Tonight a power metal supreme force strikes the heart of Islington – a perfect trifecta of legends, familiar faces and newcomers. It’s not too often we get to see such a brilliant line-up assemble in the same package, and of course we just had to witness it!
Divine Ascension
This evening I am formally introduced to Australia’s Divine Ascension, of whom I have heard to be a rising force in progressive / power metal. Those rumours are completely merited opening up with ‘Liberator’ with the band putting their full might into their stage performance and musical emission.
The band plays a style of symphonic metal that lies towards a more progressive stature, with the band members making a statement through the perfect execution of every note on their instruments. The vocals of frontwoman Jennifer Borg have a profound impact on the performance fluctuating between the sweet to the super, and the band as a whole looking just happy to be performing tonight. They love their music and they want you to love it to – judging from the response they got as an unknown support band, big things could be in store for Divine Ascension.
The country of Australia has been producing some top notch progressive metal as of late in a place that is typically associated with metalcore. Divine Ascension have proven tonight that they intend to be the cream of the crop of this new wave of Australian metal talent. We are very much anticipating a return to UK shores in a larger capacity!
Gloryhammer
A large portion of tonight’s audience were in attendance to give a homecoming welcome to the epic unit that is Gloryhammer. As the only date the band are performing in the UK, persons from every corner of the land have come to witness the band perform tracks from their latest opus, ‘Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards‘, and witness some of that tounge-in-cheek humour project co-ordinator Christopher Bowes has become famous for.
It’s quite clear now that Gloryhammer are no longer a side project with the production value and stage show being notched up to 11. In full costume under the ‘Angus McFife’ theme, the band burst on stage to the sound of ‘Rise of the Chaos Wizards‘, with the largest impact being the perfect mix of what is relatively complex power metal.
The members of the band adopt their stage persona’s in a very comic manner, with the obsession of Astral Hammer’s defeating phantom goblins taking a recurring theme throughout the show, and yes, there was an actual Astral Hammer. No goblins though. But as the ironic ‘Universe on Fire‘ flowed from the PA it was easy enough to imagine goblins being slain to the beat.
By the ending of the ever-popular ‘Unicorn Invasion of Dundee‘ it’s apparent now that this band can be taken a step further. Gloryhammer tick all the right boxes in the sense that their stage show will always be brilliant with that humourous and satirical approach while the band actually play some excellent power metal. They are a band for the die-hards and the curious, and can seriously entertain anyone which is exactly what they have done tonight. What we want now is a Gloryhammer headline tour to see what’s next for Angus McFife.
Stratovarius
We’ve already been overwhelmed with a duo of superb performances this evening, but it is about to get so much better. Stratovarius, who seem to play the UK once every blue moon are about to hit the stage. There’s no arguing that the band have achieved legendary status and have cemented their place in the top-tier of power metal. What will be satisfying the curiosities of the Strato fans this evening is how the band fair in performing their latest material, given their shift to a more technical and progressive avenue, with focus being on their phenomenal new effort ‘Eternal‘.
It’s almost instant that you can see longtime members Timo Kotipelto and Jens Johansson are complete veterans of the industry. Every stage movement and every note hit are in sync with the music and provide that natural dramatic flair that only comes with experience. Every member impressing with their technical skill in the opener ‘My Eternal Dream‘, it’s when the band move into ‘Eagleheart‘ that they show why they have embedded themselves in that top tier.
Audience members sing-a-long to the hooks and choruses with their heart and soul, and have shown that the UK really have had dedicated Stratovarius fans that have stuck with them through the last 20 years. It was much appreciated when the band play classics such as ‘S.O.S‘ and ‘Against The Wind‘.
One of the highlights of the evening was being treated to watch members Matias Kupiainen and Lauri Porra shred their guitar and bass respectively in the new tracks, expertly executing every note that stopped every fan in their tracks to stand a watch in awe, and suddenly hit back to the classics in ‘Black Diamond‘ with Johansson flawlessly soloing on the keyboards.
The band sign off with their fan favourite in ‘Hunting High and Low‘, where Kotipelto tests the might of the London audience. It’s safe to say the fans passed, and Stratovarius will make a return to UK shores and some point if not on this album cycle. Even those who were here specifically at the show for Gloryhammer showed their massive respect to the band that has had such a gargantuan impact of the rise of European power metal. Hats off Stratovarius – you win again!
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