Der Original-Artikel wurde bei stage2web veröffentlicht. Hier ist die englische Version.
The original article can be found under the link above (in german). Here you find the english version of the report.
When dwarves and goblins unite under the sign of the hammer, it can only mean one thing: Gloryhammer are calling for an intergalactic battle.
In May 2019, the men around Angus McFive released their album „Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex“ and were on tour in November and December as support with Powerwolf. Since 17.01.2020 and until 08.02.2020 GLORYHAMMER are on headliner tour through Europe. As support they have the dwarves of WIND ROSE and the goblins of NEKROGOBLIKON with them. On 18.01.2020 the European Galactic Terrortour entered the Turbinenhalle in Oberhausen.
Originally, the concert was to take place in Hall 2. But by the end of November 2019, over 90% of the tickets had already been sold and so the event was moved up to Hall 1. This was a good thing, because the Turbinenhalle was packed from the start. The concert was not sold out, but there were certainly not many tickets left behind.
Admission was supposed to be at 7 pm. But the first guests were already there at 6 pm. From 6.30 pm onwards, the stairs in front of the entrance were completely full and, according to hearsay, the queue stretched all the way to Hall 2. The entrance itself went as quickly as usual with the usual friendly and competent security. The rest is Turbinenhalle tradition: exchange money for tokens, possibly get a locker, look at and buy merch, then into the hall to get first drinks.
The lights went out at 7:45 pm and the spectacle took its course.
[small note from the author: what writing photographers don’t like at all is the announcement: „3 songs, then the camera has to go out“. This is especially stupid when the equipment doesn’t really fit into the lockers of the Turbinenhalle. Therefore, the following report is primarily based on the impressions of the first three songs of each band and the deafening cheering that could be heard from outside afterwards].
WIND ROSE from Milan opened the evening. The Italians describe their music as dwarf metal and are completely true to this motto: Tolkien himself could not have tailored their outfits better. They won the hearts of the guests from the very first moment and put on an excellent show. Only last October they released their latest album „Wintersaga“, already the fourth album since the band’s foundation in 2009. The album reached a top 100 position in the German charts and thus clearly showed: we are ready for the dwarves. WIND ROSE is welcome to return to the German stages again and again and will surely gain more and more reputation in the near future.
After the (unfortunately only) 30-minute set, not only the band changed, but also the atmosphere: if you thought you were in the mines of dwarven origin just a moment ago, you now had to handle an over-motivated, colourful and extroverted Goblin. NEKROGOBLIKON stormed the stage. And with that, the Americans‘ loud melodic death metal mercilessly pelted the fans. Their very own Goblin, in his colourful pyjamas, created an exuberant atmosphere, animated the audience and interacted with all band members. It’s a bit of a shame, though, that the Goblin was needed for this. The rest of the band members seemed to be more on their own without too much interaction with the audience. But that didn’t dampen the mood. After all, NEKROGOBLIKON have been around since 2006 and therefore have a lot of stage experience. The Californians released their last of four albums (and an EP) in 2018. So it’s time for a new one, and the fans are certainly just waiting for it. At least according to the cheers of the fans in Oberhausen.
Then it was time for the highlight of the evening. After all, the audience had come for one band in particular: GLORYHAMMER stormed in. But it was not really storming, it was more like being comfortably pushed. Bassist Hootsman had somehow managed to injure himself so badly that he had to go on stage in a wheelchair. But this did not affect his performance: he rolled from one side of the stage to the other, interacted with the audience as much as he could and still seemed to have a lot of fun. Hats off for that. Ser Proletius and Angus McFive made up for the forced restraint of their bassist. Especially Angus seemed to have had too much caffeine and animated the audience throughout the whole set. It was hard to believe, but of the three bands of the evening, GLORYHAMMER was actually the youngest. The idea for the band was born in 2009 (the year WIND ROSE was founded), but it was not until 2011 that Thomas Winkler aka Angus McFive was recruited as the singer and the debut album was finally released in 2013. NEKROGOBLIKON already had two albums on the market. GLORYHAMMER joined Napalm Records and the band’s concept was well received in Europe: while the album „Space 1992: Rise of the Chaos Wizards“ only reached number 53 in the German charts in 2015, the new work „Legends from Beyond the Galactic Terrorvortex“ entered the Top 10 and thrilled the fans. So it’s no wonder that GLORYHAMMER always sells out concerts and can fill a venue like Turbinenhalle 1 with ease. And what else can you say about the show than to think back on it with a big smile on your face and comment on the evening with an enthusiastic „Hach ja“? As usual, excellent without being boring. Just a band that you can watch again and again and that will always be fun.
Conclusion of the evening: excellent, of course. Except for the „only 3 songs“ thing. But even when leaving the hall to stow the camera, you could hear the fans cheering and singing along with every band, especially GLORYHAMMER. The hall was packed, right into the back corner and also on the upper level.
Ergo: if anyone is still hesitating to go to one of the concerts, they should put aside their hesitation as soon as possible and get a ticket for the nearest city.
Imago Libri 