Headliner: Insomnium
Date: 16th January 2017
Venue: Mama Roux's, Digbeth, Birmingham
Support: Barren Earth
Rating: 8/10
Despite not getting to the venue quite early enough to catch opening band Wolfheart, when I do arrive Mama Roux's is practically full to capacity, just as Finnish-Faroese progressive death metallers Barren Earth take to the stage. The sextet hit the crowd with their enthusiastic, if not completely original or new, progressive death metal in the vein of the earlier days of Amorphis. While they undoubtedly took a while to get going, once they did, Barren Earth have some truly majestic songs in their output, and thankfully, the crowd seem to think so as well.
Insomnium follow them, ready from the word go, and without hesitation they launch straight into their 40 minute magnum opus "Winter's Gate", based on a short story written by the band's very own bass player and vocalist, Niilo Sevänen, pausing in between parts which gives the whole thing the feeling of a melodic death metal symphony in seven movements. That Insomnium got this to work on record is one thing; but that they also managed to successfully pull it off in a live setting as well is something else entirely, and simultaneously speaks volumes about the band's musical ability and talent. Once that finishes, the band take a short pause before returning to the stage and giving us effectively a second set, digging out some of their older material such as "While We Sleep" and "Mortal Share" for the longer term fans of the band, which are rapturously received. On the whole, strong supports and Insomnium at their scintillating best makes for a thoroughly enjoyable show.
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