Jethro Tull, Sala Palatului, 21.02.2017

Exactly how badass can a dude with a flute be? The answer was found the other night at Sala Palatului, where Ian Anderson showed how one can carry a concert with nothing but a truckload of talent. 

Pain of salvation – In the passing light of day

Every once in a while my ears and my soul are lucky enough to be graced with an album that I instantly love and that I keep loving more and more with each listen. In the passing light of day is one of those rare records. Pain of salvation have always been an emotionally intense and compelling band, but with this record it seems like Daniel poured even more of himself than usual. After his brush with death due to a very aggressive bacteria and the subsequent recovery, he created a sort of concept album based on that experience and the turmoil he went through and this naked vulnerable reflection of himself into music is absolutely fascinating. Overall it’s a more aggressive album (what some have called “return to the roots”), but at the same time it’s more intimate and the calmer moments have a special gentleness.

Epica - The holographic principle

After the nuisance that their previous album turned out to be, I was determined to stay away from this band. However, I made the mistake or reading and most of all trusting the reviews and gave it a try. I lost an hour of my life, I gained some laughs... I suppose it’s a decent trade in the end. I won’t be repeating the experience any time soon, though, as it seems that Epica fans have a short memory and keep saying that the current album is the best of their career, where they show maturity and creativity and some other stuff they’ve never actually shown, on this album or anywhere else. I expect the next one will also be praised as the peak of their career, just like this one and the previous and the one before that, and it will still be the same pretentious crap that they always put out. Heh...

Sirenia - Dim days of dolor

After Morten discovered (or better said rediscovered) his talent on the previous album and I noticed that since they have a good songwriter now, all they need is a good singer, it seems like decided to fully upgrade themselves and replaced Ailyn with someone who actually knows how to sing. The result? An honourable album that makes me glad I didn’t give up on this band.

Dark Tranquillity - Atoma

I’m not generally a fan of melodic death metal, nor of genres that rely almost exclusively on harsh vocals, so you’ll have to excuse me if I don’t come off as the most knowledgeable person in this matter. However, Dark Tranquillity is one of the few bands of this genre that managed to get me hooked, as it doesn’t display any of the traits that usually put me off it. It’s a special brand of melo-death, a more mellow and atmospheric one, with less aggressiveness and more melody and emotion.