Concert Reviews - Insomnium w/Profane Omen & Omnium Gatherum

This may sound a little familiar... did I not just see this show a week or two ago? Yes I did, only last time it had a crappy thrash band and not Profane Omen. Also, I missed Profane Omen on Friday because my family went to Tahkovuori and I had to go with.

So, a note to all the readers out there... tonight marks a special occasion (sort of) - Omnium Gatherum now wins the prize for band I have seen the most times, sitting at thrice, and is tied with Insomnium for seen in quickest succession, since they're touring together.

Omnium Gatherum

Omnium Gatherum is always a treat to watch. I've figured out my issues with the band too. As always, the music was fantastic, Toni is growing a goatee now and I didn't recognise him at first, and Aapo looked less bored than last time.

My problem with them is that, while I love watching Jukka and his antics and ways of making the first couple rows smile, his voice isn't that great. With singers like Niilo Sevänen (Insomnium) to compare with, Jukka sounds like he's not well trained to do growls and gives off the impression that he probably has a sore throat and pukes blood after a show.

However, the show was great, as it has been the last 2 times I saw it, and I was pleased to see Jukka come down to the crowd and shake hands with everyone in the first row. He's such a personable guy. Loves the crowd, and I think that's a great thing. Shame his vocals aren't better.

Profane Omen - Jules Näveri

Profane Omen was next. What I had expected to hear was an acoustic show, but that was not the case. It was very loud. I actually got earplugs for the first time (mom should be happy) and I'm damned glad I did because something about the cement venue of Finlandia-talo (Finlandia house) is insane.

I haven't listened to much Profane Omen but I had intended to see them with Marc that one night so it was nice to get a chance to see them live. I was really really REALLY impressed with their energy; particularly Jules Näveri. He doesn't connect directly with specific people the way Jukka does, but he really gets in there and makes you want to put your fists/horns in the air and be part of it, getting everyone revved up. Oh, and they did wall of death. It was epic, but I stayed out of it.

The music was great - a bit thrashy but really solid. Jules has a great voice and his growls are pretty awesome too. He's a pretty good looking guy... got a bit of a Brad Pitt thing going on, only skinny and Finnish and metal, hah. They were all very active and put on a great show.

Profane Omen

One of the guitarists broke a string at one point so they did some little fun things to kill the time. I'm not sure what song they played to pass the time but it was fun. And the drummer got up and asked where his mom was (they're from Lahti) and then wished her happy birthday. It was pretty cute. As a side note, that happened in Finnish and I understood, so give me a few cheers too!

Insomnium - Niilo Sevänen

As for Insomnium, well, I openly welcomed another flawless performance. I spent a lot of time thinking about Niilo's vocals and wondering why I like them so much while other bands not so much. I've concluded that it is great because it sounds natural and effortless, and when you hear it, it's gentle and not overbearing. It flows perfectly with the music, and I adore it. Also, he dresses really nicely and it makes me happy - simple, but looks totally metal. Insomnium has to now be one of my favorite melodic death bands. Of course, that means that the playing was sensational as well.

What a bonus to be touring with the band that hosts your clean vocalist. Jules (Profane Omen, does the clean vocals on the tracks off the new album) and Niilo's voices just flow so beautifully together, making absolutely perfect harmony and Profane Omen's show had a lot of growls, so it's great to hear Jules with more clean vocals. The man has an unreal voice and he should use it more.

Insomnium with Jules

Their stage show is more laid back than Profane Omen's, but that's fine, the result is that they just look badass. Everyone has great hair to bang around as well. The only unfortunate part was that about half to three quarters of the way through the set they started to get some reverb in some of the songs.

Overall, spectacular show (again), and I just discovered that they're playing with Swallow the Sun next month, so bonus for me! That'll bring them up to tie with OG for band I've seen most, and I couldn't be more pleased with the fact!

Insomnium

Setlist for Insomnium:
Equivalence
Down With the Sun
Drawn to Black
Last Statement
The Harrowing Years
Where the Last Wave Broke
Medeia
The Killjoy
Lay of the Autumn
The Gale
Mortal Share
Devoid of Caring
EC The Day it All Came Down
EC Weighed Down With Sorrow

Year: Oct 2009
Opening bands: Omnium Gatherum & Profane Omen were opening for Insomnium
Who I went with: me, myself, and I
Location: Lahti - Finlandia-klubi (Finlandia-club)

Concert Reviews - Insomnium w/ Omnium Gatherum

Another weekend in Helsinki, another bunch of shows.

Before I get into Insomnium, I want to mention that I happened to catch Eternal Tears of Sorrow on Friday night with Jari and Ilkka. I can't say I know many (or any) of their songs, but it was a good show, unfortunately ruined by absolutely brutal sound quality. At the stage it was so loud it made your ears bleed and at the back you could only hear the drums. It was unpleasant. Stage show was good though and so was the music. Glad we opted to check it out.

So we went earlier than I had wanted to check out the show. I didn't know anything about Axegressor but Jake had told me that they were terrible. He was right. They were just really bad thrash. Anyone who knows me knows I don't like thrash, but I can at least appreciate a band that's got some style and that sort of thing. I don't mind Stam1na, for example. But this band was just plain with a pretty awful vocalist and I found myself thinking "mennä kotiin" the whole time.

Next was Omnium Gatherum. If you're following, you know I've seen these guys before once and I liked it. My latest decision about this show is basically the same but I have some new points to add.

Omnium Gatherum

First off, it was a good show, nice performance, and their music is quite alright - nothing mind-blowing but nothing offensive to my ears at all, making for an enjoyable experience. Jukka Pelkonen is a rare type when it comes to fronting a band too. While he can look a bit ridiculous onstage, I appreciate that he is always REALLY into the show and does his utmost to connect to every person in the crowd, searches out the person who isn't smiling and MAKES them smile, and gets right in there (even literally at one point) to get the crowd going.

The rest of the performers are also great. However, we were noticing this time around that Aapo (keyboards) did not seem to be doing that much and even seemed bored at times. He was, of course, still rocking out, but I felt like every time my attention was drawn to him that he wasn't playing much.

Omnium Gatherum

OG is just one of those bands that I can watch to put me in a pleasant mood. Something about seeing a show by these guys puts a smile on my face.

Insomnium was the main attraction, of course. When I had mentioned the consideration of going to this show, my friend Valtteri told me I should listen to Insomnium because they're great. A few other people seconded his notion, so I decided to do it, and I was really pleased with what I heard. Their last album was very highly acclaimed and their newest album really captured me, so I became really enthusiastic about this show. And I was certainly not disappointed.

Insomnium

We were watching from upstairs on the balcony across from the stage, where the sound quality wasn't at its prime but wasn't too bad either. I have to give utmost praise to what was an absolutely flawless performance. The vocals were incredible, the music was well played, the performance was outstanding, and Jules Näveri (Profane Omen) stepped in to do the songs from the new album, Across the Dark, which really pleased me considering I am really loving their new album. That guy has a great voice and really flows well with Insomnium.

Insomnium w/ Jules

The set was also incredible, with some favorites, such as a recent song of the day of mine, Where the Last Wave Broke. Another cool thing was that they played two intros... Equivalence to open up but also The Gale into Mortal Share (Mortal Share being one of the songs I was dying to hear). The encore was performed after a surprisingly short wait (that's a good thing in my opinion, I hate waiting 5 minutes for an encore to start) and they performed two more songs before finishing up.

Overall, outstanding performance, with Niilo Servänen's vocals and stage presence really creating good and solid union with the rest of the band, for a spectacular show.

Insomnium's setlist:
Equivalence
Down With the Sun
Drawn To Black
The Killjoy
Daughter of the Moon
The Harrowing Years
Where the last Wave Broke
The Lay of Autumn
Medeia
The Gale
Mortal Share
Devoid of Caring
EC The Day It All Came Down
EC Weighted Down With Sorrow

Insomnium w/ Jules

Year: October 2009
Opening Bands: Axegressor and Omnium Gatherum
Who I went with: Mikael, and met up with Markus and Valtsu
Location: Helsinki - Nosturi