Review by Brian McLean
Every now and then there's a concert line up that can be considered the ultimate tour package for fans of that genre. One of those dream tours has embarked upon the United States and features several of the top acts that have or are currently making their name known in America.
For this tour, there are four bands representing four countries stretching from Sweden with Hypocrisy, Finland's Children of Bodom, Norway's Dimmu Borgir and over the Atlantic to states with Nevermore.
With a package of this nature, the supporting acts tend to have a shorter time allotments than the headliner and co-headliner. Hypocrisy and Children of Bodom both had the not so pleasurable task of performing short 30-minute sets but both capitalized.
Hypocrisy fronted by famed metal producer Peter Tagtgren under minimal stage light took the eagerly awaiting fans on a head thrashin; horns thrusting set that with “Fractured Millennium." Selections from the Hypocrisy repertoire were well received including “Destroyed," “Pleasure of Molestation," “Fire in the Sky," “Roswell 47” as well as a sneak peak of a song from the upcoming CD set for released in early 2004.
Children of Bodom followed. With lights out and an empty stage, a distorted crunching guitar chord blasted through the PA system. As the chord sustained, Alexi Laiho walked to center stage with guitar in hand raised high.
Touring in support of their latest release Hate Crew Deathroll, CoB wasted no time setting the standard for the night by opening with “Needled 24/7” followed by “Hate Me," "Silent Night," "Bodom Night”, “Everytime I Do” and “Downfall.”
Within the short time period on stage, Laiho and band mates proceeded to amaze even the most critical. Whether fans were familiar with COB or not, after the set, there was a buzz amongst the crowd. The general consensus was that COB needed to be moved up the list to a longer set and would Nevermore and Dimmu Borgir be able to follow suit with a set that matches the energy level, musicianship and technically wizardry displayed by the Finnish band.
Needless to say, Laiho and company commanded the stage and crowd as primed metal veterans.
There didn't seem to be much anticipation for Nevermore after Bodom’s blistering set but once “Narcosynthesis” began, things changed.
Nevermore's set started off slow with minimal energy but as time progressed, the set gained momentum and fans became more enthused as hour long set proceeded which featured “Seven Tongues of God," “The River Dragon," “Sound of Silence” and “I, Voyager” from their latest album Enemies of Reality.
After two hours of support bands and an hour plus combined time for set changes, headliners Dimmu Borgir dressed in black, spikes and light corpse face paint treated fans to what seemed to be less than a 100% effort. As expected, the mix was great and colored lights were plenty but the bigger than life aura Dimmu Borgir was missing.
Chosen selections like “Lepers Among Us," “Progenies of the Great Apocalypse” and “Cataclysm Children”, all from their latest release titled Death Cult Armageddon. "The Insight and the Catharsis," “Indoctrination," “Kings of the Carnival Creation," “Mourning Palace” and tracks from various other CDs rounded out the Dimmu Borgir set.
The band was tight and vocals by Shagrath with lead contributions by bassist Vortex were rock solid but the performance as a whole lacked the intensity as previous stops to Dallas. With six members, Dimmu Borgir appeared to be cramped on stage. A larger stage and roomier venue with seating may have made the difference.
With two 30-minute and two one hour sets along with the set changes between, the time factor may be teetering around the point of fan fatigue, specifically those that were unable to find a place to sit and watch the show with no obstructions. Many appeared to have given up and sat against walls surrounding the main floor area while the metal troopers of the night continued standing to the end.
The obvious surprise of the evening was Children of Bodom. There's a cliché phrase that can be written about CoB's performance in Dallas that has been said countless times. The truth of the matter is their blistering performance can't be overlooked or denied. Children of Bodom literally stole the show, packed it up with them and took it to the next city.