| METALIUM + AVALON |
November 14, 2000 |
MADRID |
Metalium played in Spain last year for the
first time... and now the new metal heroes came back. I was waiting for this gig for
three months and finally on Tuesday the 14th Metalium played in Madrid in order to
kick ass once again!! I went to the concert venue three hours before the show did start:
the time was 6 PM. I spend a good time meeting people (metal fans & band members) and having fun.
At 9:15 PM the doors opened and I took a good place in the first row. The opening band
was the german band AVALON. These guys
have a new album called "Eurasia", which was produced by Sasha Paeth. It's a mixture
of European melodic power metal with traditional Asian sounds in the unmistakable Avalon style.
Traditional percussions and indian sitars can be heard together with powerful metal-riffs.
The audience gave them an enthusiastic welcome and they played 7 or 8 songs.
Song by song the audience got in a good mood. Their singer, Chitral Somapala,
is pretty good. A new member has joined the band this year, the fantastic
drummer Jacques Voutay, who did a great job too. Their 45-minutes appearance
was very well received and generally the band was good.
At 10:35 PM aprox. (I can't remember) the lights turned off and Henning
Basse, Lars Ratz, Matthias Lange, Jack Frost and Mark Cross, the guys from
METALIUM, came on stage. The stage
looked pretty cool with great large backdrop and two giant flags on
the sides of the stage. The show started with the intro called "The Elements",
followed by the songs "Fight" and "Dream of Doom" from their first album
"Millennium Metal - Chapter One". The presentation on stage, the sound... all
fit perfectly!! The guys gave us some pure, fast and furious Metal with
"Stygian Flames". During this song, Lars Ratz almost set the stage on fire
with his flame show ! Then some moments of "rest", the semi-ballad
"Metamorphosis" followed by the "Prophecy" piano ballad.
Henning Basse proved to me and the rest of the fans that he is one of
the best singers nowadays... what a great voice, guy!!! The metal hymns
followed one by one: "Metalians", "Years Of Darion", "Metalium", "Inner
Sight"... Jack Frost, successor to Chris Caffery, comes from New Jersey and is
known from his activities with Seven Witches.
He already introduced himself as a Metalium member during the previous European
tour and he proved once again that he is a true "metal animal". Jack and
Matthias Lange were in great form with their guitars and the new drummer, Mark Cross,
did a great perfomance as well. Lars Ratz was moving all the time,
feeling every second of the show and banging his head to death!!!! They
proved us that THEY LIVE TO PLAY LIVE and it's clear that they also enjoy
themselves on stage. They left the stage for two minutes and then the band came
out again to play encores. It was time for their hymn "State Of Triumph" with
Henning singing some lines in spanish... a very pleasant surprise for me 
and for their cover of Deep Purple's "Smoke On The Water". People went crazy with
the fast and furious "Steel Avenger" with incredible vocal perfomance by Henning
Basse (he really kicks ass!). "Erania" and "Free Forever" were their 2
last songs, with all the audience singing. The sound was good and clear and
their set list was pretty good, a great mix of both albums ("Millennium Metal" &
"State Of Triumph") If you are a fan of true & pure german Metal don't miss
the chance to see them live, 'cause you won't be disappointed... I just hope to
see them live again soon. -Review & photos by Marina-
| METALIUM SET-LIST |
INTRO, Fight, Dream Of Doom, Eye Of The Storm Stygian Flames,
Break The Spell, Metamorphosis, Prophecy, Metalians, Years Of Darion, Metalium,
Inner Sight, State Of Triumph, Smoke On The Water, Revelation, Steel Avenger, Erania
& Free Forever.
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