Three years ago I visited the release party (see
review) of
Nine Paths
(2011, see
review), the fourth studio album of the Dutch prog rock outfit
Knight Area. Since
that time much has happened. Guitarist
Mark Vermeule and bassist
Gijs Koopman left and were replaced by
Mark Bogert and
Peter Vink. People who already have heard the new album
Hyperdrive
(see
review) know that these new band members are largely responsible for the current sound of Knight
Area. In my opinion the music changed from neo-progressive to a more prog metal
style. I was curious to find out how this change in musical style would sound
live on stage. However, before I could find out two support acts were performing
in order to bring the audience in the right mood.
Distorted Harmony
|
Misha Soukhinin |
The Israeli prog metal band Distorted Harmony played for the first time abroad. Their two studio albums
Utopia
(2012, see
review) and
Chain Reaction (2014, see
review) already got some positive reviews on our website. On their debut prog
rock more or less dominated the band's music, but on their latest effort the
musical style changed a bit in favour of prog metal. I wondered if this musical
change could be noticed during the live performance, because I was a bit
worried that their 45-minute set would only contain the heavier pieces. But fortunately
that wasn't the case although they only played songs from
Chain Reaction.
The musicians managed to find the right balance between the two genres.
Right from the start all band members were anxious to
|
Iggy Cohen and Guy Ladau (r) |
deliver a good performance
without making any mistakes. Only the excellent singer
Misha Soukhinin
mixed up the set list beforehand, but I could
hardly see that as a mistake. Those things just happen once in a while. My
personal highlight of the show was the instrumental piece
Nothing (But The Rain). On this track drummer
Yogev Gabav and keyboardist
Yoav Efron showed their love for great instrumental prog tunes. Without being
assisted by the other musicians, they succeeded in leaving me speechless! This piece was followed by
As One
on which the entire band could shake off their aggressive feelings provided that they
had such feelings. Distortion Harmony may look back at a great debut on stage
outside their home country. Well done, indeed!
HeKz
|
Matt Young |
Before playing live at De Cacaofabriek, the British band HeKz was only a name for me,
although I had listened to the track
Disconnect The World from the sixteenth sampler of
New Species
issued by The Classic Rock Society. This track certainly drew my attention. During their 45-minute set they performed
Vendetta and
Hashashiyyin, two songs from their debut album
Tabula Rasa
(2012). Beside these songs they played
Progress And Failure,
Disconnect The World and
The Black Hand,
three pieces from their recently released second album
Cearus.
Well, from the beginning until the end the band blew me away. I think the Canadian band
Rush had
been a major influence of HeKz. The voice of the band's bassist and lead singer
Matt Young
not only often sounded like
Geddy Lee, but he also moved around the stage just like Mr Lee does. The twin
guitar parts by
Al Beveridge and
Tom Smith are a great asset to the
band's sound. Sometimes they played in unisono, at other times one of them played
an excellent solo while the other accompanied him by playing a fine riff.
|
HeKz
|
With
James Messenger the band has a great
keyboard player who can play outstanding synthesizer solos, but he also creates
modern keyboard sounds. It's hard for me to tell which song was my favourite during
their show, but afterwards I guess it was
The Black Hand,
the final song of the set. This piece contains many different
moods. The track often reminded me of the music of their fellow-countrymen of
Haken. For the audience it was
sometimes difficult to conclude whether a song had ended or not. Twice they applauded
while the song hadn't finished yet. Just like Distorted Harmony HeKz may look
back at a strong live debut on a Dutch stage. Well done as well!
Knight Area
|
Mark Smit in special outfit |
Finally the headliners entered the stage to play the fifth studio album
Hyperdrive in its entirety. This was
done in the same order as on the album. The musicians on stage succeeded in entertaining
their fans throughout the show. Not only by playing the album tracks excellently,
but also by doing something extra on stage like the humorous remarks between guitarist Mark Bogert and bassist
Peter Vink of whom the latter constantly jumped around the stage. By doing so he provided the band's performance more
dynamics. However, the most active musician was without doubt lead singer
Mark Smit.
His voice sounded great and his stage presentation was outstanding. Without having his usual mobile keyboard around
his shoulders he had more freedom of movement. As always he changed his outfit
during the concert. At first he was dressed in Union Jack pants and a shirt, but during
Running Away
he put on a rather weird but interesting outfit that must have made it difficult for him to
sing his vocal lines. Many people with a smartphone or camera moved forward to
the stage to take some pictures. For the strong ballad
Songs From The Past
he undressed to the waist to sing behind the piano. Toward the end keyboard player
Gerben Klazinga
and guitarist Mark Bogert accompanied him on their instruments. However, when he put on a kind of leather outfit, he
didn't notice that the zipper wasn't completely closed, but fortunately someone
in the audience pointed out that a possible problem could occur...
Unfortunately
Arjen Lucassen had rejected the invitation to play the guitar solo he did for
Stepping Out,
but the audience could enjoy Mr. Bogert playing this
solo of his self-written composition. It was a joy to see him play. Afterwards
|
Mark Bogert |
I realized that the album wasn't presented by a pure prog metal band. The neo-progressive
elements were still present, maybe even more than on the album. What to do
after performing a completely new album in its entirety? Playing songs from the
band's back catalogue, but which one? I guess the musicians didn't know either what
to do and so they decided to start a medley of old tunes. They had a medley
that lasted half an hour, but that was way too long and instead they created a
15-minute medley. Wow! It was really something special to hear bits and pieces of
Conspiracy,
Mastermind,
A Million Lives,
Dark Souls,
Angels Call,
Ever Since You Killed Me,
Dreamweaver
and
A Different Man II! After that it was time for an encore. Of course nobody would leave the building without
Mortal Brow had been performed. Before
this amazing piece was played the audience could enjoy a great version of
Forever Now. During
Mortal Brow
Mark Smith introduced the band members. He announced that
guitarist Mark Bogert would be playing the last solo of the concert, which was of course an outstanding one.
People who showed up to see the official release of Knight Area's fifth studio album
Hyperdrive
saw during ninety minutes a band in great shape. As a fine bonus two other bands could be enjoyed that both
gave excellent performances as well. Sure, not all people in the audience liked
their musical style; they probably found it too heavy. But, hey, that was also my
first thought upon hearing the new Knight Area album! But gradually I got into
the compositions and started to like them. Anyway, it's not easy to make everybody
happy since we all have a different taste, haven't we?
Henri Strik (edited by Peter Willemsen)