Arch Enemy / Grand Magus / Malefice / Chthonic
27 November 2010
The Forum, London
This tour was originally scheduled for April but thanks to volcanic ash clouds received a 7 month delay.The other casualties were the original supports Sabbat and Enslaved, who were replaced with an eclectic metal bill, opening with Chthonic.
“We are Chthonic from Taiwan and London is more f**king cold than we thought”, announced Freddy Lim.Whilst it is freezing outside, it’s the chilled blasts of black metal from the stage that were currently more keenly felt.With a sound reminiscent of early Cradle Of Filth, the Taiwanese band add traditional sounds from their homeland through the use of the erhu, a violin styled instrument.
The band have a striking look with Lim looking vaguely new-Romantic with his shoulder padded jacket and severe haircut.Bassist Doris Yeh has the boys drooling at the front and for someone who looks dwarfed by her instrument she commands on stage, striding around singing along to the words and reacting with the crowd.Guitarist Jesse Liu holds a controlled coolness whilst drummer Dani Wang has been muzzled for the occasion.
The set cherry picks the best of latest album Mirror Of Retribution and closes with the band’s cover of Judas Priest’s Painkiller with a guest appearance from Abgott’s Agamoth Sabbath A.Despite not receiving the best sound for this type of music, Chthonic provided an energetic and welcomed start to the evening.
Chthonic setlist:
Rise Of The Shadow / 49 Theurgy Chains / Spell Of The Setting Sun: Mirror Of Retribution / Sing Ling Temple / Painkiller
 
Malefice arrived on stage backed by a giant backdrop which had me wondering how often they’ve had chance to use it.More displays and crowd reactions like this would indicate it’s in for a lot of use going forward.The Reading five piece have put in a lot of road work and this is now starting to pay dividends.
From atop of a podium centre stage, frontman Dale Butler took on the role of ringmaster as he ordered a circle pit during opener The Midas Effect which sprawled wider and wider and had me scurrying up the steps from stage front fittingly during Abandon Hope.
Butler tells us the band are working on new material and we are given a preview with Awaken The Giants which bodes well for the next release.Not content with circle pits, it’s time for the wall of death for Risen Through The Ashes before An Architect Of Your Demise closed an short aggressive set.
Malefice setlist:
The Midas Effect / Sickened / Abandon Hope / Awaken The Giants / Risen Through The Ashes / An Architect Of Your Demise
 
It’s time for the Swedes to take over and Grand Magus have brought their national flag, adorned with their name and wolf’s head.As is tradition, as the evening progressed, more stage space was available to each band, but in Grand Magus case with only three members and little movement it does look a little sparse.
However, Grand Magus have amassed a collection of classic metal songs which are strong enough to hold their own and come as a welcome change of pace and atmosphere.
Frontman JB adopts a cool persona with shaved head and mirrored sunglasses.Meanwhile bassist Fox holds his position on the other side of the stage as the thick riffs of the likes of Like The Oar Strikes The Water and The Shadow Knows strike down. This was a solid support set, but I have trouble imagining Grand Magus ever headlining a venue of this size and the set length was ample.
Grand Magus setlist
Kingslayer / Like The Oar Strikes The Water / Silver Into Steel / Hammer Of The North / I, The Jury / Wolf’s Return / The Shadow Knows / Iron Will
 
The fact that Arch Enemy were due to tour in April had felt weird given it was 2007 when their last album Rise Of The Tyrant was released.Of course there was the excuse of the re-recordings album The Root Of Evil, though anyone hoping for a retro-set was severely disappointed with only two songs from that album played.
Chains hanging from the lighting rig, a large backdrop and lightning all provided a good setting for Arch Enemy who were once again sporting their uniform arm bands.However there was something all a bit too familiar about this. The setlist wasn’t vastly different to their co-headline performance at Bloodstock in 2009 and you got the feeling you could be anywhere at any point over the last three years to have seen this.
Given their were so many supports, this was a trimmed setlist so why there was the need to keep in the drum solo was anybodies guess. The mix did not help proceedings and all in all this turned out to be one of the most disappointing sets of the year for me.
Arch Enemy setlist:
The Immortal / Revolution Begins / Ravenous / Taking Back My Soul / My Apocalypse / Dark Insanity / Drum solo / I Will Live Again / Dead Eyes See No Future / Guitar solo / Dead Bury Their Dead / We Will Rise / Snow Bound / Nemesis
 
LINKS:
www.archenemy.net
www.grandmagus.com
www.myspace.com/malefice
www.chthonic.org/unlimited
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