LIVE PHOTOS: Kamelot, Seven Spires, Ad Infinitum
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By Greg Maki
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It was a night of symphonic metal mastery on a late-April Thursday in Baltimore, as Kamelot kicked off its North American Awaken the World Tour 2024 supporting its latest release, 2023’s “The Awakening,” at Rams Head Live.
A modest yet enthusiastic crowd gathered before the stage for opener Ad Infinitum, the Swiss/German act embarking on its first-ever North American tour. Led by dynamic frontwoman Melissa Bonny—the band actually began several years ago as her solo project—Ad Infinitum powered through a too-short 30-minute set drawn from all three of its albums plus the new single “Outer Space,” released earlier in the day. The band turned the crowd into a sea of pumping fists, while Bonny mesmerized with her mix of soaring melodic vocals and guttural roars. She is a star in the making, and judging from the crowd response—and the line at the band’s merch table—there is a real demand for Ad Infinitum on these shores.
AD INFINITUM SET LIST: “Unstoppable,” “Eternal Rains,” “Outer Space,” “See You in Hell,” “Upside Down,” “Animals,” “Into the Night”
I long have held the belief that if a guitarist or bassist holds their instrument stomach-level, as opposed to the usual crotch position, we’re in for some serious musicianship. Those who do that don’t care about looking cool; they’re all about the music. It was guitarist Adrian Thessenvitz for Ad Infinitum, while bassist Peter de Reyna took up the mantle for Seven Spires, and each proved me right. It wasn’t much of a leap on my part in the case of Seven Spires, considering its members met at the famed Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.
Seven Spires played only the first four shows of the tour before ceding the direct support slot to famed Swedish power metal band HammerFall, yet the quartet clearly made an impact during its brief run with the package. Led by another dynamic frontwoman in Adrienne Cowan, Seven Spires was the heaviest and most progressive band on the bill, its sound often veering into melodic death metal and even black metal—mostly through Cowan’s vocal shrieks. Guitarist Jack Kosto can shred with the best of them, and the music was full of dramatic twists and turns. Between songs, Cowan and de Reyna struck an easygoing, somewhat awkward vibe with their stage banter—an endearing quality and another sign that the music is this band’s primary focus.
Seven Spires will release its fourth studio album, “A Fortress Called Home,” on June 21 via Frontiers Music, pre-order it here.
SEVEN SPIRES SET LIST: “Gods of Debauchery,” “Succumb,” “Almosttown,” “Lightbringer,” “Architect of Creation,” “This God Is Dead”
Thirty-seven years and 13 albums into its career, Kamelot is a seasoned act at this point, yet there was no sense of complacency or going through the motions on this night. The band played with fire and passion, and while there were some opening night kinks to work out—at one point, guitarist/band founder Thomas Youngblood appeared to spend about half a song trying to find a working instrument—the sound was crisp and crystal clear. Songs decades old held up just as well as those from the latest album, and the crowd consumed it all eagerly. The highlights of the set were the songs featuring guest vocals from Melissa Bonny—close to half of them, by my estimation.
Symphonic metal never has been my particular subgenre of choice, but it was impossible to deny the stellar songcraft and musicianship that this bill offered from top to bottom.
KAMELOT SET LIST: “The Great Divide,” “Rule the World,” “Opus of the Night (Ghost Requiem),” “Insomnia,” “When the Lights Are Down,” “Vespertine (My Crimson Bride),” “New Babylon,” “Karma,” “Sacrimony (Angel of Afterlife),” “Willow,” “NightSky,” drum solo, “March of Mephisto,” “Forever,” (encore) “Phantom Divine (Shadow Empire),” “One More Flag in the Ground,” “Liar Liar (Wasteland Monarchy)”
LINKS:
www.kamelot.com
www.sevenspiresband.com
www.adinfinitumofficial.com
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