Somehow the band itself isn’t as good as I’ve seen before I must say. Peter Tagtgren usually radiates power and aggression. Tonight he seems to hide behind his hair. The rest of the band tries hard but they just aren’t convincing. Maybe it’s a little early in the night for them as well. The sound makes up a lot for the bands lack of power though. For Hypocrisy standards (which are pretty high) this is a ‘just above average’ gig.

Dimmu Borgir
With another overwhelming record released, the Norwegian (and British) kings of black metal are looking to break to a larger audience. The fact that the album reached the album charts in Holland as well as Germany and Norway shows they’re on their way. The turn up tonight (close to selling out) is a good sign also.

An impressive back drop with the album art and loads of lights can’t hide the fact that Dimmu Borgir have trouble achieving the same atmosphere as on the last couple of records. The sound is pretty bad for starters: the guitars just seem to buzz in the key the song is in. There’s no definition and the catchy riffs from the last album are hard to recognize. But it must be said that most metal bands that play here suffer from that problem (apart from Hypocrisy!). As the Paradiso is a church its ceiling is high and the echo is long and loud.

You’d expect a band that just released a new album to get up in it, to get on stage and show us why they’re the one to follow. But Dimmu Borgir has the same problem as Hypocrisy before them; the spirit just isn’t there. Maybe this is one of the first gigs of the tour and they all have to concentrate real hard. Hopefully during the rest of the tour they become more relaxed and secure, but tonight, I don’t know, they’re not up to scratch.

(Review: Walter de Korver
Pics: Marcia Gransbergen)