Progressive metal is a rare beast in the UK with tours swerving the Channel and remaining on the European mainland for fear of ill-fated attendance figures on this island. Bravely, Sweden's Andromeda are taking the risk, securing two weekday dates in England to mark their debut performances outside of 2010's Bloodstock festival appearance.
Opening act Until Rain immediately get to blasting out progressive power metal riffage, spearheaded by extremely versatile vocalist Yannis Papadopoulos. Flanking him isa female singer with a pop voice that harmonises with him seamlessly. This Greek/British act formed in 2004 under the name Delear and have two full-length albums to date. The progressive metal components of the music draw heavily from Dream Theater's first four albums, with keyboard player Lefteris Germenlis heavily resembling Dream Theater's original keys wizard Kevin Moore. The power metal portion of the music incorporates a plethora of symphonic metal influences, such as Epica.
Although there may not be anything that redefines any kind of music as it currently stands, Until Rain enjoy nothing but an elated response from the audience. Papadopoulos is very loquacious with his stage banter and elicits cheers from the tiny crowd between each track. For an opening act, more cannot be expected and potentially, this quartet has enlarged their fanbase.
Up next are Doncaster's Damnation Angels a symphonic power metal band formed in 2006 with Norwegian vocalist Pellek fronting them. England is a country that is very deprived when it comes to power metal bands, let alone symphonic ones. Perhaps the audience's appetite craves more of this kind of melodic metal from the UK as the reaction is a monumental one for such few people. Drawing queues from the likes of Kamelot, the four-piece create classical-inspired power metal. The orchestration is taped, considering keyboard player Dawn Trigg left the band this year and this detracts from the bombast of the music live.
However, Pellek's energy is limitless, as he joyously bounds around the stage. Last year saw the band release their debut album 'Bringer of Light' and each song is met with solid approval from the crowd. The music is armed with relentless energy although treads on paths already traced by many metal outfits before them. The most creative output in the set is the ten minute long behemoth 'Pride (The Warrior's Way)', boldly decorating itself with memorable oriental folk melodies definitely a breath of fresh air in the recycled power metal scene.
The audience is extremely sparse for Andromeda, with less than fifty punters remaining; this is a sad state of affairs for a prog metal band that has been cutting their teeth since 1999 and is known among the prog metal underground scene. Nonetheless, the headliners continue undeterred and those who remained to catch the show undoubtedly have no regrets in doing so. The music of these five Swedes is astonishing, filled with infinite talent and an understanding of how to write memorable coherent songs. They are capable of executing down-right heavy riffs to make hair stand on end or crystalline emotively driven melodies.
Songs such as 'In the Deepest of Waters', 'Slaves Of The Plethora Season', 'Antitode' and 'The Words Unspoken' instantly put smiles on faces in the crowd. The vibrant take on progressive metal is difficult not to relish, particularly the musical interaction between guitarist Johan Reinholdz and keyboard player Martin Hedin, both virtuosos at their instruments setting the stage afire with their fingers alone. Bassist Linus Abrahamsson does an equally brain-bending job holding up the rhythm section with an intimidating seven string bass. The combined sum of these musicians is best illustrated in the highly technical instrumental 'Chameleon Carneval', blowing the mind of the spectators with commendable sound from the Underworld without falling into random and forgettable riff salad technical prowess.
Frontman David Fremberg is the best kind of frontman: entertaining, amusing and an accomplished singer. His stage banter directly engages the audience and receives a positive response seemingly each time he opens his mouth. After the set closes, Andromeda vacate the stage but the roar of the thirty remaining loyalists graciously beckon them back for an encore of 'My Star' and the dynamic 'Periscope', the opener of the band's beloved 'Chimera' full-length.
Tonight is an unforgivably poor turnout that probably would have improved very little had the concert occurred on a weekday. Nonetheless, Andromeda's passion for playing live seemed unaffected by the unfruitful congregation and infinite props to the Swedes for continuing to play the show and playing as if the room was sold out. Hopefully these talented musicians will return to the capital with greater success because they certainly deserve it.
FUTURE GIGS
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