20-01-2017 Insomnium

[schema type=”event” evtype=”MusicEvent” name=”20-01-2017 Insomnium” description=”Support: Barren Earth & Wolfheart” street=”Grünspan” city=”Hamburg” country=”DE” ]

An evening of pure Finnish melodic death metal madness was waiting for the fans on a cold evening in Hamburg. The mighty masters of Finnish death metal, Insomnium, have released their latest concept album “Winter’s Gate” last year and they recently embarked on a tour in Europe to support the record. Supporting them were the Finnish bands Wolfheart and Barren Earth.

Due to my busy personal schedule I had to skip Wolfheart and managed to get into the area in the middle of Barren Earth‘s set.  The venue was fully packed so it was obvious that the audience was not only there for the headliners Insomnium. Surely, a band like Barren Earth also has a dedicated fanbase since they have been in the scene for quite a while. Although I managed to catch Barren Earth in the middle of their set, I have to say that they caught my attention from the first moment. I am not sure if the audience felt the same way though as it was obvious that they were eagerly waiting for Insomnium. One could say that the band was maybe a bit too progressive/doom for an evening like this and especially for people who were waiting for some death metal but I could see some people who knew the lyrics and sang along.

Time for Insomnium… As soon as the lights went out, the audience cheered loudly for them. As the band announced, they were to play the Winter’s Gate album in its entirety so it was definitely a mind-blowing experience to ‘feel’ the cold vibe of the album from the beginning to the end. It’s not so easy playing an album consisting of 1 hour non-stop and I have to say that I was a bit skeptical at first but the band managed to a great job and gave their best. I could tell that they were definitely in the mood and proud of the new album. One thing that I would have loved to see would be the band singing the clean choir parts in the album. Instead, they chose to focus on the growls. Nevertheless, the band got a great feedback from the audience; there was no dull moment while they played the entire record. Everyone headbanged and cheered along to the songs.

After a short break from the whole “Winter’s Gate” madness, the band came back to play some old classics, which was a surprise! The band played some songs like “The Gale”, “Change of Heart” and “Only One Who Waits” as well as songs “While We Sleep” and “The Promethean Song” from the previous album. They closed the set with “Weighed Down With Sorrow” and thanked the fans again and again. As a fan who has seen the band before, I have to say that this was the best Insomnium show that I have been at; not only because the band was definitely ‘feeling’ it but also in terms of lights, sound and stage presence, they have nailed it! It was such a great experience to see the band’s evolution in 2 sets and to feel the true Finnish death metal vibe. Thanks to the bands for a great evening!

Basak Günel