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2015-03-26 DE – Bochum - Matrix
 

Why, of all things, DEVIN TOWNSEND played the narrow :: Matrix Club :: tube stage might be his best kept secret (it wasn't his first time at the Matrix ;) – editor's note.). I can't remember that I ever had great sound there and especially with DEVIN TOWNSENDs epic wide screen score, sound ain't the most unimportant thing. Also supporting bands PERIPHERY and SHINING would have to struggle with that issue tonight.

:: pics ::

The evening got kicked off by Norway's finest progressive Jazz metallers :: SHINING ::. I'm actually not so familiar with their material, a matter to change immediately after the show as the guys delivered an exceedingly great performance. Even more since their 2010 album Blackjazz (sic!) and their current one One One Oneare highly acclaimed by fans and media. SHINING play a wild mix of progressive Rock/Metal and Jazz with many saxophone parts. Musically I'd put them anywhere between Ihsahn, Dillinger Escape Plan and John Zorn. For sure not the easiest stuff to take. But SHINING also offered a kinda classic acoustic Jazz song from the band's early days. It was a thrilling and entertaining show yet a challenging one too. And the crowd seemed to like what they got. Only singer Jørgen Munkeby revealed some uncongenial rock star attitudes. Except for this: thumbs up!

Hailing from Maryland, next up were Djent shooting stars :: PERIPHERY ::, who seem to have a huge fan base. The pack in front of stage enthusiastically welcomed them and celebrated every song. Most of them came from the brand new double release Juggernaut: Alpha & Juggernaut: Omega. Tough stuff, a chaotic mix-up of Alternative Rock, staccato Metal and Metalcore, that needs several listening sessions to find access. As for me, I did not. It wasn't my cup of tea. I have less problems with their Djent colleagues Tesseract and even like bands such as Skyharbor… However, technically PERIPHERY are for sure excellent musicians and play really tight together. Again it is the singer (Spencer Sotelo) who turns out to be the weak point. His voice was too thin and powerless and was waveringly oscillating between melodic-Punk and Emocore. His shouts were just average too. He actually appeared to be like a foreign particle between the sophisticated and energetic music. But hey, it's just me, the crowd didn't care and PERIPHERY went down extremely well.
Setlist: Icarus Lives!, Make Total Destroy, The Scourge, Psychosphere, 22 Faces, Bad Thing, Alpha, Graveless

Now, time didn't want to pass by. The change-over seemed to last eternally. Much more it were the numberless little Ziltoid movies (one actually couldn't really see due to the small stage and low ceiling) that went terribly on nerves. Finally the master himself jumped on stage, and :: THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT :: kicked in with Truth. DEVIN not only had to fight with sound problems but also with voice problems he still mastered step by step during the show. And he knew how to master the crowd too. This man has a lot of charisma, while his backing crew remained more or less pale. He enormously scored with tracks such as Life and Night (from Ocean Machine times) and didn't do anything wrong either with newer material such as Lucky Animals. The DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT played an entertaining and diversified set, of course focusing on the new album Ziltoid². But though I hope he is finally done with that kind of music. All the interruptions with Ziltoid films, the hand puppets and all the extreme rubbish around the cute alien gets meanwhile on nerves. Really. Please focus on music only again Mr. Townsend. Sound was crap but got better during the set. Great and entertaining show, yes! And I would love to see THE DEVIN TOWNSEND PROJECT next time on a bigger stage.
Setlist: Truth, Deathray, Namaste, Night, Storm, Hyperdrive, Rejoice, Addicted, Poozers, A New Reign, Lucky Animals, Life, Christeen, Ih-Ah, Kingdom

 

story © BRT • Pics © Dani Vorndran & Black-Cat-Net