At El Corazon: Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, Blood and Thunder

I had some music lined up for a regular Music I Liked post today. But I’m going to punt it to next week because on Thursday I saw Amorphis, Dark Tranquillity, Moonspell, Omnium Gatherum, and Blood and Thunder at El Corazon. It was all music I liked.

Six years ago, after an asthma attack triggered by moldy carpet, I swore I was done with El Corazon. But I keep going back because they book great bands. Last Thursday was one of the best lineups in a lifetime of killer of lineups, maintaining thematic and stylistic consistency across historically significant bands that nevertheless don’t sound alike.

Blood and Thunder

I had never heard of the excellently-named Seattle band Blood and Thunder before Thursday. (I can’t believe that aside from one Mastodon song no one else is using that name.) Even coming in completely cold, I really enjoyed them. The drummer did vocals and they had a fanned fret guitar, which I’d never seen before but now think is awesome. I’m such a sucker for unusual instrumentation.

This show was the release party for their new album The Necromancer’s Cantos. I’m also a sucker for creative names. With song titles like “Empire of Witches” and “Tears of Unfathomable Sadness,” they obviously have the perfectly blended sense of humor and D&D aesthetic that good melodeath requires. Fortunately they’ve got the chops to back it all up.

Omnium Gatherum

Holy hell, when Omnium Gatherum shows up this low on the bill, you know you’re dealing with some old gods. I confess that in the past, I’ve confused Omnium Gatherum with Insomnium. Mid-90’s Finnish melodeath bands with faux Latin names and a shared guitarist; I could be forgiven, I think, for my confusion. But after finally seeing Omnium Gatherum live, I don’t think I’ll have that problem anymore. Omnium Gatherum felt a little sharper edged and riffier, where Insomnium (whom I saw on the same stage on the night of the asthma attack) is more melodic.

Also, Omnium Gatherum’s singer looks like Guy Pearce.

I only listened to The Burning Cold once-through before the show, and you can bet I’m fixing that this week.

Moonspell

I’m kicking myself. Based on the name Moonspell I wrote them off as a melodramatic, gothy, Nightwish sort of band – completely ignoring the fact that I love cinematic, gothy music!

They came out on stage looking like a bunch of Catholic privateers (and don’t think I didn’t notice Antonio Banderas’ doppelganger on keys in the back of the stage).

It instantly made me want to drink red wine from a metal goblet. Strangely, this was the second concert I’ve been to this year where someone danced on stage with a raven mask.

I heard them the first time as concert prep, and kicked myself again when I realized their new album, 1755, is about an earthquake that devastated Portugal (I’m as much a sucker for history-based albums as I am for funky instrumentation) and it’s in Portuguese (which I’ve been studying since my trip to the Azores).

I heard the goth more in the old songs, but the newer stuff reminded me more of Skalmold’s chunky folk. I could almost hear a stadium of Portuguese fans chanting along. Few things in life are as satisfying as discovering a new band at a show. Even if said band has been cranking out ritualistic metal hymns since you were in high school.

Dark Tranquillity

I have never given the Gothenburg sound the respect it deserves. I just never quite connected with the hissy snarl of Gothenburg’s Big Three. My husband, on the other hand, is a huge fan, so I’ve listened to them a lot, especially Dark Tranquillity, and there’s no denying their importance or their talent. I missed my chance to see At the Gates due to a combination of jet lag and the aforementioned disrespect, but In Flames was amazing when I saw them at Showbox SoDo, and Dark Tranquillity was equally impressive last week at El Corazon. More than impressive, they were fun. People are so serious and reverential about seminal metal bands, it can be surprising when you see them live and they are all about giving the audience a good time.

I liked the slightly rougher texture (though still crystal clear sound, even in El Corazon’s space) of their live show better than the kind of shiny, heavily produced sound of the records. Ironically, this made it easier for me to appreciate the melodies, which often felt buried on the records (to me).

Clean vocals are too often the Achilles heel for metal bands, but Mikael Stanne has a great clean singing voice – I could stand to hear more of it. I also hadn’t noticed how many songs they have about science and rational thought until Stanne pointed it out – but that’s a thematic path I’m very happy to explore further. Time to give Atoma a closer listen.

Amorphis

My feelings about Amorphis are well documented. This was the fourth time I’ve seen them.

1. At the LA show with Nightwish I sacrificed sound for view. I heard a slightly muddied version of their Skyforger set but also got to see Tomi Joutsen’s tattoos up close.
2. Amorphis is indirectly responsible for my obsession with Iceland (Skyforger -> Kalevala -> Eddas -> everything Iceland) so seeing them play in Iceland was a long-held dream. Eistnaflug 2016 was fabulous, but Amorphis’ set had such terrible sound it was hard identifying the songs.
3. Third time was a charm. I found El Corazon’s sweet spot of good sound and visibility. It was also one of their last shows with Niclas on bass.

This time, the sound… wasn’t great. I don’t understand why, because the other bands sounded clear. But Amorphis’ instruments were muddy, Joutsen’s suffered feedback and for a while the synths sounded like a test of the Emergency Broadcast System. It sucks that one of my favorite bands has a 50/50 chance of sounding good live.

Still, Amorphis are pros. They always give a great show and you never know what to expect from the set list. It was great to see them playing with founding bassist Olli-Pekka Laine. I think Queen of Time is the most interesting album they’ve done since Skyforger, (even if “The Golden Elk” is a little heavy on the “Hotel California” worship) and it was great to hear songs off the new album live. And I was very happy they closed with “House of Sleep.” It’s always been one of my favorites.

Technical Details

Check Amorphis’ web page or your favorite tour tracking app for remaining tour dates.

Huge thanks to Casey Tanasse and Jason Swaney for permission to use their photos from this show.