Edguy, Cynic, Ensiferum @Capitol, 7/1/10

Tue 12th Jan, 2010 in Gig Reviews

There was maybe too much variety at the Capitol on Thursday night. With Finnish folk-metal band Ensiferum, US prog metallers Cynic and power metal merchants from Germany Edguy sharing the stage in a confusing mismatch of styles. Everyone seemed to enjoy at least one band, very few people seemed to enjoy all three bands and more than a few didn’t bother staying to give them all a chance.

First up were Ensiferum, strolling onto the stage with their pearly white Scandinavian chests on display and Nordic war-paint under their eyes, scanning the scattered crowd they were determined to do their best to unite and conquer them. When they broke into From Afar , the title track from their latest album there was little more than a slight murmur from the punters. They had some success in raising a few fists in solidarity to their undeniably infectious Finnish folk sound which even drove a few to find their inner Michael Flatley, unable to keep their feet still to the jovial rhythms of Viking victory songs. By the time they broke into Ahti, with a little encouragement from elvan front man Petri Lindroos, they had a respectable moshpit going and the crowd was starting to warm up for a night that had much potential. As the tempo increased, keyboard player Emmi Silvonnoinen looked to be struggling to keep up but she managed to keep her shirt on, to the disappointment of the male majority. There were some naked breasts bouncing about; unfortunately they were courtesy of guitarist Markus Toivonen. Luckily bassist Sami Hinkka put on enough of a one man show to distract us from Toivonen’s perky man-mammaries, swinging his seven-string slab of a bass around and over his shoulder like a freshly pillaged villager. As spoils from their performance they could take the satisfaction that the crowd had doubled in size and enthusiasm; little did they know this was as big as the crowd would get.

Cynic came on and polarised the audience like nobody before. There were those that clearly were familiar with the band and others who didn’t know what to expect, both stood in a state of shock. Those familiar with the band were stricken with a sense of awe at the technicality and depth of the songs. Those not familiar, or the majority of them, were left wondering where the metal had gone. Although metal of a sort, the synthesised clean vocals of main man Paul Masvidal and the introspective vibe of the band quickly worked to disseminate the metal mood Ensiferum had created. As the set wore on, many unimpressed metal-heads (the headless guitars were particularly un-metal) moved outside for a smoko while those that stayed lost their mosh, for their music certainly didn’t encourage movement. They played tracks from every single one of their two albums, from the stunning opener The Space For This along with Adam’s Murmur and Evolutionary Sleeper all off their latest Traced in Air as well as classic tracks such as the mind bending instrumental Textures from their debut album Focus. One-time member of legendary band Death drummer Sean Reinert proved he is almost half the band with his massive drum kit and unique, experimental style suited perfectly to this style of music. A style delivered brilliantly enough to mesmerise the fans but also a style foreign enough to alienate a large percentage of the audience.

Left with the task of rejuvenating a near catatonic crowd, Edguy put on their best front of stadium rock frivolity but the dwindling crowd surely must’ve been something of a dampener to their mirth. Power metal remains strong in certain parts of the world, but not Perth, and the headlining act were embarrassingly performing for only about two thirds of the original audience. When Tobias Sammut entered the stage, wailing along to Dead or Rock from their 2008 album Tinnitus Sanctus and proposed “go die or rock tonight” many opted for the former, making home for their beds while those that stayed made a valiant effort in making the German power metal big guns feel like they weren’t wasting their ammunition. Edguy kept firing off round after round of riffs reminiscent of the leather-laden metal of the 1980’s. Catchy choruses from the pre-millennial Vain Glory Opera to the more modern Superheroes lined up to be slathered with Sammut’s tremolo vocals, who assured us he relished the opportunity to play to a small crowd. They certainly made it look like they were enjoying themselves, bass player Tobias Exxel’s John Farnhamesque jolliness was almost aggravating, but if the depleted audience did disappoint them they at least never let up, pandering to the remainders as though they were a 100,000 strong German power-metal festival mob.

On a night that held so much potential, there was something for everyone but was ultimately suited to no-one.