26-10-2012 Leprous

Support: Ørkenkjøtt, Persefone, Loch Vostok; Venue: Boerderij, Zoetermeer (Netherlands)
By: Sabine van Gameren

The Norwegian ban Leprous was on a headliner tour through Europe. They guys brought a couple of bands along with them for their fans to enjoy.

Ørkenkjøtt was the first band of the evening. The band is also from Norway and exists since 2005. The first look at them may hint into a visual kei influenced style. Live they have a more Prog Rock sound and with these elements combined you get a collection of oddities presented right in your face. The first part their performance seem to work quite well, the guys were trying to make a show and while the venue wasn’t filled yet it seem to work but after a while the guys went on and on with a crazy performance which give a bit fake impression, as if they have been too drunk to stand straight, rolling over the floor. Nice, but the music seemed better at the start and the audience is not as impressed as they might have expected.

From Andorra the band Persefone was giving acte de présence. The band combines Progressive with Death Metal giving it some more aggressive edge. The band has a following here as it seems. While playing their songs the band shows having a good combination of guitars and keys that make the music catchy when needed and with some strong vocals the strength of their sound gets highlighted. As a little surprise for the audience the guys play the theme of Star Wars which makes people smile obviously. A couple of songs come after that, but one thing is sure, Persefone won the hearts from Dutch by being just Persefone. No extra drama in their show is needed for that.

The Swedish band Loch Vostok seems a little different here tonight. Some calmer music at first, focus on the intensity that builds during their set rather than raging on from the start. A bit of different approach. The vocals are standing out most during the gig, making a raw impressing but yet it is brought with a certain flow that gives it a remarkable twists. On stage you don’t have to expect a whole show of them as the band seem to let the music do the talking more and that works for them. This year the band released their album “V: The Doctrine” of which they played material most. It was a nice performance which gave a bit of a break between Persefone and Leprous as the band has a different energy level than those.

And energetic is something that will never miss out on a Leprous show, that is for sure. The band released their album “Bilateral” last year which results in most of their audience knowing the songs by heart and while the hair is flying all around the stage due to their active performance it is clear that the guys know how to make the show work. With many people enjoying the energy and the catchy side of the music you may not forget to check out the riffs played by the guitarist. Quite interesting and innovative. While the band switches from slower moments to more energetic ones there is always something going on. The band has video art playing while they perform sometimes a bit remarkable footage for the music but yet it adds some extra atmosphere to the show. So this headliner tour may have brought loads of people on the road for the guys. While the guys played about 1,5 hour they have the time to show all they are up to in a most diverse way. The tour is over by now, and the guys work on a new release right now. More about that in our soon to be published interview with the guys.