» Candlemass 2005 11 19  
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Reviewed by Thomas
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Tourname: Hellhounds Of Doom And Thrash
Headliner: Candlemass/Destruction
Special guest: Deathchain, After All
City: Gothenburg, Sweden
Venue: Kåren
Date: 19 Nov 2005

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Destruction

German thrash veterans Destruction, lead by Schmier, was a new acquaintance live to me and my impressions is they must be able to do better than this. They started in good thrash metal manor and they kept it going but it never got anywhere from there. As the band kept playing nothing really happened, and apart from short glimpses of something better than just good it never got going. Schmier and his two companions delivered their thrash without any fuzz but it never really looked as they were that enthusiastic about playing this evening.

Also, they had the sound going against them as the guitar sounded like shit, or didn't sound at all. It got drowned by the bass and the drums and of course much was lost with that when the melodies couldn't be heard as they are supposed to. I never have gotten hooked by Destruction but felt that with their latest album that it could actually become a good show but their songs just don't cut it live for me.

Destruction became monotonous in the end and it wasn't until the encore before their performance lifted, and mostly in the last song The Alliance Of Hellhoundz where Messiah from Candlemass shared the vocals with Schmier. Their set felt to be a bit too long and although it was good, I expected way more from Destruction considering their reputation and long career.

4 chalices of 10


(sorry, no setlist)

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Candlemass

There are worse ways to start a concert than with a song like Mirror Mirror. Candlemass got going right from the start but there was something missing on stage. I realized that they where one man short. Due to personal reasons, Messiah explained, guitarist Mats Björkman wasn't able to take part this evening. Lars Johansson took solely on the guitars and even if he did it well, it was painfully obvious that one guitar was missing. Candlemass that usually sound mighty, sounded a bit thin because of this and the might shone with its absence at far too many times.

Despite being one guy short the remains of the band were in a happy and cheerful mood, perhaps a bit too much since it appeared to make them unfocused. And Dark Are The Veils was apparently a hard nut to crack for them, Jan Lind on the drums screwed up twice and they had to take the song from the beginning before they could get it right on the third attempt. No harm done and they laughed off and despite their heavy and doom filled music it was a cheerful concert.

Vocalist Messiah is a great frontman who acts with authority as well as that he has a mighty voice perfectly suited for the doom of Candlemass. It sounded really good and his vocal performance was probably the one thing that worked the best this evening. They played a good mix of songs even if they could have left out one or two of their new songs in favor of some old ones instead. Copernicus for instance, from their latest album, is one of those that make the concert slow down and even if Candlemass isn't exactly known for being a speedy band it can become too much of the slow stuff live.

Even though one man was missing and there where some screw ups every now and then, Candlemass did well, but I know that they can do much better than this even if bassist Leif Edling looked totally exhausted by the time they where done. The real highlights came too seldom this time and they never really got the momentum going at times that where long enough, but when they kick they surely kick hard as a mule, although a more focused Candlemass kicks a hell of a lot more often.

5 chalices of 10



(sorry, no setlist)

Related links:

www.candlemass.se
www.destruction.de