Dark Tranquility (Sweden), Moonspell (Portugal) and Hiraes (Germany) hit Tavara-Asema in Tampere, Finland on the second date of their European tour. Although the venue wasn’t sold out, I don’t think any smaller venue in Tampere would have been able to accommodate such a high energy, high quality show! Hiraes hit the stage at full force, not only with an incredibly epic sound and presence but also seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. They fully engaged with the audience and brought the venue to their feet. Although Dark Tranquility was the headliner and the main course for most people, Moonspell was my personal highlight of the evening. They completely blew me away! Although I had seen them at numerous festivals in recent years, this club gig gave an incredibly different experience. In a way, it reintroduced me to their music. The sound and overall energy of the band and audience just clicked and somehow rejuvenated their music, reminding me just how good they are in ways that seemed to have gotten lost in the festival atmosphere. The moodiness and richness of their music really came through, aspects of their music and presence that the festival atmosphere seemed to dampened and distracted from . An unexpectedly (in the best way possible) memorable show!
Dark Tranquility, of course, were spot on. A true spectacle. They hit all the points one would hope to be hit from such professional pioneers of melodic death metal from the sound and stage presence to the epic lighting setup. They also were surprisingly good in a new way. It seemed they had done a little tinkering to some of the musical arrangements which added a bit of freshness to their set. It was also unexpected but welcome that they threw in a lot of older songs, some of which they only started playing live recently, despite it being the promotional tour for their new album Endtime Signals Also major props to Mikael Stanne as he admitted had injured (broken?) his rib(s?) only a few days prior to the tour. Watching him on stage, you wouldn’t have known. It didn’t hold him back from headbanging or dominating the stage with his signature energy and charisma. Hoping a swift recovery!

All three bands fit well together, and had their own strengths and unique sounds. If the tour is coming near you, don’t miss it!

Hiraes

Moonspell

Dark Tranquility

Photography by Serena Solomon