EDENBRIDGE (Live) [ ] - Metal Express Radio

Edenbridge at Rosendal, Trondheim October 25, 2008 — Photo by Kristian Singh-Nergård

Authors: Andreas Nergård and Kristian Nergård
All photos by Kristian Nergård

It was time for Edenbridge’s first visit to Norway in six years, and their first to the ancient Viking city of Trondheim. The concert was held at the venerable Rosendal Theater and it was arranged by the High Voltage Rock Club. This was also the first big event they’ve arranged in Trondheim. All in all this would turn out to be a fantastic night of Melodic and Symphonic Metal, and the High Voltage Rock Club should indeed be praised for their work. It is fantastic that someone takes the time to organize real Metal concerts in Trondheim. However, it’s a shame that so few turned up to see their performance.

Tellus Requiem

Tellus Requiem, a local Progressive Power Metal band opened the show. They came on stage to the sound of “Barber Adagio For Strings,” maybe best known from the legendary Vietnam war-movie Platoon. Then they literally gave you a kick in the face with the aggressive opener “Oblivion” which exploded from the very beginning both musically and with the help from pyrotechnics. Tellus Requiem was actually the only band to have bombs on stage. This one sounded very inspired by the American Progressive Power Metalers Symphony X, it was pretty fast in tempo and dominated by arpeggio-like guitar riffs. Their singer’s voice has a lot of potential, and he may be a great singer after a few more years of experience, but he’s not quite there yet.

The one that really impressed the crowd was the guitarist who didn’t only play very, very good, but also showed a lot of appreciation of being there that evening, rocking the stage accompanied by the bassist which was a true example of “Heavy Metal-on-stage attitude.” The keyboard player, like the singer, seemed to lack the routine. He seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else than on stage, but this may just as well be because he was nervous. His playing wasn’t too tight and he also made use of a computer to change between the different keyboard sounds and this caused him to come in a bit late at times. This may also have been caused by nervousness, but it should be mentioned that his solo playing on the final song, “Live To Burn,” was outstanding. It was unexpected and sounded cool as well. Tellus Requiem ended the show as they opened it; with a big bang from pyrotechnics.

All in all it was an impressive performance from the band. Things are going well for these guys and they’re entering the studio at Skansen in Trondheim December 15th to record their first studio album. The album will be self-titled and it will be mixed by Tommy Hansen (Jorn, Helloween, TNT etc.). You can look for the final result in March 2009.

This was one of their first concerts together, but they delivered a great show. With a few more gigs these guys will be dead-tight on stage, and it will be no surprise if you see them playing a gig in Germany or Spain in a couple of years.

Setlist:

Intro (Barber Adagio for Strings)
Oblivion
The Pathfinder
Tentalized
Worlds’ Apart
Frontiers
Live To Burn

Where Angels Fall

The second band to appear was Where Angels Fall. Their set started out with a majestic symphony that blended into the title track from their latest album, Marionettes. In fact, this evening was the release party for their new record. Their music is best described as Heavy Metal with strong Gothic elements, much due to their female singer Eirin Bendigtsen. Where Angels Fall is a rising star in the Gothic Metal genre, and with their new album they’ve taken their music to a higher level. They’ve continued to include keyboard programming in their music, but they seem to have put the orchestra and choirs on hold and focused more on the straight Metal expression.

The audience got treated to great songs from both of Where Angels Fall’s albums. Songs like “Marionettes” and “Female Stigmata” are great songs to be aware of from their new album Marionettes. They also played “The Game (Fooled Again)” and the brilliant “Edge Of Sanity” from their 2006 effort, Illuminate. The band seemed to function great together and there were no flaws to trace in their performance, musically that is.

What dragged their performance down was a bit too much of the music was on tape. That the keyboard parts and the orchestra were on tape is understandable, but there was even an acoustic guitar part on tape that the guitar player easily could have handled himself. The bass player was so misplaced that if one saw him on the street you would never assume that he plays in a Metal band. In fact, you wouldn’t assume that even if you saw him on-stage. While the guitarist and singer were dressed to fit the Goth Metal music the band plays, the bass player looked like he came straight from the office. You get the feeling that he’s really misplaced and it affects the whole concert experience for you as a concertgoer.

Singer Bendigtsen, however, was all over the stage and by the time Where Angels Fall had played their set, she had looked every single person in the crowd in the eyes and sung especially for them. She is a magnificent front woman that really leaves quite an impression. If you have a chance to see this band live, you should really go for it.

Setlist:

Marionettes (off Marionettes)
The Game (Fooled Again) (off Illuminate)
Feed On Depression (off Marionettes)
Edge Of Sanity (off Illuminate)
Mystifying Grief (off Marionettes)
Freeze Me (off Marionettes)
Lux Aeterna (off Illuminate)
Female Stigma (off Marionettes)
The Falls Embrace (off Illuminate)

Edenbridge

Tonight’s headliners were the Austrian Symphonic Metalers Edenbridge. Earlier this year they released their new album, My Earth Dream, which marks a new highpoint in their career. After a lot of hard work from the High Voltage Rock Club, Edenbridge was finally to perform in Trondheim.

Edenbridge are celebrating their 10th anniversary this year and after the release of their terrific new album, the band was set to prove that their live performance was no less than terrific as well. The album features performances by the Czech Film Orchestra, and it’s quite understandable that this was on tape during the concert. Another thing about the songs from the new record is that they saw guitarists Lanvall and Dominik Sebastian playing 7-string guitars for lower tones and a heavier approach than the other songs. That meant that in-between you could spot them going off-stage to switch guitars.

The band entered the stage to the orchestral tones of the intro from their new record and kicked in with “Shadowplay,” also off My Earth Dream. “Shadowplay” is probably one of the heaviest Edenbridge songs ever and functions great as an opener, both for the album and the concert. Vocalist Sabine Edelbacher’s voice was no less than great this night. She’s a bit reminiscent of ex-Nightwish vocalist Tarja Turunen when it comes to stage performance, but that is also the only resemblance. She has a characteristic voice that no one else has and she suits Edenbridge’s music better than anyone else’s would have.

It was quite obvious after a couple of songs that the band has a lot of experience when it comes to live concerts. You could see a smile on each one of their faces and once in a while they gathered on a line by the drum kit and walked unison towards the audience. Bass player Frank Bindig was the most active musician on stage and he really gave of himself to maximize the audience’s concert experience. To see him onstage was an enjoyment. The new drummer Max Pointer was rock steady behind the drum kit (maybe that’s not a big surprise since he had the click track to play by), and together with Bindig he created a great foundation for the rest of the band to rely on.

In the end Edenbridge played seven songs from their new record, and with the exception of four songs from Shine they played one song from each of their other albums. There was not much negative to point one’s finger to during Edenbridge’s set, but they could perhaps have played another song from their previous album, The Grand Design, instead of covering the James Bond song “For Your Eyes Only.”

The title track from My Earth Dream was shortened over twelve minutes to eight during the set. This song sees a lot of different approaches to the Symphonic Metal Edenbridge plays and they even had Bindig do some growling in-between on this one. This song functioned great as the last song of their set. The audience wanted more and after making a lot of noise and demanding more, the band came back on stage to perform “The Undiscovered Land” from Aphelion and “Cheyenne Spirit” from their first full-length album Sunrise In Eden.

Edenbridge showed that they’re no less than a great Symphonic Metal band. They haven’t reached the same success as Nightwish and Within Temptation, but that’s about to change. Their song material just keeps improving and the new album is no less than great.

All in all it was a fantastic night of Metal in Trondheim, and all three bands did everything they could to enhance the concert experience for the people who showed up. All hail also to the High Voltage Rock Club for getting Edenbridge to Trondheim. Let’s hope it doesn’t take Edenbridge six years to return this time.

Setlist: