Infected Rain
DragonForce
Amaranthe
How to spend a Friday night better than going to a concert? Especially when the bands you will see that night are Infected Rain, DragonForce and Amaranthe? Exactly, there is no better way to spend a Friday night. The show is completely sold out, no box office tonight and the people queueing up in front of Schlachthof Wiesbaden are countless. Once inside, I find the merch stalls of all three bands lined up to the left to the entrance as usual. The venue is filling fast, and the audience is very mixed, given that all three band play very different metal genres.
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Infected Rain
Special guests of this double headline tour are Infected Rain from Moldova. The four-piece band around colourful vocalist Elena Cataraga not only present their latest release “Time” but also their new bassist Alice Lane. Well known Vadim „Vidick“ Ozhog on guitar and drummer Eugene Voluta complete the band.
What a progress
Infected Rain is maybe best described as Progressive Groove Metal, but in fact the band doesn’t fit in one genre only anymore. It is amazing how the individual skills of the musicians developed over the years. Of course, the vocalist, better known as Lena Scissorhands stands out as the front woman. She switches between harsh growls and clean vocals with ease as if it is nothing.
Crazy dreadlocks
Vidick doesn’t stand back a lot. I wonder, how he manages to dance around like crazy with his dreadlocks and still hits the notes on his guitar. Alice on bass is much calmer and it is pure eye pleasure watching her fingers rushing over the fretboard. The real backbone is Eugene on drums with his precise drumming style, he steers the band from the back while the three front musicians command the audience. Sadly, Infected Rain’s set is “just” barely 45 minutes long. I can only recommend looking out for their next headline tour and a full set!
Brave Crowd-Surfer
By the way, during their slot, a female fan crashed to the ground when she tried to do crowd surfing. Lena noticed it and interrupted the show. She was really concerned, made sure paramedics were coming and asked if she was okay. After she had been checked, Lena encouraged her to continue the ride. And the brave fan did so. This is a great attitude shown by both of them.
Setlist:
The Realm of Chaos, PANDEMONIUM, VIVARIUM, Fighter, DYING LIGHT, NEVER TO RETURN, BECAUSE I LET YOU, Sweet, Sweet Lies
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DragonForce
When you entered the venue, from the look of the stage set-up, it was quite clear, that the second band tonight will be London based DragonForce. DragonForce come along with the two guitarists Herman Li and Sam Totman, Marc Hudson on vocals, drummer Gee Anzalone and Alicia Vigil on bass. She was the last member to join the band. Keep an eye on her own band Vigil Of War. On this tour DragonForce are completed by an additional third guitarist as guest musician.
Light speed is not fast enough
The concert day is also release day of the new album “Warp Speed Warriors” and nomen est omen. Everybody who is interested in video and computer games, especially good old Guitar Hero knows them as one of the fastest metal bands in the universe. I am not sure, if any song is slower than 200 bpm….
Computer game nerds
Being computer game nerds themselves means, the whole stage and the whole show of DragonForce is set up up as one itself. What follows, as soon as all six musicians enter the stage, is nothing but a high-speed firework of guitar solos, confetti rain, flashes, laser rays and all you need to pump your blood up with pure adrenaline.
More strings
Listening to each song, it becomes very clear, why DragonForce hired a third guitar player for the tour. The sound, that all three of them create together with back bone Gee and Alicia, is very tight. There are so many notes at once, don’t try to count them. At least Marc doesn’t, he counts on his clear vocal skills instead and they don’t leave him alone.
None’s hurt
After 90 minutes full of Power Speed Metal the show comes to an end. This time nobody crashes down. Even though the speed of the music has been far beyond neck breaking, no one has been injured but most of the audience are left speechless with a happy face.
Setlist:
Revolution Deathsquad, Cry Thunder, Power of the Triforce, Soldiers of the Wasteland, The Last Dragonborn, Fury of the Storm, Doomsday Party, My Heart Will Go On (Céline Dion cover), Wildest Dreams (Taylor Swift cover), Through the Fire and Flames
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Amaranthe
It takes a bit of time to change the stage set-up completely. This allows the people to pay a visit to merch, bar, restrooms or to smoke a cigarette outside of the venue. Then it is time for the third band tonight, Amaranthe from Sweden. Remember, it is a double headline-tour so they and DragonForce are on equal level and switch the positions during the tour.
More vocals
While DragonForce presented three guitars, Amaranthe only have one, Olof Mörck. Instead, they have three vocalists, Elize Ryd on female vocals, Nils Molin on male clear vocals and their latest member, Mikael Sehlin as growler. Johan Andreassen on bass and drummer Morten Løwe Sørensen complete Amaranthe.
Slightly Slower
Even though the musical style of Amaranthe can’t be described as Slow Metal, it is not nearly as fast as DragonForce. It is a catchy mix between Melodic Death Metal and Metalcore, mostly depending on the lead vocals.
The Backbones
I wouldn’t want to be the guitarist next to these three excellent singers. Anyone lesser than Olof would clearly live a life in their mighty shadows. His play lets him stand out instead. Johan and Morten prove to be the perfect and ultimate force to sustain the sound of Amaranthe.
We Will Rock You
Needless to say, Amaranthe present a mix of old and well-known hits and songs of “The Catalyst”, their 2024 release. These songs rush through the time and out of a sudden the clock strikes for the last round, the last song. Of course, it is a sing-along of “This Song” together with the audience of the sold-out show.
Setlist:
Fearless, Viral, Digital World, Damnation Flame, Maximize, Strong, PvP, Crystalline, The Catalyst, Interference, Re-Vision, Boom!1, Amaranthine, The Nexus, Archangel, That Song, Drop Dead Cynical
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Equal and perfect level
Tonight was a night of perfect entertainment. None of the bands was better or worse than the others. Even Infected Rain with their shorter set could enchant the audience on a level equal to both headliners, DragonForce and Amaranthe. I loved that the show tonight was sold out, it gives me hope that the Corona years with half empty venues are history now. It gives me hope for the upcoming festival season as well. It is spring now, temperature rises and so does the appetite for real live music, no matter if in a small club or a big arena or something in between.
Online:
Please buy merch and physical music or downloads from the bands’ official sources and don’t stream music for free because it steals your artists’ income
Proof reading by DerminBoad
All photos by Friend.X aka Mr. Deep at Schlachthof