31-03-2016 Moonspell

[schema type=”event” evtype=”MusicEvent” name=”31-03-2016 Moonspell” description=”Supports: Aeverium, Soulline By: Sabine van Gameren” sdate=”2016-03-31″ street=”Metropool” city=”Hengelo” country=”NL” ]
Moonspell makes a new round through Europe and this night they played in Hengelo, Netherlands. Not too far from the German border.

It is a pity that not that many people manage to get to this venue early. The German Aeverium plays for about 25-30 people. The band makes Melodic Metal and in the way they present themselves they remind me a bit to the band Deadlock. Yet, musically they may be less alike.

Vocalist Marcel draws a lot of attention with his voice and powerful performance. It gets complimented by the lady of the band: Aeva. A charming lady that can do a lot with her voice but seems still in search of the far edge of what she can do. Maybe sometimes playing it a bit too safe, she could easily take a bit more risk here and there. A challenge for the future. For those who enjoyed the show of today there is the album “Break Out” that released in 2015.

Second support act of the day is Soulline. They come from Switzerland and make Melodic Death since the year 2000. Last year they released their fourth album “Welcome My Sun” and now they are playing here tonight. Their music is a bit more aggressive than the other two bands of this evening and as they show us fast, they have quite some tempo into it. Guitars in the band are skillful and a pleasure to watch live, but if you look at the whole the band does not really put that stamp on it that says: Soulline.
In fact, after Moonspell had played I already forgot their name. The band does not set themselves apart from what many others do, while the skills are there. What they play is of good quality, it simply does not have much that makes you remember them for what they put in themselves. A missed chance.

Headlining was Moonspell. The band released “Extinct” last year and with more than two decades on the counter the band has created quite a following and a deep discography to dig from. Besides the band’s latest album the focus of today is also on the “Irreligious” album which has been released about twenty years ago. Interesting to see if that regardless the time apart between that album and the band’s latest, these songs are blending together very well.

Of course, besides the mentioned albums the band also takes on to the other Moonspell classics like “Vampiria”, much appreciated by the audience and as much as the audience appreciates the band, the band also makes it clear to appreciate the Dutch fans, the welcomeness in Netherlands up to a level that some people around us even start wondering what happened at the other dates that makes them speak in such a stress about this.

But more was ahead, some people sing along to their favorites, while others are banging their heads. After the band has left the stage, they returned for an encore and with “The Future Is Dark” playing it starts snowing. A lovely view for a song that comes with much emotion and passion. The evening is ended with “Full Moon Madness” and looking at the set of tonight you easily see why Moonspell remains relevant after all these years. A set that covers such a long span in their career and yet comes together so well while the band is known to change what they do whenever they feel like it. Pure class.