A cold flame of the north – live report of Wolfheart’s show in Milan

It’s October 10th and it is still almost as warm as summer, when the Chaoszine team took a trip to the near Milan to witness the “Draconian Darkness Over Europe” tour, with a show at the Slaughter Club.

Full House Brew Crew

Full House Brew Crew started super punctual, and they put on a very solid show. They frequently interacted with the audience, despite the affluence wasn’t much. But still, a great artist performs good even for just one person, and that’s exactly what they did! The drum was slightly overwhelming the mixing, while leaving the guitars relatively hidden, but overall, that didn’t impact the energy of their performance.

Photo: Silvio Colombo.

Suotana

Suotana also started perfectly punctual, and they had a better mixing than FHBC. The band is much more numerous on stage, and the small space they had limited their movements, but this didn’t discourage them from roaming around. I really liked their coordinated outfits and their more folklore sounds. At one time, lead singer Tuomo Marttinen was leaning on the amplifier standing before him, and I guess his power is too much because even the amplifier bowed to him! After their show, Tuomo invited everyone to follow him to the merch stand, and I also went just out of curiosity. I purchased a cassette tape of their latest release “Ounas II”, which was something that the nostalgic me has loved!

Photo: Silvio Colombo.

Before The Dawn

With just 4 minutes of delay, then Before The Dawn arrived on stage. The crowd reacted more enthusiastically than before, as the night progressed the people were more and more. It was an unfortunate coincidence with two other quite big shows in Milan that same night, but hey who cares? My personal favorite moment of the night was the acoustic rendition of “Seraphim“; I just melt when the band is able to create such a meaningful atmosphere! But alas, while it was such an enjoyable moment to have Mr. Saukkonen on drums (yes, I have a weakness, I know), it was already time for goodbyes, and the band closed their set with “Deadsong“. A fitting last track if there ever was one!

Photo: Silvio Colombo.

Wolfheart

And now it’s time for the headliner. Wolfheart performed a 13-song set: the song choice showed a balance between new and old tracks, even though quite a few from their latest “Draconian Darkness” release. The excitement of the audience more than made the evening worth of attending. Fans responded enthusiastically throughout the performance, allowing the band and audience to establish a more personal connection in the intimate setting. Wolfheart‘s layered compositions were well-represented by the sound quality of the venue. And that’s saying something, because it’s tricky to have a balanced mixing, but the band knew exactly how to achieve a great sound quality. “Ancient Cold,” set the icy, unyielding tone for the evening right away. With songs like “The King” and “Breakwater” trademarked their typical melodic death sound, the setlist navigated through Wolfheart‘s running time perhaps a bit too fast. The band finished their set with “The Hunt” and “The Hammer“, once again proving the quality of their set. While the weather was particularly warm, a cold breeze went through Milan, thanks to these talented Finnish gentlemen.

Photo: Silvio Colombo.