Metal for the Masses Tour
Review

Metal for the Masses Tour: The Haunted Dark Tranquillity Into Eternity Scar Symmetry

Metal For The Masses Tour
Dark Tranquillity
The Haunted
Into Eternity
Scar Symmetry
The Metro
4/4/07
Reviewer: Karma E. Omowale
Photos: Erika Kristen Watt

“Metal for the Masses; the best tour of the year thus far!”

Well the title of the tour speaks volumes, does it not? There was something for every metalhead in attendance; this was the ULTIMATE touring package. The only comparison that can be drawn is all four bands fall underneath the heading of metal and ¾ sharing the same label (Century Media) are från Sverige (sexton svensk människor…The Haunted, Dark Tranquillity, Scar Symmetry and och fjärde Into Eternity just incase you were not paying attention is from Canada)…that’s where the similarity pretty much ends because they could not be more different from one another. Now to get to the nitty of the gritty, for all of you depraved souls that have no clue what we’re talking about, Into Eternity is more power metal driven then we have two melo-death acts that differ very much from one another: Scar Symmetry and Dark Tranquillity. SS is like Soilwork on steroids and DT is Dark Tranquillity (meldo-death/Gothenburg Sound) personified! Last but not least this leads us to the venerated band, The Haunted whose sound goes after your balls with their post-thrash/melodic-death funk hybrid. One of the best features of this tour was that The Haunted and Dark Tranquillity flip-flopped as headliners every other night, which is a good thing considering DT had the difficult task of sifting through close to tjugo (20) years worth of material and åtta (8) albums later as well as fyra (5) albums for The Haunted. Talk about a treat…especially if you had the pleasure of seeing these gents perform on multiple dates.

…speaking of which, we surely had our fill of metal, seizing the opportunity to see two shows, one at the Grand Rapids Intersection and again here in Chicago at the Metro. Due to us not being able to find the well tucked away Intersection, we arrived during the middle of Scar Symmetry’s earlier than posted set and proceeded to conduct interviews during Into Eternity’s. Now in Chicago, it pretty much shared the same fate. Look, we too are disappointed not being able to document SS’s first time here in the Midwest/States but as luck will have it, they are returning SOON as well as IE, in which they are busily touring these day…so that’s good for all involved parties.

Being this was Scar Symmetry’s maiden voyage across the States; the band was more than excited to grace the respective stages (Intersection and the Metro). Their setlists were pretty much identical (in no particular order): “Mind Machine”, “Reborn”, “Chaosweaver”, “The Illusionist,” “Slaves to the Subliminal” and “Abstracted”. Performing an equal amount of songs from their newest release, Pitch Black Progress and their 2005 discSymmetric In Design. In the small amount of time given, thirty minutes (and even less in Chicago), lead by vocalist Christian Älvestam, the band had excellent command of the derisory audience - (in part due by either poor promotions or the fact that it was an early Sunday night show). From what we hear, the crowd was less paltry at the Metro. Regardless, the band was delighted to be able to perform for a larger audience…some of which knew the words to their songs, this filled bassist Kenneth Seil with immense elation. The only issue was overall, the band’s rigid performance. Surely they will have this all worked out by the time they return in the mid-fall on the Live Consternation Tour in support of fellow countrymen Katatonia and with Finland’s Insomnium and Swallow The Sun in tow.

Now on to the Canadian road warriors’ Into Eternity, I bet this band undoubtedly spends more time on the road than in their respective houses especially being on a couple of tours past, last year’s Gigantour... What a way to plug the hell out of The Scattering of Ashes. Do you see the irony in the correlation to the name of the album and the bands' maddening touring schedule? But then again, it probably is a good thing they are out so much as it will undoubtedly help to acclimate the two newbies in the band’s revolving door of constant lineup changes. This go round we have ex-Beyond the Embrace drummer Steve Bolognese and guitarist Justin Bender joining the band. From what we overheard, their performance that was nothing short of theatrical. However, the band’s showman, Stu Block, was not on key during several songs; it was a good thing we had extra buffers of the walls between us. This too shocked The Haunted's frontman, Peter Dolving. He said that it “was the first time on this tour I’ve heard him do that”! Where are our earplugs again? Well from the part, we caught at the Metro, Block’s over-the-top falsetto-ness kept the audience engaged, without one crack! Either way you size up Block’s showboating, the band put on a mighty credible performance, and in retrospect, it is the responsibility of the lead singer to captivate the audience right? Well hell, Block sure as hell fills the role! Here's how the night unfurled at the Metro.

Lineup: Justin Bender - guitar; Troy Bleich - bass; Stu Block - lead vocals; Steve Bolognese - drums; Tim Roth - guitar, vocals

As stated a couple of sentences back, Block and the boys put on a mighty credible performance for the Metro. It was nice to see so many faces in the starting to become packed venue not to mention the crowd being into the band as well. The boys performed a plethora of old favorites like “Spiraling Into Depression”, “Beginning of The End” and “Dead and Dreaming” as well the new ones “Nothing” and “Timeless Winter” off their newest album The Scattering of Ashes. Now this will also come back to bite me in the ass later on but I did not have a pen for this set; however, at least our resident photo queen, Erika Kristen, got some tasty shots for your metal pleasure, and here you go!

Into Eternity Setlist: Novus Inceptum (Intro); Severe Emotional Distress; Splintered Visions; Nothing; Timeless Winter; Spiralling Into Depression; Beginning of The End.

Lineup: Mikael Stanne – vocals; Niklas Sundin – guitars; Martin Henriksson – guitars; Martin Brändström – keyboards; Michael Niklasson – bass; Anders Jivarp – drums

It was so hot in both venues, you could see the sweat stains on the bands' clothes. Another tell tale sign of the bands working their ass off! It was an honour to have the distinct pleasure of seeing Dark Tranquillity again as we were still having withdrawal from the last time we feasted our eyes on them during Opeth's second run on the Ghost Reveries 2006 Tour. Having said that, obviously my subconscious was working overtime as underlying premeditated selfishness to enjoy every nanosecond of the previous show transferred over to tonight’s, I some how left my house without a pen… how the hell does that happen one might ask themselves? Jag vet inte! Word to the wise, do not expect the Metro bartenders there to have your back either. So what I’m getting at is if you feel the details are sketchy…you’ve been more than warned! As you know, we missed openers SS and IE in Michigan, well the lords of communiqué-wreaked havoc on our lives again, as we missed both bands again… (Due to mis-posting of times visa vie the Metro) yes, yes soon grasshopper we'll learn!!

Unlike their headlining show in GR, Dark Tranquility was second up this evening to co-headliners The Haunted. Earlier in my conversation with the band’s magnanimous frontman Mikael Stanne, he told us that since the album was not out yet; their setlist would only contain a maximum of two songs a night thereby concentrating on their older material. However when the band tentatively returns to the States in the fall, they would concentrate more on the new album, Fiction! In my personal opinion (yup, you’re getting whether you like it or not), tonight’s show lacked the zeal of the Intersection show; however, the crowd was REALLY into the band, which is always a good thing. It was nice to see bassist Michael Niklasson was all into it…smiles from ear to ear! Of course it was glorious to see him overall, as you may or may not have heard, Niklasson fell quite ill prior to the tour learning he had diabetes. But tonight, he was in it, to win it! He put the "M" in metal!

Being a premier frontman, Stanne never fails to entertain! Case in point, while introing “Focus Shift”, Mikael engaged the fawning minions, “We have a new album due out on the 24^th of April called Fiction, how many of you have heard it?” Many in the audience cheered and threw their horns high. In immediate response a smile a mile wide crossed the singer’s countenance whilst he swiftly and jokingly retorted, “Pirating bastards!”, the venue erupted with chortles; the band then proceeded to play the ninth track off the album, "Focus Shift".

Later in the set Stanne addressed the hyped fans, “Can you handle mid nineties stuff from the Gallery? This is “Punish My Heaven”!” The crowd erupted! In response to the amazing response, the band decided to be daring and spring another new track on the crowd for size, “Can you handle another track off the new album?” the hungry audience roared, the band then ripped into “Lesser Faith”. The response was overwhelming, this pleased the band much. Niklasson tore up the next track, “Damage Done”…actually, the entire band followed his lead catching their second wind. Unfortunately, this happened next to the final song of the set, my personal favorite, “New Build” off the bands’ 2005 release, Character. The ever bouncing and pacing Mikael Stanne stood still long enough to bellow, “Take it away Anders!” as drummer Anders Jivarp started the song, the crowd went nuts…as well as myself. And just like that…poof, the band was off.

Dark Tranquillity ever so graciously exited the stage as they all smiled and waved goodbye to their adoring fans. Before exiting Stanne assured the crowd they would return before the end of the year, phew! Vi syns snart!!

Dark Tranquillity Setlist: Terminus (Where Death Is Most Alive); Final Resistance; Focus Shift; Hedon; My Negation; The Wonders At Your Feet; Lost To Apathy; The Sun Fired Blanks; White Noise; The Treason Wall; The Endless Feed; Punish My Heaven; The Lesser Faith; Damage Done; The New Build.

Because we love you so much, here are some extra bonus shots from Grand Rapids:

Now let our "focus shift" to Chicago, shall we...

Lineup: Peter Dolving – vocals; Anders Björler – guitar; Jonas Björler – bass; Patrik Jensen – guitar; Per Möller Jensen – drums

Tonight marks the long awaited return (to Chicago), of The Haunted as it has been three years since the band graced us with their trashy presence since the ever fateful Devastation Across the Nation Tour. This band remains one of the best exports from Sverige (next to DT that is). In support of their fifth recent mammoth release, The Dead Eye, these co-headliners came right out the chute and took no captors! It’s not hard to see how this band has influenced the masses over the course of their illustrious collective and respective careers (as in with previous bands)...their set was MASSIVE! You could feel the surge of energy the band emitted throughout the venue; the reverberation was infectious as it was hard to find a still body in the place (floor and rafters included).

The crowds were blown away both nights that the band chose to play the first three songs off the new album interrupted. It was a three-for we would not soon forget!! The band then took us back a record to their 2004 release, rEVOLVEr with “99”. To intro the fifth song of their set, the colorful frontman, Peter Dolving, finally spoke to the overwhelming number of diehards, “So we’re in Chicago huh?”, the crowd roared. “Let me tell you a bit about this next song, “Reflections”…Peter went on to regale the story of the earliest memory he had of his father looking up at his “cock” and how the song was an homage to the “journey into manhood”! The crowd went wild from the strangely told yet heartwarming story från galnavetenskapsmannen eller en galning. haha Immediately following the song, Dolving roped the crowd in more (was it possible?) with his next dissertation, “If we come back, would you come?”…by this time, he had the crowd eating out of his hand. The band then ripped into “All Against All”…talk about an anthem for unity! Well the madman rallied his soldiers as multiple pits erupted throughout the evening for the beloved and seldom seen band. This is where I officially jumped off journalistic duties and became a fan…enjoying the absolute hell outta the rest of the set! They brought the house down with the final selection of tonight’s setlist, “Dark Intentions”… Det var några skitbra! We will be blessed with the band crossing our shores again before the close of the year, make sure to see them until then…goddag allihopa!

The Haunted Setlist: The Premonition (Intro); The Flood; Medication; 99; Reflection; All Against All; Abysmal; In Vein; D.O.A.; The Drowning; Trespass; Guilt Trip; No Compromise; Hollow Ground; Fall Out; Prosecution; Hate Song; Dark Intentions.