What do you do on your birthday when it is on a Wednesday and all your friends and family are coming in the weekend? Exactly, you go together with Carn and the big boss himself to an Engel, Still Remains and Atreyu show in Eindhoven. When I walked into the venue Engel just started, so after grabbing a beer, I witnessed the show and tried to answer the question whether they fit better with Amon Amarth/Dimmu Borgir (http://www.metalrage.com/articles/663) or Still Remains/Atreyu.
The music Engel played wasn�t that original. The In Flames-like music was a bit predictable, but it was fun to listen to though. The audience wasn�t really into these Swedish guys, because the response wasn�t bad, but not great either. The sound also wasn�t that good. The drums and vocals were audible, but it was almost impossible to hear the guitars. Besides the sound it was also bothering me that some parts in their music weren�t played live, but played from a tape. When I hear a synthesizer I also want to see a synthesizer, but maybe that�s just me. Amongst the songs that were played tonight were �Propaganda�, 'In Splendour� and ending track �Seven Ends�. The show Engel gave away was decent, but I don�t understand why they opened up for Amon Amarth/Dimmu Borgir and Still Remains/Atreyu. This band doesn�t fit all four of them�
Next band on stage was Still Remains. These guys recently put out a record called The Serpent and most songs of the set were coming from that album. I must say that I like their previous record Of Love And Lunacy more, but The Serpent isn�t that bad either. The big ruiner of the show was once again the sound. The keyboard drowned out the vocals completely. Besides that they played a nice set with �The Serpent� as opening song followed by �The Wax Walls Of An Empty Room�, �Anemia In Your Sheets�, �Dropped From The Cherry Tree�, �Dancing With The Enemy�, �White Walls�, �The Worst Is Yet To Come� and �Stay Captive�.
When the intro for the Atreyu-show kicked in it was obvious that almost everybody was present to see these guys from Orange County, California. The sound was better than during the previous two bands and they knew how to entertain the audience. I can�t tell you what songs they played live because I didn�t know the band before this evening. The three bass-drums were a little bit exaggerated, but hey� so are the haircuts. I didn�t see the whole show, because I had to catch the last train home, but I know now that Atreyu plays better music than their looks.
