respectively The Industrialist. This, if I may say so, package visited Stockholm, Sweden for the first sold out show yet on their European tour. As a matter of fact, the last remaining ticket was sold to a women when I passed the entrance to this old dancing venue, located at a backstreet near downtown. When speaking about Fear Factory's live performances nowadays, one thing is always on most people's lips, Bell's clean sung parts. On the last couple occasions I've seen this band live, which happens to be four times in the last 20 months, these parts have gone from decent to bad and to worse. At tonight's gig, it was working okay when he wasn't giving it full throttle and held it back a bit, but when he gave it all, it wasn't that good. Perhaps it's time to call Ozzy's staff and use his equipment? Not one of those things you want to do, but of two bad things, I guess it's for the better. On the other hand, his voice is still doing just fine when it's enraged and violent, which actually equals to ninety-five percent of his lines. The Californian industrial metallers however gave everything expected
and the music is still brilliant and brutal. A couple of newer songs,
three to be exact, and a bunch of their classic ones made this gig into
something worth leaving my couch for on this Saturday night. Sadly still
no songs from the Archetype album, but I hope guitarist Dino Cazares will
eventually swallow his pride and play songs off that album, even if he
wasn't in the band at that point. He anyway masters his riffs and the
new boys in the band are even more tight now than last time I saw them
during the summer festivals. According to Bell, this was the best response
they've had thus far on this trek and the band performed with grace, brutality
and professionalism all through. Performance: 7 chalices
of 10 Setlist: Devin Townsend ProjectAfter being showed a bunch of short, crazy films on the big screen during the break, Devin enters the stage at 22.45 and high, or actually low, fives the front row, walks up the mic and asks "Are you guys ready for some awkward heavy metal?". That pretty much says it all. Mr. Townsend, with one longbearded man on each side, tonight gives a lesson in difference and oddity. Make no mistake, this is a solo act to one hundred percent and even if the other bandmembers do a good job, all light falls on the character on center stage. This man is a showman all through. Lunatic, clown, normal or weird, makes no difference. During this performance, his appearance is just as important as the music. When thinking of it, I believe I watched his moves for about ninety percent of the set. The songs are just as diverse as everything else and this diversity gets so common that in the end, it gets identical and the multiplicity is somewhat gone. The music speaks for itself, as he has a solid career with different constellations and the fans just love every minute of his set. Tonight I see no winner or loser. Both were equally good in their own
way. DTP had more fans, but Fear Factory's crowd were wilder and more
diehard. The lightshow on both sets was a disaster. A little green here
and a little blue or red there. Just take a look at the YouTube links
below and see for yourself. The sound quality during Fear Factory's set
could have been better, especially when the speakers crackled on a couple
occasions. Both, things that make my rating lower, just because I try
to weigh everything in. If you have a chance on the remainder of this
tour to catch a show, I suggest you do so, because both acts make your
money's worth. Performance: 7 chalices
of 10 Setlist:
(might be slightly incorrect) Related links: |