Dark Tranquillity - Insomnium

DARK TRANQUILLITY are a welcome guest in Graz and the band round Mikael Stanne fortunately shows up in the well known Orpheum on their „Where Death Is Most Alive“ – tour again. On this rainy Sunday, approx. 500 metal fans fill the location, partly coming from Slovenia. The supporting act INSOMNIUM opened up the evening for us with dark Death Metal; unfortunately we missed the third band SCAR OF THE SUN because of the early starting time.

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INSOMNIUM – Where The Last Note Broke

The actual work is among the most outstanding albums of the year 2009, because the Finns :: INSOMNIUM :: bundled all their energies – therefore we hoped for an excellent concert. What a pity that the sound was not the best one, being quite dull with the guitars mixed to the background. This had no influence on the band’s motivation and the musicians spread good humor with their dark tunes, mainly from their album Across The Dark. Eminently the tracks Where The Last Wave Broke (a downright catchy tune!) and The Harrowing Years enthused the audience. Every now and then, the clear voice came across slightly aslope, but this deficit was balanced by the continuous high-class guitar melodies. A brand new song called Weather The Storm featured the program and this track got all trademarks including driving guitar parts and a calm break. The one and only thing the group has to change is the contact with the fans – it needs a little bit more than “you are great!” to win over the fans completely. Finally, the band could not manage to unfold the magic of their dark hymns on stage. By the way, they lost their keyboarder somewhere on the road... :-)
Setlist: Equivalence, Down With The Sun, Where The Last Wave Broke, The Killjoy, Weather The Storm, The Harrowing Years, The Gale, Mortal Share, Devoid Of Caring, Weighed Down With Sorrow

DARK TRANQUILLITY – Where Music Is Most Alive

Afterwards, the Swedes in person of Mikael Stanne showed how to interact with the crowd: the singer rushed on stage and wanted to embrace all people :) The other musicians played their part more in the background and the entertaining vocalist was the center part. On this evening, the music was only a part of the show, because projections supported and boosted the intense impact. Perfectly adjusted videos completed the whole concept, which offered a nice overview of the career. :: DARK TRANQUILLITY :: played some new tracks from We Are The Void, like the catchy tune The Fatalist, some middle-old compositions from Haven or ancient songs from The Gallery. I like the instance that the group offers space for all chapters of their career in very authentic manner. The most emotional reactions were caused by Monochromatic Stains and the grandiose track ThereIn. The vocals, including the clear timbre, sounded perfect and the technical aspect was very felicitous. During the encores, the instrumentalists showed also an extrovert acting and banged off their heads. It seems that DARK TRANQUILLITY can’t play a bad show, but they could not enthuse completely, because of missing surprises and some routine.
Setlist: At The Point Of Ignition, The Fatalist, Damage Done, Lost To Apathy, Monochromatic Stains, The Gallery, The Wonders At Your Feet, Iridium, Shadow In Your Blood, Focus Shift, Icipher, Dream Oblivion, Misery´s Crown, Haven, Punish My Heaven // Final Resistance, ThereIn, Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive)