28-09-2013 Poisonblack

Support: Grendel; Venue: Club Teatria, Oulu (Finland)
By: Sabine van Gameren

Poisonblack comes with a brand new album and with a new album there is a tour. We went to Oulu, the band’s hometown to see how these new tracks would do live.

In the wonderful hall of Teatria it was Grendel who would start this evening. The Finnish band Grendel so to say, as our readers may remember the Dutch industrial formation called Grendel which stood out at Amphi festival so much as well. These Finns have been around since 2000 and their latest release was a semi-acoustic one from earlier this year. Here in Teatria the guys are taking it a bit more wilder so to say. Energetic songs are played, while the guys bring the energy alive in their performance also. While the personality of vocalist Mikko Virtanen seems naturally dominant it is hard to miss out on drummer Jarkko who seems in his more modest way bring his presence alive very well. Grendel played a strong set here, certainly one you don’t mind having along.

“Lyijy” is out now, but the band did not started with the songs of that release. To greet their audience after some long studio time they started with the confidential sound of songs like “Soul in Flames” and “Bear The Cross” which causes the atmosphere starts to get going right away. On this large stage the band has the space to move around and makes the lightshow come out very well. Quite a colourful spectrum is to be seen as the whole venue lights up in color and makes sure that even those in the back are dragged into the show. Even though the record is not out for too long it seems like the fans have made themselves familiar with the tracks already as the band played their first song of the new release “The Flavour of The Month”.

It shows that even though the band evolved during the years that tracks like these can go hand-in-hand with their new material. The transitions go flawlessly and that speaks for them as the songs are not alike. Halfway the set the band also takes time to take a step back from the hardrocking tracks and play the more intimate tracks like “Scars” and “Invisible”. From the new album it was “The Halfway Bar” which stood out most for its very passionate outcome. Not only the vocals are coming from deep, but the instrumental parts are showcasing the band very well. In the encore the band also brings their latest single “Home Is Where The Sty Is” to the stage and seeing the response of the audience it is one that we will hear a lot more.

With this concert of Poisonblack in their own hometown, we saw a band bringing a confident set with songs that speak to everyone. “Lyijy” is one that sticks!