Serenity - London Review

Whilst I have a lot planned throughout 2024, and no doubt there are still plans to be made, the first part of the year has been rather quiet on the gigging front. With December being quiet, too, it felt like quite a while since I had last been to a gig - yet this past weekend saw three take place over four days. I have already detailed easing myself back into live music again with Baest at The Underground in Plymouth; but the main event of the long weekend was a trip to London, which included two excellent, and different, concerts. I will discuss Dirty Honey's show at the Electric Ballroom another day, as this post will focus on the first gig of the two - which saw an evening of power metal at The Dome, topped by Austria's Serenity. I have been into Serenity for quite a while and I have been a big fan since the release of their third album, Death & Legacy, in 2011. Despite this, though, and multiple UK appearances in that time, prior to this past weekend I had only seen the band live once - and that was in 2020 when they played at The Underworld in Camden as part of a triple bill with Rage and Savage Messiah. It was one of only six shows that I got to in 2020 for obvious reasons - but Serenity were definitely the band of the night for me, despite a strong showing from Rage. With the show essentially being a triple header, albeit with Rage certainly feeling like the headliners, none of the bands had a particularly lengthy set. It made for a fun and fast-paced evening, but I would have liked to have heard more from Serenity on that night - so I had been looking forward to seeing them again ever since. It took a new album and four years for Serenity to return, but when the tour was announced last year I picked up a ticket immediately. Unsurprisingly, the band's European tour only included one UK date - which was originally scheduled to take place at the Boston Music Room, which has since been rebranded to Downstairs at the Dome, in Tufnell Park. Clearly the tickets for the show were moving pretty fast, though, as around a fortnight before it took place the gig was moved to the main room at The Dome - a venue which I had only been to once previously. It is always great seeing shows being upgraded, particularly for bands which do not have a huge presence over here. The popularity of the show, particularly given that it was on a Sunday, was likely partly down to a strong overall bill, too. Joining Serenity as special guests were the Italian power metal band Temperance, who I discovered last year when I saw them opening for Tarja. This certainly gave the night an extra draw for me - and I imagine there would have been a few in attendance who were there primarily to see Temperance. Two other bands rounded out the evening, so the night was quite a long one - but thankfully there was little time wasted with the changeovers between each band being short and organised. The venue did open slightly later than planned, though, but everything still seemed to largely run to time despite this.

Up first, then, were the German power metal act Terra Atlantica. They started their set around five minutes after the doors opened, so most people were still filing in as the strains of their opening song were filling the venue. Despite this, though, they seemed to grab the attention of most from the off. It was the band's first show in the UK and there were clearly a few of the early faces who were fans. Sound wise, the band were very traditional power metal in nature - with symphonic and folk edges. Their songs were generally pretty hooky, then, but they are the sort of band that I am not likely to significantly listen to at home. Perhaps this is a symptom of getting older, but I am starting to tire of bands, and power metal bands in particular, who have a theme and stick to it religiously - going all out in terms of costumes, lyrical themes, and artwork. Terra Atlantica clearly have a love of all things nautical, in particularly pirates, so were somewhat dressed as such and all of their songs were about such. Running Wild were singing about pirates in the 1980s, Alestorm did up-tempo 'pirate metal' years ago, and have since become a ridiculous self-parody trying to keep it going, and Visions of Atlantis' current era also indulges in a somewhat more classy take on the theme. As such, then, pirate-themed metal has been done before so another band doing it is not really necessary in my opinion. This sort of power metal is popular, though, and Terra Atlantica did receive quite a strong reception. They had some decent songs and they had a sense of fun - but I generally need my power metal to be a bit more than that these days.

In an evening dominated by power metal, the American groove metal four-piece Tulip stood out. That being said, though, I would not describe Tulip as strictly a groove metal band - as they certainly have some symphonic and electronic influences, too. Nevertheless, though, they were certainly the heaviest band of the night - and they filled the venue with techy, nu metal riffs for just over half an hour. Based around couple frontwoman Ashleigh Semkiw and Colin Parrish (vocals/guitar), the band were quite the force to be reckoned with. There were clearly a few fans in attendance and they definitely seemed like a step up overall compared to the previous band. By this point, too, the room was much fuller - and the atmosphere was starting to really settle in. Being heavier, though, Tulip did not need to do too much to win people over. There was a lot of love for the groovy riffs that the band churned out - and the poppy vocals of Semkiw certainly helped to hook people in. Parrish did add some 1990s shouted vocals at points, which added a counter to Semkiw's style, but generally the vocals were the light compared to the shade of the riffs. It probably also helped that the songs were generally very simple. The was little instrumental showboating from the band, despite a very occasional solo from Parrish, with the songs largely just being riff-fests with decent choruses. This helped to hook me in, but after a while the formula did start to strain a little. I liked the band's sound a lot, but I think that they could take it further with a bit more of a focus on instrumental breaks and lead work at times. This expansion could help take the band to the next level, but I enjoyed Tulip's set despite the formula - and I certainly will be interested to see how they progress going forward.

Special guests Temperance followed and the atmosphere level raised again following the Italian band stepping onto the stage. I have become quite a fan of them since seeing them last year, but I am not sure that their latest album, Hermitage (Daruma's Eyes - Part 2), has really gelled with me yet. It is easily the band's most ambitious album to date, so I was looking forward to hearing some of it live - and the band's nine-song set contained five tracks from it. In an evening which generally featured a good sound mix, though, I did feel that Temperance did suffer somewhat on that front. Co-lead vocalists Kristin Starkey and Michele Guaitoli both felt low in the mix, and the overall sound was quite muddy - which thankfully was not really the case for anyone else. This did impact the band's ability to make a big impression, but they nevertheless gave it their all. Opening with Daruma from the new album, the set got off to a good start - but it was perhaps the older material that got the crowd going the most - with The Last Hope in a World of Hopes going down nicely. The new material was well received, but I think that it perhaps lacks the fun-factor Temperance are known for. They clearly wanted to do something a bit different with the new album, something more symphonic and progressive, so, as such, the songs take more time to bed in. No Return really worked well, though, which was in particular a showcase for Starkey. She has more of an operatic edge to her voice than the band's previous frontwoman - and the song's epic chorus showcased this, with Guaitoli and bandleader Marco Pastorino (vocals/guitar) backing her up. The middle section of the set was dominated by the newer material, with another highlight perhaps being the heavier Into the Void - which featured some excellent playing from bassist Luca Negro. I spent a lot of the set watching him due to his acrobatic playing. He is certainly not an average power metal bassist and his playing really added a lot to the set in my opinion. Some of the best moments of the set were saved until the end, though, when some older pieces were played. Diamanti prompted a sing-along thanks to its mid-paced, melodic chorus, whilst the up-tempo and bombastic Of Jupiter and Moons highlighted the band's true power metal credentials. It was left to the slightly heavier but equally melodic Pure Life Unfolds to finish things up - and it was clear that everyone in attendance had had plenty of fun as the set came to a close. The setlist was:

Daruma

The Last Hope in a World of Hopes

No Return

A Hero Reborn

Darkness is Just a Drawing

Into the Void

Diamanti

Of Jupiter and Moons

Pure Life Unfolds

Despite having had a good time up to this point, the evening was, for me anyway, all about Serenity. I was looking forward to finally seeing the band put on a headline show - and they did not disappoint. They probably played slightly less than a full set given the three other bands on the bill, but they still played for the best part of 90 minutes - and they featured a good mix of material whilst focusing on last year's strong Nemesis AD (which I reviewed here). The set in general was very forward-looking, with only one true 'oldie', and it is always great seeing a band firmly standing behind their most recent work. Serenity have consistently put out strong albums, though, and this was on display from the off thanks to the excellent set-opening anthem The Fall of Man. Thankfully, the muddy sound which plagued Temperance was gone by the time Serenity kicked off. Frontman Georg Neuhauser's voice generally soared above the band - and the guitar leads of Pastorino, doing double duty, were also balanced right. With Chris Hermsdörfer absent, and presumably on Beyond the Black duty, the band was joined by a second guitarist unknown to me. Neuhauser did introduce him, but I did not catch his name - and he very much took on the rhythms with Pastorino doing all of the solo and lead work. This somewhat make-shift line-up did not affect the band's performance, though, and the set was very much one great song after another. The anthemic United followed the opening cut, but perhaps the first really big moment was the lead single from the new album Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall). Neuhauser encouraged plenty of singing during the number, and it become the set's first true participation event. Despite this, though, there was plenty of singing from the crowd throughout in general. Lots of die-hard Serenity fans were in the house and each of the big choruses were greeted with plenty of singing. The set also had a great sense of fun, with Neuhauser bringing out Guaitoli to help him with Souls and Sins, whilst Set the World on Fire was another big sing-along moment. As mentioned earlier, the band only played one real oldie, which came around halfway through the set. This took the form of Velatum, with its symphonic strains, before a somewhat more progressive path was later taken on Reflections (of AD) from the new album. A condensed version of the lengthy song was played, but it certainly went down well - with Pastorino also adding some vocals alongside Neuhauser. A brief acoustic set followed, which saw Neuhauser and Pastorino team up for Broken Dreams, from their Fallen Sanctuary project, as well as a great version of Soldiers Under the Cross - which allowed the show to a take a gentler turn. Serenity's music generally works well acoustically but it was soon back to the heavier sounds - and the main set came to a close with the pompous Legacy of Tudors. There was still time left for more, though, and a three-song encore followed. The bombastic and fast-paced My Kingdom Comes kicked off the encore, and this vibe was sustained with the new track Sun of Justice. It was left to the more anthemic and powerful Lionheart to round things out, though, and it was a great way to end what had been an excellent evening of melodic metal. The setlist was:

Memoriae Alberti Dureri

The Fall of Man

United

Ritter, Tod und Teufel (Knightfall)

Souls and Sins [w/ Michele Guaitoli]

Set the World on Fire

The End of Babylon

Velatum

Reflections (of AD)

Broken Dreams [Fallen Sanctuary cover]

Soldiers Under the Cross

Legacy of Tudors

-

The Last Knight

My Kingdom Comes

Sun of Justice

Lionheart

I do not tend to go to as many power metal gigs as I used to these days, but I was glad to finally get to see Serenity headline. They put on an excellent show and I will definitely go and see them again should the chance to do so arise. I came away from the show with a new Serenity shirt, too, which is always nice. The other bands were also generally very good - so the night in Tufnell Park was a success, and it was good to get back to gigging again in a big way following a couple of months without anything.