23-02-2013 Winter Ends

Venue: Die Werkstatt, Cologne (Germany)
By: Sabine van Gameren

Technically the winter still goes on for another month, but Germany celebrates the end of it already. Cologne was hosting a party called Winter Ends but while the snow is decorating the streets the end does not seem to be there yet. Nevertheless a party is always welcome and so come the venue Werkstatt was filled up anyway.

The Beauty of Drowning is the first one this Saturday. Their music is pretty calm and melancholic to begin with. It is focussed around intensity which does not really come alive here at the stage. The vocals are the cause for the split in it. The clean vocals do not really come of while when it becomes more aggressive, the vocals are suddenly more impressive. Guitars bring a major part of the atmosphere and those come out a lot better. Yet as a total the music does not come out strongest as it could have been. Not bad, but not reaching its fullest potential.

The Dark Rock formation Voodoma has recently released their album “Bridges To Disturbia” but failed to leave a great impression on the Tempelores team. Today they would be on the stage so a good chance they would revenge themselves today. The band partly succeeded with that. They had a clear line in their set, the tracks have a clear connection, but the question is if they capture the attention of the audience. Not really, the set was perhaps two songs too long. What speaks for them with this live performance though, is the fact that they seem to bring the music with a passion, which was missing on their album. Therefore its proven we might expect more of them in future.

As much as a band can fail to leave an impression, others are there to completely blow you away. Take for example this band called Crud. It already starts with their very own genre description: ‘Orgasm Rock’. Oh yes! Well thought songs sung by a vocalist with such a deep dark sultry voice that we love in many other bands. Ladies, you can put your 50 Shades of Grey on Ebay, here is something better! And so this band brings these tracks live while the heat is warming up and the audience is going wild for the first time this festival. Observing a band, a threesome of musicians that seem to work as a solid team bringing such a passionate collection of emotions is a true pleasure. Crud did a great job.

Guerilla Tree is a project that started in 2010. The music is melodic yet has a progrock influence within it. The band likes to tease their listeners fully before they present a climax within tracks which seem to be a nice game for them. Great guitar parts are entertaining you for a great deal and the band brings in some smooth transitions between several parts rather than surprising you with an overwhelming change of energy. Yet, for some of the audience the songs seem to be a bit too long, which is a shame as they surely have some nice tracks. For a longer show for a mixed audience the show element of the performance may be vital to capture the audience a bit longer.

Metal formation The Very End came on the stage, basically a last minute show for them as they were replacing another band which had to cancel due to illness of one of the band members. Yet they seem to have their set together, a strong and vehemence one to be exact as the guys let no time go to waste to bring up the tempo a bit. A charismatic frontman helps to get themselves noticed. The band brings their sound with a melodic edge and yet it never goes into the overhand. Perhaps these guys won’t bring you something new, sometimes a bit more of an own face would make that you remember them a bit longer, but fair enough the guys have the skills so whatever they bring comes with splendid quality. Songs that stand out in the set are “Iron Sky” and “Sixes And Nines”.

Mirrored in Secrecy was having their final show with guitarist Jeremy. A little less than a year ago the band released an album “Days of Renewal” of which we said it gave the impression the band is one you rather see live. Today was the last chance to do so and unfortunately the start of the show seemed very messy. Female vocals are hardly to be heard, drums were overwhelming the whole sound not the best way to have a last show. Yet after a couple of songs it all improved. Compared the album you can surely say that they are more interesting to see live, the guitars are coming out so much more here and the band seem to bring a lot of passion into their sound which makes it come alive more. A nice way to say goodbye to their guitarist, with a filled venue and a nice show.

Headlining was the band Lacrimas Profundere. Surrounded with darkness and smoke the Gothic rockers get on stage with the illusion of mystery surrounding them. Easy reference to make is The 69 Eyes and so it seems the band is a regularly supporting the Helsinki vampires so some inspiration from there seems plausible. The band plays tracks from their first release like “Again It’s Over” and “My Velvet Little Darkness” which seem to be favourites of the audience, as well as some more recent tracks as “The Fear of Being Alone” which gives the band a more mature sound. Overall the band plays an interesting show, a nice way to declare the winter ended. Now let’s see if the climate agrees with that.