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R.A.M.P. w/ support – Porto, Portugal

Posted in Gig, Live with tags Blame Zeus, Equaleft, groove, Hard Club, heavy, Insidiously, Metal, Notredame Productions, Porto, Prog, R.A.M.P. on 17th June 2022 by Pieni

R.A.M.P., Equaleft, Blame Zeus
Hard Club (Sala 2), Porto (PT)
10th June 2022
Promoted by Notredame Productions

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The name R.A.M.P. may not mean much (or anything at all) to you, but ask any Portuguese metalhead about them and you’ll realize they’re quite a legend in their home country. So when they release a new album – especially since it’s been 13 (?!) years since the last one -, crisis or not, you can count with an almost sold out venue.

It wasn’t really full when Blame Zeus got on stage though. Despite being a national holiday and I’m-running-late-because-I’m-working not being a valid excuse, people have this weird tendency of skipping the opening act..

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First thing I’ve noticed was the absence of bassist Bruno Branco, and I feared that another line-up change was on the way, but no – right after the first song “How To Successfully Implode”, Sandra Oliveira explained he “just” had tested positive for COVID (yes, kids, it is still a thing) the night before, giving them no time to find a suitable replacement. So backtracks and guitarist Tiago Lascasas swapping instruments on a couple of songs did the trick.

As they didn’t have long, they went with a classy selection mostly focused on their latest work ”Seethe”. Sandra first mentioned it as “new” but admitted right away that it didn’t make sense to call it such, as it had been released in late 2019 already; it just felt like that since the pandemic didn’t allow them to promote it properly.

R.A.M.P.-Rui Duarte is featured in the studio version of “Down To Our Bones”, so I knew who and which song would follow when Sandra announced a “very special guest”. I won’t say it was the highlight of the show, as it would wrongly take away Blame Zeus’ own merit, but it was indeed special. “Burning Fields” ended a heavy-rock-prog performance that, even as a 4-piece, they delivered distinctively.

https://www.facebook.com/BlameZeus

equaleft22 When Equaleft got on stage the place was already packed. After their concert in November 2021, they were supposed to stay off the road and work on the successor to “We Defy”, but this is already their second show (and more are to follow) without any news of the 3^rd full length album; I guess the “call of the live” is just too strong to these groovers, and given the response they get every time, I can say we all love them for that. Even if it’s been quite a while since they’ve played “Invigorate”, with singer Miguel Inglês commanding the mosh circles with a Star Wars lightsaber (got the hint, lads?). Now that command is done more directly, with him and bassist André Matos jumping into the crowd and moshing around with them.

From the opening “Fragments” to the closing “Strive”, going through “Human” or “We Defy”, the frenzy on and off stage was everlasting. And it went on a bit after the last chord, as everyone struggled to reach forward and get one of the cookies that Miguel gives at the end of each Equaleft show.

https://www.facebook.com/equaleft

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It was then time to get to know how “Insidiously” sounded live. Released on April 1^st via Rastilho Records, it’s no fool’s treat, believe me.The show began just like the record, with “Catatonic”, but it wasn’t a played-in-full kind of presentation; they just picked the songs which would work better on stage and mixed them with classics such as “How” or “Black Tie”. Of course these were the ones who almost made Hard Club come tumbling down with our roaring-along, but most of us also sang the newest. Hell, there was a guy next to me who knew all the lyrics better than Rui Duarte himself!

There were also all kinds of dedications – songs dedicated to those who don’t “follow the herd”, songs dedicated to those who have been betrayed, songs dedicated to those who keep on giving their best… I thought it was really funny dedicating“Alone” – probably their most sentimental ballad – to their “pals in the festival Um Metaleiro Também Chora” (which is Portuguese for “metalheads cry too”, and yes, such festival does exist), but even though I can’t remember which one it was (like I said, too many dedications…), what touched me the most was the one to Nando, former singer of another legend – currently extinct – W.C. Noise, who was there enjoying the show like there was no tomorrow. What can I say? I’m a sucker for these old school bonds.

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After the very last “Try Again” (featured in a 3-song encore), Rui introduced the band, leaving guitarist and founding member Ricardo Mendonça (“a man who needs no introduction”) for last – and I swear I saw his eyes watering with grateful happiness. Rui thanked us for these 34 years of full support and that even being far apart (well, nowadays 300km isn’t really that far, but “back in the day” it was), Porto was always in their hearts. Who cares if it sounds like a cliché when we know it’s true and feel exactly the same way?

https://www.facebook.com/rampoficial

Text & photos by Renata “Pieni” Lino

Blame Zeus – Theory Of Perception

Posted in Uncategorized with tags Alternative, Blame Zeus, Hard rock, Rock, self release, theory of perception on 4th March 2017 by Pieni

Blame Zeus
“Theory Of Perception”
Alternative Rock
Self-released on 4th March 2017

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Blame Zeus started out as progressive rock but have now engaged in a more straight-forward direction – less technicalities, same elegance. Maybe that’s why “Queen” wasn’t included in this new album (either that or they totally revamped it and renamed it, but I honestly doubt it). “Queen” was a song they introduced live almost a year ago, at the last gig with the line-up they had at the time, and I remember saying that whatever changes were on the way, that song sounded pretty much like the Blame Zeus we all knew. I’m glad I was wrong. Not that I didn’t like their original sound, don’t get me wrong! I just find it more interesting when a band has more than one side (if you’ve read my reviews before, you’ve probably seen me using the expression “diversity is the spice of life” more than once). And “Theory Of Perception” offers some heavy, feisty stuff (“Slaughter House”, “Miles”) contrasting with gracious melancholy (“More Or Less”, “Entertainment Clown”); the rough seduction of “All Inside Your Head” and the loose rock of “Redemption”; the weepy electric solo in “The Moth” and the seventies acoustic heartache of “Signs”. Twelve new songs with distinct traits but one in common – the strong but very feminine voice of Sandra Oliveira.
Tonight I’ll see how this works live. In the studio it works peachy.

4/5

Renata “Pieni” Lino

Heavenwood w/ support – Porto, Portugal

Posted in Gig, Live with tags Blame Zeus, Gates Of Hell, Hard Club, Heavenwood, Porto, Raising Legends, release party, Tarot Of The Bohemians, The Temple on 1st April 2016 by Pieni

Heavenwood, The Temple, Blame Zeus, Gates Of Hell
Hard Club, Porto (PT)
26th March 2016
Promoted by Raising Legends

In late February, Heavenwood released their fifth record “The Tarot Of The Bohemians” (review here) and the first release party took place about a month later, in a full-enough Hard Club. Other three top-notch bands from the national scene were on the bill, all of them so different from each other, making this a diverse event, even more interesting than “just” a release show.

First band on stage was Gates Of Hell, delivering their thrash-death-’core like they owned the place. I guess one can still call Márlon “the new guy”, as he was introduced as the new singer only last December (report here), but to me it feels like he’s been there all along.
There was a couple of missteps but I believe it wasn’t entirely their fault – trust me, I’ve seen them over a dozen times by now; the sound was a bit messy at first, so my guess is that they were having trouble listening to each other. Whatever or whoever was to blame, they went on so passionately that no one cared about such slips.
The show had begun at nine, half an hour later than scheduled, but still Márlon thanked the crowd for getting there so early to see them (20:30 is pretty early for a gig here in Portugal). The title-track of their debut (and so far only) album “Critical Obsession” closed their set.

www.facebook.com/gatesofhellband

Things cooled down considerably with Blame Zeus, as their more progressive approach is spirited but much less aggressive. They’re about to go through some major line-up changes – both guitarists and the bassist still played the show but have already announced their departure – which Sandra called “a new cycle”. And with the beginning of that cycle, she introduced a new song, “Queen”, about her career and what she had done to get that far and how it meant having to be mean sometimes… The new song has pretty much the same vibe, so the fans don’t need to worry about these changes, as Blame Zeus will continue the path of their usual sound.
Speaking of fans, there were plenty there that night and one in particular was celebrating his birthday. Sandra spared us from singing the happy birthday theme, dedicating him his favorite song instead, “Incarnate”.

www.facebook.com/BlameZeus

Then veterans The Temple brought down the house with their fiery alternative rock. Personally, it was the band I was most eager to see, since it had been eleven years (yes, eleven!) since I’d last seen them. And they didn’t let me down, nor the public in general. I believe they’ve made a lot of new fans. And spicing up their own great music with a cover of Mão Morta’s “Budapeste” (yeah, I know this won’t say anything to people outside of our country, but to us, it does a lot) and a tribal drum solo to which singer João and guitarist Marcelo gave both of their helping hands, their performance was a 5-star one.

www.facebook.com/thetempleband

I’m having mixed feelings about Heavenwood’s gig. Maybe I had set my expectations too high, maybe I was still in an adrenaline rush from The Temple show, but the truth is that I felt something was missing. The setlist was perfect; they’d promised to revisit their whole discography and so they did, and not just one song from each previous album, as some people had joked. However they tweaked the synths of the older ones to the point that I didn’t even recognize them at first. It seems the idea was to make them sound heavier, but at least “Emotional Wound”, my all-time favorite, sounded anything but. I already didn’t like its softer version in “Diva”, as the original, while they still went by Disgorged, was way heavier; and somehow they managed to tone it down even more that night. That might have helped with my mild disappointment.
The new live musicians made an impression – drummer Eduardo is quite skillful; guitarist Victor smiled and headbanged all the time; there isn’t a spot on stage that bassist André didn’t cover. Frontman Ricardo also looked to be “feeling it” deeper than usual, but his voice went out of tune a few times. As for Ernesto, it was the other way around: his voice sounded better than ever, but his mind seemed somewhere else. Something missing, I keep saying. Me and a few others, but luckily, the majority of the fans left with a smile on their face, after the “Frithiof’s Saga” and “Suicidal Letters” encore. And I won’t let one less good gig destroy my belief in them. Plus, at some point Ricardo said that “stopping is dying”, referring to the band’s sound evolution. I’ve been keeping tabs on that evolution since the first album, I definitely won’t stop now.