Ayreon Effect

Back in 2019, Fenya and Bobby and I went to see Delain at the Starlite Room, and Anneke van Giersbergen was one of the opening acts. We adored her, especially when she  got a crowd of riled-up metalheads roaring out the chorus to Dolly Parton's "Jolene."

She mentioned working with a live show for something called Ayreon that I was unfamiliar with, and did an acoustic cover of "Valley of the Queens" which was beautiful and haunting. I looked up a few Ayreon songs and enjoyed them, but noticed the majority of their videos came from what turned out to have been a rare set of live performances from 2018.

Ayreon is a music project led by Dutch songwriter/composer/musician Arjen Anthony Lucassen since 1995, but similar to the Alan Parsons Project, was always intended to be a studio endeavour, focusing on rock opera-style concept albums. Their music is a rich melange of sounds, with their Wikipedia listing including descriptions of "progressive rock, progressive metal and power metal sometimes combined with genres such as folk, electronica, experimental and classical music." 

Intrigued by the few performances I had seen and the one album I had streamed ("Into the Electric Castle") I finally sat down and watched the entire Ayreon Universe concert, a 'greatest hits' live show from 2017 that included a tremendous range of musicians (most of who are Dutch and only three of which I recognized immediately, including Marko Hietala, formerly of Nightwish.

The entire concert can be viewed on YouTube and is a worthy evening for anyone who likes Nightwish, Trans-Siberian Orchestra and/or 70s-inspired space rock, or if you are just into a comprehensive survey or "Who's Who" of Dutch Rock/Metal Performers. It is wonderfully staged and features an astonishing 16 different vocalists who have all worked with Arjen before, and who vary greatly in style but are all tremendously gifted singers.

Highlights for me included the aforementioned "Valley of the Queens" with Anneke reprising her role from the album while joined by Marcela Bovio (MaYaN) and the incredible Floor Jansen of Nightwish. The harmonies alone on this one are worth the price of admission as far as I am concerned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbebO5BZi-I

The concert's BluRay release was announced with an excerpted video of "Everybody Dies" which includes Hansi Kursh of Blind Guardian as well as Floor, Mike Mills, Maggie Luyten and Tommy Karevik (Kamelot). It is a tremendously upbeat and fun song considering the bleak prognosis of its lyrics:

Doom, gloom, the world goes boom
None will be spared, so don't assume

Not ragged clothes, nor silvers spooned
You're all the same when extinction looms

No food supplies (No water supplies)
No power supplies (Or other supplies)
No compromise (Just say your goodbyes)
And everybody dies!

No explanation (Or clarification)
No information (Or justification)
Forget the whys (Just cover your eyes)
And everybody dies!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AAXtUdM7xE

The absolute standout for 14-year-old me was the raucous "Intergalactic Space Crusaders" (technically a product of a different Arjen Jucassen project, Star One). Not only does this song dramatize the discussion between two characters described as Loner and Idealist arguing between fight or flight regarding an impending space battle, it also includes tremendous backing vocals (one of whom is Floor's sister Irene!) on the chorus and is just too much fun, honestly: 

https://youtu.be/mDjomu33Xzc?si=uSZZwzBgjL8AFQmb

[loner]
I don’t care about your plans and schemes
Don’t give a damn ’bout your righteous dreams
All that I do, I do for myself
I never cared for anyone else

[idealist]
We have to save them, we have to try
We can’t just watch while the innocent die
Let’s steal this ship and start our crusade
Powerful allies will come to our aid

[loner] Seven fighters
[idealist] Navigators
[crew] Intergalactic space crusaders
[loner] Federation
[idealist] Dictators
[crew] No scruples, lethal traitors
[loner] Outriders
[idealist] Invaders
[crew] Intergalactic space crusaders
[loner] Domination
[idealist] Liberators
[crew] Fighting to survive

And not only is this song apparently an homage to the venerable British sci-fi tv show Blake's 7, it is specifically oriented around the second season finale - a tip of the nerd cap to you, Mr.. Lucassen; that is indeed a deep cut!

My final excerpt is "Theory of Everything" because of its amazing instrumentation, from the opening chords on a vintage Hammond B to the headbanging flute solo that surely made Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson gasp in admiration. Transitioning from the crunchiest power chords on guitar to soaring pianos and vocals from Mike Mills and later Marcelo Bovio - it is truly the most operatic feeling piece, at least to my untrained but appreciative ears.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3TxOaCZv0w

There is also a rare onstage performance by the seemingly introverted Arjen Lucassen himself, who says the only thing that scares him more than performing onstage is speaking in public. But this doesn't stop him from coming onstage to graciously and earnestly thank his fans and fellow performers. I think he can list me among those fans at this point too.

Like I said, you can watch the whole thing on YouTube, but I intend to pick it up on BluRay when I am next in the U.S. ($10 shipping to Canada? No thank you!) so I can listen to it at greater volume in surround sound.

If you happen to like what you hear and want to come over for a screening at some point, or want me to pick up a copy for you, just let me know!

Delain, Live with Anneke van Giersbergen and Amorphis

I'd seen Delain on two previous occasions as openers for Sonata Arctica and Nightwish, but missed them ont heir first headlining tour as they hit Edmonton during G&G last year. When I heard they were coming to the Starlite Room in October of this year, I was pretty excited, and the two new singles, "Masters of Destiny" and "Burning Bridges" (released just last week) did nothing to abate this.

So Fenya and I headed out to see these Dutch headbangers, along with two openers we'd never listened to. Her boyfriend Bobby joined us, dutifully taking notes for the same world music class Fenya had taken two years ago. Each student is required to visit a type of performance they'd bever seen before and then report back, and you could do worse for a power metal show than a band whose lead vocalist also has her masters in women's studies and has done papers on black woman s-f author Octavia Butler.

But first we got to encounter Anneke van Giersbergen. Anneke has been around metal and metal-adjacent acts for years(like Ayreon and The Gathering), and has recorded solo albums under her own name (and also as Agua de Annique) that rock fairly hard, but on this tour she is performing a stripped-down acoustic set.

She covers both her own material, her numerous collaborations and a few favourite covers, but what you need to know about Anneke is a) she has a tremendous voice and b) is completely adorable.

"I wrote this song 19 yeara ago," she said at one point, "which means I'm ... 30?" Pausing for the chuckles from the crowd, she said, "I was very young ... " (She certainly doesn't look the 46 Wikipedia claims she is.)

At one point, she said she wanted to play something a bit more uptempo, knowing a metal outfit was taking the stage immediately after her. Anneke confessed she only had two fast songs in her repertoire: one by Kiss and the other by Dolly Parton. She put the choice to the crowd as was delighted to hear a pronounced preference for The Smoky Mountain Songbird, and was grinning as the crowd of headbangers (and the three of us) joined in for a throaty chorus of "Jolene."

When Finland's Amorphis took the stage, I was pleased to hear a keyboard-heavy intro that bordered on the psychedelic prog rock my friend Dave and his brother exposed me to in my high school years. The crunchy guitars that followed were intricate and non-dissonant, but then lead singer Tomi Joutsen unleashed a deep, resonant and sustained death growl which you felt at least as much as you heard. Now, I like vocals and melody too much to be a fan of this vocal styling, but there is no mistaking its power and energy, especially live, where it had a literally visceral impact.

Astonishingly though, he switched effortlessly to clear baritone singing for the chorus, and Fenya and I shot each other a surprised look. Joutsen is no Andrea Boccelli, but his singing voice is quite solid, connects emotionally to his material and lets him provide his own counterpoint to the growls in his toolkit.

Best of all, they called Anneke back on stage to sing on "Amongst Stars," as she does on their latest album, Queen of Time. It's a brilliant duet in the classic power metal tradition, and van Giersbergen provides the very model of a soaring chorus.

The light will lure youTo lands forged by demiseTo the shores of deathThe blooming meadowsSeduce and intoxicateWith a deceiving scent

Follow the thread of goldDrift on its tideIt's a path of starsRide on the golden streamAnd break the wavesIn a trail of stars

I downloaded the album via Google Play because of this and am enjoying it way more than I anticipated.

At last Delain took the stage, but not without their own challenges. Rhythm guitarist Merel Bechtold left the band amicably in June to do her own thing, and drummer Joey de Boer had visa issues that prevented him coming to North America, so Amorphis drummer Jan Rechberger has been playing for both bands throughout this tour, a stunning display of endurance.

Lead singer Charlotte Wessels is one of Fenya's favourite vocalists, period, which surprises some people, what with Fenya being a self-described vocals snob, but she is the whole package: resonance, projection, energy, range and enough power to push a train.

The Thursday night crowd felt a little small to me, and in truth, I think more people might have come for Amorphis, but that didn't stop Wessels from engaging the crowd and keeping them on their toes, bouncing through high-energy numbers like "Fire with Fire" and "Suckerpunch." Best of all I finally got to hear "Stardust" live for the very first time before Delain wrapped up with the brilliant anti-bullying song "We Are the Others."

There were no encores, but it was a school night so that wasn't a tremendous disappointment for my young companions. For my part, I can't tell you what I enjoyed more: hearing one of my favourite bands live for the third time or discovering two new performers with rich discographies I am keen to explore. All in all, an excellent evening of musical boundary-widening!

A Weird and Wonderful Return to Form - Sonata Arctica's The Ninth Hour, Reviewed

The favourite sons of Kemi, Finland, Sonata Arctica are kind of an odd band, even by the standards of power metal. Defying categorization and reflecting different facets over the years, they started out sounding a lot like their inspiration, fellow Finns Stratovarius. They then moved to a speedy, thrashier sound, then tentatively explored something more progressive in 2004's Reckoning Night before fully committing to thematic explorations driven by keyboards and cinematic sounds with 2007's Unia.

Sonata Arctica are one of my favourite bands, so I am glad they are willing to change, evolve and explore, but the truth is, I found the last couple of albums fairly disappointing; Stones Grow Her Name (2012) was just not very enjoyable and barely got any repeat plays beyond the excellent (if poppy) "I Have A Right", while 2014's Pariah's Child was more familiar in some ways but still felt pedestrian. Neither album had the energy, drive or catchiness that marked their earlier efforts, and I began to wonder if my favourite record, The Days of Grays (2009), would go down as the last great Sonata Arctica release.

I needn't have worried.

The Ninth Hour, released last month, reminds me a lot of Reckoning Night, the first album I heard from the band. SA's ninth studio album is full of ripping metallic anthems and powerful piano driven ballads alike.

I'm not sure if the title refers to this being their ninth album, or a reference to the hour of his crucifixion in which Christ called out, asking why God had forsaken him. It is even more thematic than Reckoning Night, with a lot of songs dealing with the crude way we treat our planet, and yet it never devolves into an environmentalist screed. Instead, there is a hint of cynicism but more a tragic acknowledgment of our species cognitive dissonance at the heart of "We Are What We Are":

We could save our world, but we are what we are
We should love our Earth, but we are what we are
It takes care of our loved ones
But we are what we are…

Something that continues in "Fairytale":

It’s cold and we’re all snowed in
Vote yes for the global warming
Reaping the things the poor are sowing
What then are the polls showing?

Who’ll be the superseder,
The builder of the walls; a great leader
He’ll rape us all and say surprise….
and everything is fine.

(Sidebar: I dunno when he wrote this, but if he didn't base it on Trump intentionally, he may be precognitive.)

The variety of song subjects are still there though, with a tragic love song in "'Til Love's Done Us Apart", another werewolf tale in "Under the Shooting Stars", and best of all (for me anyways) is a full-on heaping serving of optimistic positivism in "Life".

"Life" is the second single for The Ninth Hour, and it is so cheesy it should come with cubes of French bread for dipping, but I emphatically don't care. Look at these lyrics:

Smile
Life is better alive
It is a dumb thing to say,
But the fact won’t wane away
Sing with someone today
When your team makes a game winning goal,
Get ready to sing

Lalalalaa….
With a friend who’s right beside you

Not since Opus' "Live is Life" has there been such a blunt but truthful tribute to the wonder and glory of not being dead. It embraces its cheeriness (and cheesiness) with giddy glee, and draws the listener in with a soaring, sing-along chorus full of actual la-la-las that I would love to hear live. (And they are in town on Nov. 26, so it is not out of the question!) The way I see it, regular metal has drama, death metal has psychodrama, but power metal has melodrama, so there is something for everybody, right?

Tony Kakko is one of my favourite male vocalists and a fine songwriter to boot, despite his occasional struggles with English prepositions and such (I can hardly fault the guy, since I don't know two words in Finnish.). Listening to him wail on the opening track and croon softly on the closer are a real treat, and he balances style and power majestically through this album.

Instrumental variation permeates The Ninth Hour too. Troy Donckley of Nightwish provides his trademark mournful pipes on "We Are What We Are", while the metronomic double bass drums of Tommy Portimo keep up the tempo on "Closer to an Animal". Blistering guitarwork by Elis Viljanen that has the sense and taste to fade into the background at will and solid basswork by Pasi Kaupinnen in his second outing with SA give the album its melodic backbone and power metal pedigree, but piano and soft bass take centre stage in "On The Faultline (Closure to an Animal)". The review by Angry Metal Guy has the right of it, I think: "...if Jim Steinman had been born in Finland, Meat Loaf would have sounded like The Ninth Hour."

All in all, I am having so much fun with the album on repeat that I have almost forgotten the trepidation that gripped me when I ordered the album unheard. Sonata Arctica is back in their sweet spot, with their strongest offering since The Days of Grays.

No Winspear Mosh Pit: Nightwish in Concert, Reviewed

Nightwish. At the Winspear.

It is simply not possible to overstate the awesomeness of having one of Europe's preeminent and influential power metal bands play in Edmonton's premiere concert venue.

For the majority of people who do not know that Nightwish is even a band, let alone what sort of music they play, let's clarify that they describe themselves as a 'symphonic power metal' group, originally built around crushing power chords, an eccentric keyboardist and songwriter, and an immensely talented mezzosoprano named Tarja Turunen. Skillfully weaving together heavy metal, opera, and symphonic and soundtrack music, they were considered pioneers in the burgeoning genre of power metal when they formed 20 years ago, and are Finland's third most popular recording artists (for comparison, Madonna is 11th).

To be completely honest, when the tour was announced, I was initially more interested in the opening acts of Delain and Sonata Arctica, having only a couple of Nightwish CDs in my collection. After purchasing their most recent album Endless Forms Most Beautiful (the first studio release with new lead vocalist Floor Jansen), I was eagerly anticipating a great show from the headliners.

And that's what we got.

Their show opened on a darkened stage, and Hans Zimmer's "Roll Tide" (from the movie Crimson Tide) filled the air to set the mood. The lights slowly came up as the music changed to the introduction from Shudder Before the Beautiful, and cheers rang out as the band took their positions, and became deafening when Floor strode onstage.

And I do mean strode; the woman has a considerable stage presence, which is aided by the fact that she is 6'1", and had a strategically placed fan in front of her mic stand to add a little motion to both her long hair and the cape she was wearing.



For the two opening acts, ushers had actually asked concertgoers to remain in their seats, but three songs in, Nightwish had everyone in the sold out Winspear Centre on their feet, throwing the horns, banging their heads, and cheering throatily.

Dutch openers Delain did an admirable job getting the crowd warmed up, but were down one guitarist (much to the chagrin of many ladies in the crowd, as bassist Otto Schimmelpennick van Oije is indisputably good looking and puts many dedicated metalhead hairfarmers to shame with his locks), but have also added petite tour guitarist Merel Bechtold to their lineup.

I've no idea where Otto was, but I was also surprised and delighted to discover (at the merch table) Delain had released a new EP, Lunar Prelude, and opened with its new single, Suckerpunch. It is the kind of powerful, catchy anthem you'd expect from a synth based outfit, gives vocalist Charlotte Wessels quite a bit to play with, and it almost made up for the fact that they didn't play Stardust.



Apparently I need to get on Twitter in order to keep up with the bands I like, and I hope the next time Delain comes to town they do so as headliners, so if anyone reading this hears anything about future appearances, please let me know!

Sonata Arctica is one of my favourite bands, full stop, and vocalist Tony Kakko is a funny and engaging frontman with a tremendously powerful voice. Both their set and their setup suffered a little from opening act-itis, insofar as both volume and mixing needed a bit of work, but I still wish they could have played a longer set. They did get in Audrey's favourite, I Have a Right, a song written around the UN Declaration of Rights of the Child, and closed out with their signature hit Don't Say a Word. Opening acts don't really get encores, but SA got everyone up to sing their traditional closer, "Vodka/ We want some vodka" to the tune of Hava Nagila,

All the artists made a point of expressing their appreciation for the classiness of the venue, but I wonder if the venue perhaps dampened the crowd's enthusiasm a bit. It's not like there is room for a mosh pit at the Winspear, y'know? Being a fat, middle-aged guy (a demographic with ample representation at the concert!), I was fairly content to sit and bop my head, but was actually glad when I had to take my feet during Nightwish's performance.

Our friends Jon and Michelle joined us from Camrose for the show, Jon mostly as a Delain fan and Michelle as a classically trained voice and piano teacher who is also a willing explorer of unfamiliar musical genres, and you could not have asked for a better concert to showcase such variety.

Keyboardist and songwriter Tuomas Holopainen somehow manages to imbue powerful, guitar driven heavy metal with melodic and symphonic elements from many cultures, and the tracks from Endless Forms have a significant Celtic influence to them. This is probably due in no small part to bringing former session musician and uillean pipe player Tory Donockley officially into the band 3 years ago, around the same time they welcomed Floor.

Donockley is a charmer and a talented multi-instrumentalist, playing the aforementioned great Irish warpipes, the mandolin-looking Celtic bouzouki, Irish pipe and tin whistle, bass guitar and even adds cumbrian chanting to the beginning of My Walden.

Nightwish transitions naturally and seemingly effortlessly from operatic vocal solos to shredding guitar work on tracks like Stargazer. The shredding is courtesy of Emppu Vuorinen, who, to his credit, shows no discomfort at playing right next to a vocalist who towers 10" over him (his nickname is The Hobbit, and the band's visual presence made me think they could model for D&D covers  or a movie adaptation of Gauntlet - Rogue, Wizard, Valkyrie and Gnome).

They have tremendous variations in both pace and volume, with ballads like Bless the Child generating a forest of waving arms from the crowd, some holding their cellphones, but the one old-schooler with an actual lighter was swiftly admonished by a Winspear usher.

Watching bassist (and supporting composer, as it turns out) Marco Hietala, imposing and impish with his forked beard and wicked grin, switch from growling background vocals to taking the lead on the softer but still powerful ballad While Your Lips Are Still Red while wielding en enormous double-necked guitar was a real revelation.

These slower spots were also a great chance to catch our breath before the big finale: the middle third of The Greatest Show On Earth. The album version is a 26 minute epic (!) praising the miracle of evolution, and including references to the Goldilocks zone and LUCA. Science!

Floor Jansen is a marvel. As a singer, she displays the same degree of versatility as the rest of the band, singing ethereally to open Bless the Child and operatically on Stargazer, then bringing ominous and husky growls to the verses of Greatest Show On Earth before just fully rocking out on the chorus.

Her countenance can portray the ominousness of Morticia Addams while singing, or the playfulness of your favourite cousin while smiling and chatting up the crowd, and with a stature and presence that could see her standing in for Wonder Woman if Gal Gadot doesn't work out onscreen.

Exhorting the crowd to sing along with the final line of "We were here", she sustained the last notes longer than anyone, her voice still clear and powerful after an 11 minute song wrapping up a 90 minute set that saw her singing on every number save one.

As a newcomer to power metal, Michelle was pleasantly surprised how much she enjoyed the show, favouring Delain the most, but enjoying Nightwish more than she expected. Jon was a bit let down, Nightwish didn't play the title track from the new album but had a great time. Glory and Audrey had a wonderful time, and especially appreciated the humor and energy Tony Kakko brought to the middle of the evening.

For me, it was a perfect confluence of three talented bands playing music in a genre we just don't get to hear enough of in Edmonton, and in my favourite venue, and with people dear to me. Last night was very likely the highwater mark for power metal concerts for me, and I think it will be quite some time before it gets supplanted in my memory, if ever.

My hope is that the fact that it was a sell-out show combined with the artists clear appreciation for both the venue and the crowd means that word will spread, and that we will perhaps see even more shows like this before Nightwish returns, And that return cannot happen soon enough to suit me.

Louder Than The Band - Blind Guardian in Concert

I only started listening to Power Metal about 10 years ago, but I have been fortunate enough to see several of my favourite bands over the past few years: Dragonforce, Tyr, Sonata Arctica, and as of last night, Germany's Blind Guardian.

Not very well known in North America, Blind Guardian has been around since the mid-80s, with three members of the current band going back to 1988, which I would normally consider pretty good for a rock outfit.

On the other hand, their opening act, Grave Digger, are currently in their 35th year, and another German band that inspired BG at the start, Helloween, is also still kicking, so maybe Ponce De Leon should have gone to Finland instead? I dunno.

I had purchased Blind Guardian's latest album, Beyond the Red Mirror, back in March of this year, and although it took a while to grow on me, I came to really appreciate the complex orchestration and choral elements that made this collection of tracks sound truly epic.

When I heard Blind Guardian was coming to town, I pitched them to my friends as follows:

"Okay, imagine that Marillion and Queen had a baby, and that baby grew up listening to Slayer and Iron Maiden, and learning the classics in school while playing D&D and reading all the appendices to Lord of the Rings; that's Blind Guardian."

The opening act, Grave Digger, are still hard at it three-and-a-half decades later, but they never really grabbed us. Listening to them was a bit nostalgic in some ways, taking us back the Pepsi Power Hour on MuchMusic, but the band has simply not kept pace with the times, playing familiar but resonant power chords.

There was nothing wrong with their sound, and some of us thought it was cool that their keyboardist dressed in black robes and a skull mask, like their trademark Reaper character. And considering the band was formed when I was in Junior High School, the fact that their lead singer can still perform in leather trousers is also kind of impressive.

Blind Guardian took the stage at Union Hall a little after 10:00, accompanied by the taped intro from their new album's opening track, The Ninth Wave. A dramatic and adventurous track with one of the band's signature sing-along choruses, it was an energetic way to open the show.

Unufortunately the Union Hall (formerly Goose Looney's and Thunderdome) is not the most sonically forgiving venue; in fact, I would say it has the worst sound of any site in Edmonton that is not actively engaged in industrial fabrication. To be fair, I don't really have the kind of ear that can tell how much is the venue and what might be due to the guy on the sound board, and I had earplugs in to save my hearing as well.

On the other hand though, when someone in the mosh pit holds up a two-foot wide sign that says "SO SORRY YOU HAD TO PLAY UNION HALL", well. It is never a good sign, is it? Whatever the reason, the sound never sounded crisp enough to me, with both the keyboards and the lead vocalist getting washed out at times.

Now, part of the reason I had trouble hearing Hansi Kursch's notes and growls is because the incredibly lively crowd sang along to the chorus on pretty much every damn song. From cuts off the newest album like Twilight of the Gods to concert staples like Valhalla, and a lot of tracks in between that I wish I had been more familiar with.

After the raucous sing alongs, my favourite element of the evening was the drummer, Frederik Ehmke, who climber on stage with no shirt and balanced power and precision throughout the show, and looked like he had a great time doing it to boot. I think that if you shaved Animal from the Muppets, you might end up with a smaller version of Ehmke, which is only a good thing.

All in all, it was a great show, maybe just shy of two hours, with an engaged crowd made all the more lively when Kursch told them they would be recording the show for a future live album. Hopefully my assessment of the acoustics is off enough to perhaps hear one of the songs on a CD one day!

We all had a good time, even the lads unfamiliar with the band, including Jack's dad, Jim, who came up from Calgary for a visit and the show. Thanks to streaming music services, most of them had a chance to sample some of the band's tracks prior to the concert.

I have more than enough black t-shirts, so I almost resisted the mercy table, but when I saw a how cool Jim's long-sleeve version was, it was a sure sale as soon as I found out they came in 3XL.

With a possible new live album on the way, as well as a Dwarf-themed project that has been gestating for something like 8 years, I was grateful for a chance to hear Blind Guardian live for the first time, especially with a great group like I went with. Hopefully they will return before too long.

In the meantime, I can console myself with the knowledge that the next concert I go to will be in a much better venue, when we see Delain and Sonata Arctica open up for the seminal power metal band Nightwish at the Winspear in March!

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Cello Shots

I've been a fan of diverse musical styles for about as long as I can remember, and my introduction to many of them came through movie soundtracks.  When I was 10 years old, I used my allowance money to buy the double LP Star Wars soundtrack, which not only came with a nifty poster, but a comprehensive set of liner notes wherein composer John Williams outlined his approach to the project and the various themes that comprised the score.

I didn't yet know who Wagner was, and had no idea what a leitmotif might be, but when Williams explained how many of the major characters had their own short theme that could be 'quoted' as needed within the score, I started to get the idea.  I listened to that soundtrack just about every chance I got, and when I got to see Star Wars again probably a year later in the theater (as home video wasn't even a glimmer in anyone's eye in 1978), I paid just about as much attention to what I was hearing as to what I was seeing.  When we first meet Luke Skywalker, the realization that we were hearing the brilliant opening fanfare played softer and slower was like an epiphany to me, and I was hooked.   Listening to the soundtrack would now let me see scenes of my favourite movie played over again in my mind's eye, provided I had access to the record player.

Film music and soundtracks have continued to expose me to new sounds and ideas, from the punk rock of Repo Man to the bluegrass of O Brother Where Art Thou?, but it was listening to Yo Yo Ma on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon that first got me to appreciate a specific instrument in the cello.

The skillful blending of Eastern/Western styles and instrumentation make the Crouching Tiger soundtrack a standout by just about any measure, but the amazing range and versatility of the cello, combined with its borderline supernatural ability to elicit an almost visceral and emotional response in the listener really captivated me, and I have made a point of listening for it in symphonic music ever since.  On occasion, Fenya's choir will be accompanied by one, and the opening notes of "God Bless the Master" now provoke an unconscious declaration by myself that, yes, actually, my allergies have been acting up lately, and my eyes will probably start leaking at any moment now, but this is hardly unexpected by those who travel in our circles.

Recently, a "You Might Also Like" e-mail from Amazon.ca made me aware that the Finnish cello group Apocalyptica, a band who gained notoriety by moving from period music to covers of songs by noted heavy metal musicians Metallica, had a 'Best Of' album on sale.  Now, I would by no means consider myself a Metallica fan, but find their musicianship and longevity easy to respect, and also own a bluegrass cover of their anti-war song "One" which I consider to be fairly excellent.  Having heard Apocalyptica a few times on CJSR and CBC, I decided to take a gamble on this 2006 release.

And I am very glad I did.  The album contains both instrumental works and tracks with vocals (including a stunning cover of Rammstein's "Seemann" with Nina Hagen!), and the handful of tracks I recognized sounded fantastic in this new instrumentation and arrangement.  The one that most caught my ear, however, was a cover of Metallica's "Harmageddon", itself an instrumental which I had never heard before.  

The vividness and range of the sonic spectrum used in this piece is something I find altogether compelling and dramatic; it is the kind of music that makes me wonder what kind of short film could be made to accompany it.  To say nothing of the musicianship of making four comparatively ancient stringed instruments sound convincingly similar to a hard rock quartet.

Obviously this kind of juxtaposition is hardly a new idea, even when taken to such extremes.  After showing the Harmageddon video to my friends, they immediately introduced me to another video featuring a duo called 2 Cellos covering AC/DC's "Thunderstruck" that is making the rounds, and is quite clever.

And once again, I am left gobsmacked at not only the musical inventiveness of the artists, but the versatility of this particular instrument.  Given the cello's ability to sound like a violin and bass (among other things!), I find myself wondering why orchestras even bother with other strings, but I am certain that is only a layman's ignorance at work.

Best of all though, some artists are going full circle and bringing rock/roll sensibilities to the symphonic music that attracted me to the genre in the first place.  Now, to be fair, The Piano Guys here do use a lot of multi-track and backing instruments that some may consider cheating, but in the end, it is still a new way to enjoy an established instrument and freshen up a sound that, to my 10-year-old ears at least, sounded new and old at the same time when I first heard it all those years ago.

Edmjønton and Valhalgary: Tyr in Concert(s)

This past weekend I had the opportunity to see Tyr, one of my favourite bands, not once, but twice.

 

Saturday night, Mike T. And Pete and I made our way to The Union Hall (formerlyThunderdome, and in times of yore, Goose Loonie's) for the 'Halo of Blood' tour, headlined by Finland's premier 'melodious death-metal' act, Children of Bodom. When I had purchased the tickets back in December, I knew my guys from the Faroes were only an opening act, but since the bill read Children of Bodom, Tyr and Special Guest, my presumption was that Tyr would have the second longest set, but, alas, this was not to be.

 

After an interminable wait outside in the minus 20 degree weather, we finally got in through the rear entrance, checked our coats and staked out a good position on the upper level, prior to browsing the merch table and securing some lagers, which, sadly, could only be purchased in cans and not horns.

 

Tyr was the first act onstage, a downtempo synth arrangement of the title track to Valkyrja playing while their touring drummer got into position (founding member Kari Stremoy had to leave last year, having never fully recovered from an auto accident in 2008), and then the three guitarists strode onstage and banged out their signature single, "Hold Your Heathen Hammer High". This was very well received by the decent sized crowd in this smallish venue, especially in the surging mosh pit right in front of the stage.

 

Lead singer and songwriter Heri Joensen is a personable frontman who seemed genuinely gratified by the crowd's response, as well as the frankly startling number of Tyr t-shirts visible in the audience. After playing "Blood of Heroes" and "Mare of My Night" from the new album, he apologized for not having as much time as they'd like, since they needed to make way for Death Angel and Children of Bodom, then launched into "Lady of the Slain" before wrapping up with "Shadow of the Swastika", their brilliant dual rebuttal to liberal guilt and racist idiots.

 

From the upper floor of UH, and situated close to the side of the stage, we had a great view of lead guitarist Terji Skibanæs as he fretted his way through the frantic fingerwork that is the hallmark of modern metal. Bassist Gunnar H. Thomsen had a positively gleeful look on his face as he made eye contact with the diehards right in front of the stage. While the sound mix could probably have been better, my only real complaint is that I only got to hear a mere 5 songs from the band I came to see. Still better than nothing, and five more live songs than I had seen up to that point, so I was still pleased on the whole.

 

Concord California's Death Angel was up next, and I have to say, while his vocal style is a little more screamy than I would like, lead singer and frontman Mark Osegueda comes across as one articulate and sincere individual. His fan-service did not involve any disparaging references to Calgary or an endorsement of 'local' beers 'like Labatt's', but on Edmonton being a source of great memories from the band's early days, and having a vibrant underground and vinyl collecting scene even back in the day. It's also gratifying to see some diversity on the metal stage, to break up the seemingly endless wall of white faces.

 

The music itself was classic thrash metal played with speed, reckless abandon and a complete disregard for aural safety, so us oldsters decided discretion was the better part of valour in this instance, and discreetly applied the earplugs I had brought. By the time Death Angel got to their most recent single, "The Dream Calls for Blood", the mosh pit was at a fever pitch, with some of burliest lads having removed their shirts to better facilitate shoving anyone within reach with maximum force.

 

That's not to say it was unfriendly; whenever anyone lost their footing, there was always someone on hand to help them up, dust them off, and then, usually, shove them again in another direction. The bravest were those trying to keep their beers from being spilled as they held them above the teeming mass, lowering them only to sip.

 

T-shirts notwithstanding, the majority of the crowd had clearly come to see Children Of Bodom, with occasional chants of "BO-DOM, BO-DOM, BO-DOM!" punctuating the crowd noise at fairly regular intervals before and between sets. By the time they got onstage, there was a full size Finnish flag and a hockey jersey on display, in addition to t-shirts old and new. They were the only band featuring a keyboard, which I tend to really appreciate in heavy music (Rammstein, Sonata Arctica), but overall, I have to say melodeath just isn't my thing.

 

I'm not much of a judge of musicianship, since I can't play anything myself, but even as a layman I could appreciate the speed and technicality of their guitar work, and the syncopation of their power chords that turned the entire band into a most impressive percussion unit. Children of Bodom know their business, but I am clearly not their customer; just as clearly, there are many who are, and they left Union Hall happy. We departed before the end of their set in order to avoid the inevitable coat check mob, and to get at least some merger amount of shut-eye prior to arising at 4:00 am to go and watch the gold medal hockey game.

 

After a wonderful and victorious time at Jeff and Heather's, followed by a refreshing nap at our house, Glory and I hit the road to go see the same show again at an all-ages venue in Calgary, the Macewan Ballroom. We had a great trip down, listening to a fantastic power metal compilation called Louder Than The Dragon, and then having dinner at the legendary Peter's Drive-In.

 

Glory was kitted out in the hoodie and hammer pendant I had purchased the night before, since there had been a lull at that able in Edmonton, and I was unsure just how chaotic it might be in Calgary, having never been to the venue. She took care not get any grease or barbecue sauce on her new sweatshirt as we ate in the Flex. I gently corrected the form of her metal salute, suggesting she put her thumb over the middle two fingers, and she nodded emphatically. "Right, right," she said agreeably, "thumb out is Spider-Man."

 

A short drive later and we were parked at the Olympic Oval at the University of Calgary, which was at least connected to the MacEwan Ballroom.

 

I have no gift for estimating numbers, but I would hazard a guess that the crowd at the U of C campus was easily triple whatever was at the Union Hall the previous night, and the line-up to get in was far more sizeable, but at least this one was indoors. I'm sure it was funny to watch the middle aged guy and the tweenager get frisked on the way in, but the security staff were courteous and professional, and no one made any wry observations at our expense. Best of all, when we checked our coats, we found that the earplugs that had been sold for $2 in Edmonton were free here, which was decidedly convenient, since Glory had forgotten hers in the car at the other end of the immense building we were in.

 

Inside it played much the same: Tyr's set was great, but too short, and Glory was extremely happy that they played her favourite song first.

 

Death Angel's Mark Osegueda was just as eloquent in his praise for Calgary, saying it's been important to them since 1987, so "if you don't know how Death Angel feels about Calgary, you've never been to a Death Angel show. And that's not a problem! Welcome! You are going to see a bunch of musicians doing what they love up here, and all we ask is that you listen with open ears, an open mind, and an open heart." Great stuff. And then a little later on, he got the crowd riled up by screaming, "I SAID I WANT TO SEE YOU MOVE, YOU GOLD MEDAL-WINNING MOTHERF*****S!!" which might have been pandering, but also felt really, really gratifying.

 

The stage was a little bigger than at the Union Hall, so Children of Bodom could space their stuff out a little more, and give a little more free reign to their light rigs. Unfortunately, the various types of smoke drifting in from outside and onstage were a little too much for Glory's asthma, so after a break and a brief return, we decided to call it a night.

 

We grabbed a Big Gulp and some pretzel bits at 7-Eleven for the trip home, through temperatures that made us grateful for the heated seats. We talked about the concert, and the people and things we saw, and going to see Sonata Arctica in September with the whole family, and how I was grateful for the opportunity to help her demystify what a heavy metal show looks and feels like. Thanks to bypassing the customary Red Deer pit stop, we were in our garage 2 hours and 46 minutes after getting on the Deerfoot. Glory wanted to go to sleep when we passed Leduc but managed to stay awake until getting into bed just before 2:00 A.M, a wonderful end to a long but glorious day.

 

 

T-shirt Sidebar: Fenya had heard the tale before, but had also been listening when I told Glory about the figure of Tyr on the back of her sweatshirt; about how Tyr was the Norse god of war and justice, and how he agreed to place his hand in the mouth of the great hellwolf Fenris as a hostage to his safety and freedom. And how after the other gods had chained the beast, Tyr had allowed Fenris to bite off his hand, because he had given his word, and how much credibility he gained from that sacrifice.

 

Later that afternoon, while Glory and I were driving to Cowtown, Fenya went to the IMAX Theater with our minister and his husband to see Jerusalem. When they asked Fenya about where Glory and I were going she said, "To a metal show in Calgary."

 

"That's right," Glen said, "I saw the t-shirt. Hey, why does the guy in the picture have only one hand?"

 

Fenya was perplexed. "Because he's Tyr."

 

Blankish looks.

 

"You know, the Norse god?"

 

A quizzical glance between the two of them.

 

"The one the band is named after? Geez, come on, guys!"

 

That made James laugh: "You are just like a teenage girl version of your father! Any other girl your age would be all, 'omigawd you guys, Katy Perry is just, like, the best,' but not Fenya; she is just 'you guys, Tyr is totally a Norse god'!"

Fenya just laughed in return; "Yep, that's me."

 

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Viking Metal is a Thing

Despite the intrinsic appeal of music to human beings regardless of age, language or culture, we insist on breaking it into styles, types and genres.  In one sense, we have to; these labels exist primarily as a convenience, a referential shorthand to make documentation and conversation easier.  But they can also turn fans against one another as they debate the perceived superiority of one style compared to another, or whether or not a given performer fits better in this category or that.

Take rock and roll as an example; originally a sub-set of popular music oriented towards the North American teenager (a demographic byproduct of the end of WWII), rock and roll was originally known for combining elements of jazz, blues and western swing styles, and was sometimes disparagingly referred to as 'race music'.  For much of its early days, Elvis Presley was known as 'The King of Rock and Roll', but today he is regarded by most youth as a quaint mainstream artist, as famous for his contributions to country, gospel and sequined jumpsuits as the rebellious sexuality conveyed in his Ed Sullivan appearance.  Music from the '50s is now regarded more as 'oldies' than rock and roll.

Rock fans today still feel the need to differentiate themselves: classic rock differs from modern rock, punk rock stands apart from alternative rock, and the once-frequent overlap between pop and rock is now populated almost exclusively by an eponymous fizzing candy.


Nowhere is this factionalizing more apparent than in the genre of heavy metal.  Once a relatively homogenous offshoot of rock and roll, heavy metal ( or simply 'metal') has broken into branches and sects in a way that would make most religions shake their collective and figurative heads in awe.

Some of these branches represent a progression through time, rather than style; the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Saxon, etc) reflects a period as much as it does a sound, and it is unfathomable that a new act might lay claim to this genre, although I suppose we can never rule out the possibility of a Newer Wave, can we?  Others may be limited to a geographical region, such as the 'visual kei' of Japan, but most, appropriately, are dependent upon the sound of the music itself.

The spectrum of metal is as rich and broad as any musical genre, and this variety is reflected nowhere better than in the brilliantly presented and curated Map of Metal, an interactive tapestry of words, music and visuals that comprehensively guides the curious through both the history and scope of heavy metal. Metal encompasses a range of vocalization that stretches from guttural grunts and screams to the operatic wail of singers like Bruce Dickinson; guitar sounds might be muted, dark and distorted, played with ponderous intent reminiscent of swampy blues, or classically influenced arpeggios fretted out at blistering speeds, and everything in between.

The names themselves are evocative: speed metal, death metal, symphonic metal, folk metal, grindcore, thrash, industrial, black; all speak of a particular musical experience and effect that seems to matter far more to the listeners than most of the musicians.  One such variation is known as power metal.

Typically characterized by clear, melodic playing, impressive vocals, symphonic composition style and positive imagery with a decidedly fantastic slant, power metal is far more popular in Europe than North America. It is sometimes referred to as 'happy metal', which suits me right down to the ground, and power metal bands regularly come together for large outdoor music festivals across the continent, where hundreds of fans sing along with every chorus, and a significant portion of the verses.  So how the heck did an eclectic middle-aged nerd from the prairies fall into it?

Despite having a fairly broad based and eclectic taste in music, I had given metal almost a complete miss until about 8 years ago, when a GW co-worker in B.C. ('sup Boltgun!) went on at length about how much more there was to the genre than the frenzied solos and theatrical growling I'd come to associate with it.  "It isn't all music made to piss off parents you know," he chided me.  "I mean, there's lots of that, sure, but metal is still the only kind of music where they sing about epic stuff like dragons and honour."

Boltgun burned me an audio CD called "Epic Metal Mix" featuring an assortment of power metal bands, including  Dragonforce, Dream Evil, Three Inches of Blood, and Rhapsody.  Italian power metal pioneers Rhapsody (now known as Rhapsody of Fire), with their orchestral and choral backing, classically styled arrangements and folk elements, made the biggest impression on me, so I began collecting their albums.  Aided by the public library and YouTube, I was soon listening to a number of Scandinavian bands such as Sonata Arctica (also coming to Edmonton this September!), Nightwish, and Stratovarius (which may be my favourite musical group name ever).

It was while looking for reviews of a Rhapsody of Fire's e.p. that I stumbled across one for Lay of Thrym, from Faroese Viking metal band Tyr.  The reviewer spoke glowingly of not only the energy and instrumentation of the album, but of the skillful way it wove together the unlikely twinspirations of Norse mythology and the Arab Spring.  I got the album and was blown away by the phenomenal balance Tyr had struck between ancient folk music and accomplished modern guitarwork, as well as the tremendous harmonies they are capable of putting together.

Like power metal, Tyr's 'viking metal' lends itself well to strong choruses, belted out at high volume, singing of bravery in the face of oppression, brotherhood in the shadow of danger, and strength to confront adversity.  It's unfortunate to me, personally, that they take such a dim view of Christianity that one of their songs actually suggests using Thor's hammer to re-crucify Jesus, but on the other hand, a) this is what you get when you convert a bunch of Vikings to your faith at swordpoint a thousand years back, and b) I am fully confident that Jesus, having escaped one cross, could probably do it again if He needed to.  Due in part to this opposition, Viking metal actually claims two progenitors in the metal family tree: black metal and folk metal.

For his part, lead singer and songwriter Heri Joensen once described the band's sound as "progressive ethno metal", but admitted in an Edmonton Sun interview that this was probably a mistake:

“I said that once, but our booker said never mention the word ‘ethno’ ever again; The pagan, Viking, heathen stuff comes from our ethnic background. But apparently when you say ‘ethno’ in metal, it’s nerdy guys with girly ponytails drinking tea with their grandmothers. And that’s not the image we should go for.”

Thus far I have Tyr's last 5 albums, including last year's Valkyrja, and all of them get played fairly often in the car, especially Lay of Thrym, and their Viking apocalypse theme album Ragnarok.  Glory is also a big fan, and was crushed to find out that although they are finally returning to Edmonton, Tyr is playing a venue that doesn't allow minors.

This is why after seeing Tyr perform at the Union Hall (formerly Thunderdome, and known to some oldsters as Goose Looney's prior to that) tomorrow night along with Death Angel and 'melodious death-metal' band Children of Bodom from Finland (the "kings of melodeath!"), and then getting up at 4 am to go cheer on Team Canada at a friend's place, I will be driving to Calgary with my youngest daughter to see a bunch of shirtless tattooed pagans with leather pants play a lot of unrepentantly loud and aggressive music.  And probably buying a sweatshirt to prove she did.

A friend at church asked what I was doing this weekend, and after I told him, he grinned and said, "Viking metal is a thing?"

Viking metal is a thing.

Childish Things

My literary hero,  Andrew Vachss (rhymes with 'axe') , writes gritty crime novels that often depict how our society grows its own monsters by virtue of the way our children are treated. As someone who has worked in maximum security facilities for minors, and as a social worker, and as a lawyer whose practice solely represents exploited and abused children, he speaks from a position of considerable authority, and his views have fundamentally affected my own, both politically and personally.

"People think I do what I do out of a love of children, and I don't; it comes out of a hatred of predators."  It's hard to think of someone saying this as anything but a cynic, but this is an unfair simplification as well.  Vachss wrote a collection of illustrated stories he described as "a children's book for adults" that he entitled "Another Chance to Get It Right," which is what is what he views children as: one more chance for a dangerously flawed species to do better for itself.

There are a lot of reasons that I find myself concerned for children on occasion:

• I have two of them. 
• I used to be one myself. 
• I encounter them through work, friends, and family. 
• My wife works in an inner city school where she sees and hears things that will make even the most libertarian individual think that our society needs to take a sober second look at the eugenics movement. 
• Our news stories continually resonate with tales of damaged individuals revisiting that harm among associates and strangers alike.

As simplistic as it sounds, if we made the security, well being and love of all the world's children a priority, we would be looking at a profoundly improved world in about two decades.

A world without child labor, child soldiers, and children victimized by monstrous lusts would be a better place for all of us.  This is probably what the UN had in mind when it came up with its "Declaration of the Rights of the Child". It contains ten points, the first of which explains that all children are entitled to these rights, but the second point really sums it up:

You have the special right to grow up and to develop physically and spiritually in a healthy and normal way, free and with dignity.

Now, its easy to think that because we don't have child soldiers in Canada, or because we have a minimum age for workers, that this Declaration is an opportunity for other countries and cultures to catch up to our sterling example, but this isn't really the case, and quite often this is the result of individuals, and not governments.


Point 4: "You have a right to special care and protection and to good food, housing and medical services." Children come from all over the city to Audrey's school, because they know the children will receive both breakfast and lunch.

Point 9: "You have the right to be protected against cruel acts or exploitation, e.g. you shall not be obliged to do work which hinders your development both physically and mentally." Putting aside for a moment the number of johns who will happily bed children selling their bodies, and the 'family' members who willingly pimp them out, there are children looking after children in my city while a single parent works two part time jobs with no benefits to keep a roof over their heads.

This declaration was written in 1978, and I suppose we must have made some progress, but it feels like we have a lot further to go. Why am I thinking about it now?

Would you believe Scandinavian power metal?

My favourite Finnish band, Sonata Arctica, came out with a new album last month, and it only made it into the car last week. One song in particular stuck with me due to the almost chant-like repetition of its chorus:

Give me the right to be heard

to be seen, to be loved, to be free

to be everything I need to be me,to be safe, to believe…in something

I have a right to be heard

to be seen, to be loved, to be free

to be everything I need to be me,to be safe, to believe…in something

There is also a spoken word portion in the middle of the song that sounded familiar to me, and checking the liner notes (we can still call them that, right?), sure enough, the song is actually based on the Declaration of Rights of the Child. Lead singer and songwriter Tony Kakko talks about it in a blog entry copied onto the YouTube page hosting the video:

"I Have A Right" was the very last song I wrote for this album. At that point Tommy had already played his last track for "Stones Grow Her Name," gotten ready to go to sauna AND opened his first beer for that night, when I sms'd him to check his e-mail and record yet one more "easy track".

He was mildly pissed. And perhaps fueled by that he nailed the song on the first take. It was a very emotional moment for him, I was told. The song hits home, if you know the subject and can relate to the subject.

To put it short it's a song about how we should not pass the burden we get from the past generation on the shoulders of our future offspring. Children's rights subject. Not the most metal subject ever, I suppose, but then again I think it fits our band well and is pretty universal. Funny to actually have fans from each age group this songs speaks about. Let's see what comes of it.

Choosing the first single and video from this album was not very easy this time around as we had so many candidates. The best possible problem to have! "I Have A Right" won the vote.

The playing parts for this video were shot in our home town Kemi, here in Finland. The location was an old, abandoned school building. Somehow spooky and COLD. It was mid march. Could say we were lucky the weather was unseasonably warm, yet way below zero.

Director Tuukka Temonen and his crew did a great job with editing and all the additional footage. All in all, from my point of view, this was the easiest ever Sonata Arctica video to make. No 12 hours standing in a room filled with bird shit, no freezing my ass off on the ice in the middle of the sea from 8am to 10pm, or running in the woods in the middle of the night and not sleeping for 48 hours...had all that with the past videos. I am more than pleased. I hope you like the song and video as much as we do.

Knowing this has made listening to the track even more enjoyable.  It is a catchy track with more Queen overtones than the guitar heroism of their early efforts, and sports a well-made video to boot.  Most importantly, it reinforces this simple but still misunderstood concept, that every interaction we have with children, from love and support, through detached indifference all the way to exploitation and abuse, shapes the world we will be living in tomorrow.

Please consider the effect that your interactions with children, both direct or indirect, can have. Every one of them has the potential to either support or undermine point 10 of the Declaration: "You should be taught peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship among all people."

Metal and Water

I picked up a Rhapsody of Fire e.p. today and in the course of looking them up on teh Interwebs, I came across a favourable review of the new album which is released here Tuesday.  This same reviewer ("Angry Metal Guy") also had a lot of good things to say about the new album "The Lay of Thrym", by the Viking metal band Tyr, who hail from the Faroe Islands.

Well, I've been listening to a whackload of Tyr music via YouTube for much of the afternoon, and will be grabbing that album at the next opportunity.  Well done folk-metal, nice mix of progression and aggression, and clear powerful vocals with occasional harmonies; it's a good fit for me.  I also appreciate the cheekiness of lyrics like these from "Shadow of the Swastika":

You who think the hue of your hide means you are to blame
And your father's misdeeds are his son's to carry in shame
Not mine I'll take no part
You can shove the sins of the your father where no light may pass
And kiss my Scandinavian ass

This in turn got me to whimsically thinking about visiting the Faroe Islands, smack in the middle of a triangle betwixt Scotland, Iceland and Norway. Neat little place that the British occupied during WWII to keep the Hun at bay.  They are technically a constituent country of the Kingdom of Denmark, but also have ties to Britain since WWII, which apparently manifests itself in odd little things, like the presence of Cadbury Dairy Milk bars in the shops, as you don't often find these in Denmark.

The Faroe Islands have a couple of different music festivals in the summer and a diverse spiritual history that includes both pagan and Christian elements.  If I should ever find myself in Ireland or Scotland in the future, I would love to pop over and check this place out, something that never would have ocurred to me prior to stumbling across a band barely known in North America.  Metal-driven tourism, who'd have thunk it, huh?

Well, it turns out some enterprising soul has, because I noted that Tyr was one of the artists involved in something called "70,000 Tons of Metal" , a Caribbean cruise that featured something like 40 heavy metal bands, including a few I quite like, such as Blind Guardian, Sonata Arctica, and now Tyr, as well as some others I have at least heard of, like Epica and Gamma Ray.

They have a second cruise scheduled for next January that I don't see any hope of getting to barring a lotto jackpot, but I can't help but be intrigued by the premise, and tip my helm to the creative and enterprising people who found an intriguing way to make cruise ships a potential vacation for a somewhat unexpected demographic!

Especially when getting that many people with an affinity to Vikings on any sort of boat might seem counter-intuitive...

Metal-Aged Guy

Today's post will be familiar to some, as I sent it around via e-mail in December of last year. It was the response I got from this, however, that prompted me to start the blog in the first place, so I had always intended to include it. Besides, with half the household up all last night being sick (on Glory's birthday no less), it was either this or a posting called "Happy Birthday to (hugh)". What follows is an exhortation to my friend Mike who lives on Vancouver Island to cross the Strait with his 14 year-old son to see the "Ultimate Beatdown Tour" that was playing in Vancouver the following evening.

Warning: the following post does contain traces of pottymouth. Forewarned is half an octopus.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Why should you see the show? First of all, you have a serious obstacle to overcome in the form of a major waterway just to get to the show, and I respect that, but remember that you will not have to deal with waiting for 45 GORRAM MINUTES in MINUS 25 DEGREE COLD. Damn, that was awful, I could barely remember the sensation of even having a big toe by the time we got in to the Edmonton Event Centre (formerly Reds at WEM). And as soon as we are in the doors, it is the mandatory coat check, which slows the line up AND keeps us close to the soul-chilling temperatures of the great outdoors. And then we find out that the only food in the place is the Funky Pickle pizza stand, AND because it is an all ages show, you can't take your beer out of the cordoned area in front of the stage, so if we want to beer it up (and, not surprisingly, we do), we are going to have to go and stand by the bar where Pete has at least recce'd us a sweet spot and made friends with the bartender. So, in short, at least your venue will not suck nearly as badly and you probably won't freeze to death waiting for the doors.

Secondly, the opening acts. I had not heard of either opening act, so I was prepared to listen to two sets of badly produced amateur speed metal with no sense of either grandeur or irony in order to get to Dragonforce, who are pretty cool and clearly have a decent understanding of that "take your work seriously, don't take yourself seriously" thing. so when the first band comes up on stage wearing the oversized Frank Frazetta shoulder pads with spikes and all, I'm rolling my eyes and thinking, "oh brother, 'ere we go...", when they rip into a big instrumental that not only sounds well played, but strangely familiar. Is it classical? No, more like folk music...Russian maybe?

Then it all clicks together: I am listening to a speed metal interpretation of "Kalinka", a Russian tune most famous for being the music from Tetris, and the band is called Powerglove (like the old Nintendo accessory), and they are the premier purveyors of "video game metal". Possibly the sole purveyors, but it matters not. And they are a riot: they introduce themselves and state plainly that they are here to "fuck up your childhoods"; no vocals to speak of, except the finale, and they play bits of Sonic the Hedgehog, Super Mario and Final Fantasy VII. After asking if there are any warriors in the crowd (to an enthusiastic response), the frontman says "good, because we need about 15 skeleton warriors to wield these INFLATABLE SWORDS!" and the crowd goes apeshit, "And this MIGHTY CLUB!" which is an oversized neon pink inflatable baseball bat. About midway through the set, Pete notices that frontman's shoulder pads are actually the turtle shell thingies from the Mario games, a nice detail. For the finale, Powerglove rocks up the crowd with a stirring rendition of the "Power Rangers" theme. A great time, and I bought their disc.

So then the second act comes on, and Mike, Pete and I have reconciled ourselves to the fact that the other opening act could not POSSIBLY be as cool as Powerglove. So the lights go down, the stage is black and a Finnish accent booms out "Edmonton.. are you ready for BATTLE METAL?" and from the response, apparently a number of the crowd really are. So this band, Turisas, hit the stage, rocking the Battle Metal with what I would call a significant hardness, with a six piece band, all decked out in furs and red and black striped warpaint reminiscent of the hedonism scene from Conan the Barbarian's. They've got a vocalist, bass, lead guitar and drums, as well as a crazy ass guy with a cut down violin and.. a female accordionist. I know, I know, you've seen one Finnish folk-metal band with a female accordionist (or as Mike says,'accordionatrix'), you've seen them all; and yes, she was cute; Pete compared her favourably to Sandahl Bergman in the aforementioned Conan, but I think that sells her a little short), but I am new enough to the world of international metal that it was still a novelty for me.

And this band really does rock. Yes, I bought their CD, "The Varangian Way" too, and not just because it references the Varangians mentioned in those John Ringo 'Kildar' novels. They remind me of a less orchestrated, rougher version of Rhapsody/ Rhapsody of Fire. The folk influences are deffo there (violin and accordion, hello?), but the vocals are growlier, and there are a lot of sing along choruses that would not have been out of place in a Viking mead hall. Early in the set, I turn to Pete and say, "You know, these guys would do a positively kick ass rendition of Rasputin, eh?" and he agrees emphatically, so when, not three songs later, a familiar beat is followed by "There lived a certain man, in Russia long ago..." Pete is convinced I am psychic.

Their lead singer and warlord, according to the liner notes, ran a very thin line between getting the crowd warmed up for the headliners and formally inciting a riot. "these guys up front look bored, I'm sorry to say. They are security, and it is their job to keep the stage secure. You aren't giving them very much to do, ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKERS? they are getting paid to do nothing, and it probably pisses them off. I KNOW IT PISSES ME OFF!! START SOMETHING!!!" But thankfully, order was maintained, even though Turisas have enough of a presence in the metal community that a number of young fans were kitted out in warpaint and furs as well.

And Dragonforce? Just an excellent show with absolutely breathtaking guitar work by the two leads. Great crowd participation, band interaction, the works. There are enough videos and the like on YouTube that you can certainly get the idea (esp. "Operation Ground and Pound") of what to expect, but I maintain that watching highly trained and skilled professionals who clearly love their work are a joy to watch in just about any field, doubly so in music, and even more so in heavy metal.

One of the guitarists is named Sam Totman, and Mike has informed us that it is a rare enough name in England that who knows? they may be related. Watching Sam onstage and seeing a multitude of Mikely mannerisms manifest themselves was just about enough to convince me, and there is certainly a passing similarity, even if Mike is about a foot taller. After the show, we ended up talking to both Sam and the accordionatrix while we waited 40 minutes for the coat check tide to subside, so Mike and I got our Turisas discs signed, and Mike got his picture taken with Sam after telling him the relativity theory. Sam wished his Dad was there "because 'e'd be all 'oo,er, family tree" et cetera, but yeah, nice guy, funny, sarcastic, and enough like Mike that I would not bet against them being related to some degree. Oh, and Pete and I read on Wikipedia that the accordionista is a step-in player filling in for the original bloke who "disappeared under mysterious circumstances while in Amsterdam." No shit.

Had I taken Fenya, she would not have been close to the youngest person there at age 10. I saw a lad of probably five riding on his dad's shoulders, wearing a Dragonforce t-shirt. And aside from a gratuitous amount of f-bombs and the occasional lewd gesture, there was nothing in the show I would have called age-inappropriate, unlike the previous show I saw at Reds, which was Gwar(!). Fenya had asked to come, as she likes the non-growly metal in general and Dragonforce in particular, and having experienced the show, I wish now I had taken her along. You have an opportunity to go and experience with your boy the spiritual inheritors of the music of your youth. they are no Iron Maiden, but very decent musicians with great showmanship and tremendous humour. It could be a year or two before another show like this comes to your neck of the woods, making your son 16 by then, and either insanely busy in the family tradition, or just unwilling or uncomfortable doing such things with his dad. I just don't want to see you down the road, listening to Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" holding a picture of better days while a single tear tracks down your unshaven cheek, et cetera... but I think you get my point.
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Unfortunately, with the limited amount of lead time they were given, Mike and his son were not able to attend the show, but he let me know that he appreciated the heads up, and that my experience had given us both a lesson in terms of seizing opportunities. On the other hand though, I am helping some friends arrange the music for their wedding reception this summer, and since playing "Rasputin" is practically an obligation in such circumstances, it is nice to know I can spice things up a little bit, courtesy of Turisas, and my mates who brought me along to the show.