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Road trips are always fun, and they’re even more enjoyable when you know something truly special is waiting for you at the end of the journey. In most cases, a road trip means driving away from home. That was true for us too, but somehow we still ended up back home—namely, in the home of HEAVEN SHALL BURN, at the Sparkassen-Arena Jena! Okay, their current album is called Heimat, so that was a slightly cheap joke, but hey, we’re allowed to do that once in a while! When you play a massive hometown show, you need the right guests, and in this case, those were FROZEN SOUL, THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, and THE HALO EFFECT. Read on below to find out how the evening went for us and why it felt more like an extraordinary general meeting of a local soccer club!
Thanks to lightinmirror.de for the awesome photos!
Frozen Soul
As a direct import from the USA, FROZEN SOUL kicked off the evening, and being the first to take the stage in such a huge arena can’t be easy. Considering that surely only a tiny fraction of the crowd was there for the death metal band led by singer Chad Green, the situation doesn’t exactly get any better.
The quintet had chosen Balls to the Wall by ACCEPT as their intro music, which I thought was a good choice, even if it didn’t really fit the band’s musical style. The Texans’ partly groovy death metal sound was sluggish at times and failed to impress in the outer sections of the venue. The faster passages were solid, if a bit old school. I think that as Europeans, we’re so used to so much good death metal that American bands have a much harder time here… Especially since you’d expect something different from the opening act at a concert by metalcore giants HEAVEN SHALL BURN…
Overall, the impression of FROZEN SOUL is mixed, because they definitely had the potential for multifaceted music, but every time it got musically interesting, the booming bass sound kind of ruined it… But I’m sure it’ll be better next time! At this point, though, a big shout-out to the singer, who headed straight to the merch table after the show and surely made quite a few fans very happy!
The Black Dahlia Murder
Man, it’s been a long time since I last saw THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER live! Back then, they were still touring with INSOMNIUM under a different lineup! A lot has undoubtedly happened since then, and my expectations were correspondingly high.
Their performance was also much more intense and noticeably more polished than FROZEN SOUL’s. When you think of American death metal, you can’t help but mention THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER. The way they play their set is simply something special and definitely deserves recognition!
That said, I’d still argue that they didn’t really fit into the lineup for me, and I would have preferred to see a metalcore or melodic death metal band here instead. Adding to the confusion was a person dressed as a monkey who was jumping around on stage completely at random… What was that about?? Can anyone tell me?? That will definitely stick in my memory!
The Halo Effect
Anyone lucky enough that evening got to meet Mikael Stanne at the bar before the show! For those who were still inside watching THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER, the Swede didn’t take the stage with his band until later. The fact that this was THE HALO EFFECT was evident not only from the (admittedly obvious) concert announcement, but also visually from the mix of green light and an extra dose of fog for which the Swedes have become known.
While we’re still wondering how many bands a mere mortal can actually handle, there’s already a lot going on on stage. It was noticeable how different the atmosphere was with THE HALO EFFECT compared to THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER and FROZEN SOUL. We got the impression that the audience clearly preferred the Gothenburg melodic death metal, which, given the band’s popularity as a whole and that of its members, is actually no surprise.
Musically, it was simply flawless and truly fantastic! As huge fans of this band, they can’t really do anything wrong in our eyes. With songs like The Needless End or Become Surrender, the good vibes were literally blasting through the Sparkassen-Arena. Admittedly, that kind of blasting isn’t exactly a sign of good sound quality in the long run, but with THE HALO EFFECT, it was kept within limits, so you can forgive it. Overall, it was a very good performance—predictable, yes, but still a real highlight of the evening for us.
Heaven Shall Burn
Speaking of highlights: Last year, we had the honor of getting an interview with Maik and seeing HEAVEN SHALL BURN perform alongside Britta Görtz at Rockharz. It was actually already clear then that we had to catch another full headlining show during this album cycle.
Just like at Rockharz, the stage was initially covered by a curtain promoting the Wacken blood drive, through which you could also “donate” for tickets to the tour’s shows.
The anticipation for the start was almost palpable, thanks in no small part to the swelling sounds that eventually gave way to the opening song, War is the Father of All. Closely followed by Voice of the Voiceless and My Revocation of Compliance, the direction was quickly set. The confetti promised for the third song, however, looked more like toilet paper, but it was still effective! (Who actually has to get that down from the ceiling in a hall like this???)
What became clear from the very beginning, however, was the truly excellent vocal performance by frontman Marcus Bischoff, who must have worked especially hard on himself and his voice following his vocal cord injury last year. His voice was powerful, commanding, yet controlled, and it was absolutely moving to witness. We can only speculate at this point, but to be able to put on a show like this in your hometown after all that drama surrounding your own voice—a show attended by all your friends, relatives, and coworkers—must simply be highly emotional.
Speaking of home: HEAVEN SHALL BURN are well-known jersey sponsors for FC Carl Zeiss Jena. On this evening in Jena, there were so many people wearing such jerseys in attendance that, as guitarist Maik Weichert aptly noted, one could already speak of an extraordinary general meeting of the club. Home really is where the heart is!
Apart from the announcements, however, there was no time for breaks or moments to catch one’s breath, as one banger followed another: From Armia to Confounder, Godiva, and Endzeit, the band also included a few (G)oldies; for instance, The Martyr’s Blood and The Weapon They Fear made it onto the truly outstanding setlist. A personal highlight was also Whispers from Above, the song dedicated to Irene Guth and her resistance activities. Especially in these times, it’s an extremely fitting song that perfectly rounded out the set toward the end! (Not to mention that Valhalla was the last song)
All in all, it was probably one of the best concerts by a German band we’ve ever seen, and at least our fan hearts were thoroughly satisfied!
Shieldmaiden's Voice 