Released by: Atomic Fire Records

Release Date: October 13th, 2023

Genre: Metal

Line Up:

Tomi Joutsen – vocals
Esa Holopainen – guitars
Tomi Koivusaari – guitars
Olli-Pekka Laine – bass
Santeri Kallio – keyboards
Jan Rechberger – drums

Tracklist:

01. The Bee
02. Message In The Amber
03. Daughter Of Hate
04. The Golden Elk
05. Wrong Direction
06. Heart Of The Giant
07. We Accursed
08. Grain Of Sand
09. Amongst Stars [feat. Anneke van Giersbergen]
10. Pyres On The Coast

This live set was captured during the height of 2021 in the middle of the world pandemic, but that didn’t matter, the band still played as if they were playing to a packed Tavastia club. For those not in the know, this is a club in Helsinki, Finland that holds about 700 people at most.

I watched the Youtube video provided for preview to the press and I’ll be honest, it was nice to see a live set with full stage production lighting not just done over Zoom. Knowing it was done in 2021 I will say too, it’s weird not having people in the video with the live setting. Although it’s no different than recording a music video, just in this case, a very long music video.

The audio engineering was spot on for this recording, the lighting and video work were great. The team did a great job on this.

Now for the band, this is the first time I’ve heard the band, and it was a treat. Melodic Death Metal is one of the best genres out there in my opinion, and this band pulls it off perfectly. Anyone who has listened to this band will appreciate the live setting and recording quality. They’ll also appreciate the fact that the album is played perfectly by the 2018 release. But it has a live feel, which differentiates the sounds a bit. The guitars are just a little lower in presence than the studio version, and the drums a little more present, and that’s OK, I like it. It evens itself out.

I love how singer Tomi Joutsen goes from clean to growling so easily. The solos are expansive, the songs feel fuller, and there’s more life coming to them. I will most definitely be listening to this more. It’s a great album!

Even if all you do is listen to the live album version, you’ll find yourself going back and listening to it.

I have always been a fan of live albums because if the band can make it sound as good if not better, and oftentimes they do make it sound better, I give props to the band for that ability. Being a musician is not an easy job, being able to make your stage presence known regardless of an audience is even better.

Written by: Chris Rugowski