Author: Absinthe Moon Photography

Havron – 07/14/2024 at The Forge

Havron is a fairly newer band to grace the stages, but their members come from a wide variety of bands including Akhlys, Among the Living, Aoratos, Degredation, DieveNoire, Hessler, Hollow Point and November’s Doom. They perform their own mix of modern heavy metal and thrash for a combo that delivers a sound that metal fans of any subgenre can get into. I definitely recommend checking out them out. They have quite a bit of music and even a few videos circling around on the web.

Set List


Flight Of The Raven
Lawless Enemy
Nomad’s Creed
One Step Away
Desolate Land
Petrichor’d Skin
Black Sands

Burning Witches – 07/14/2024 at The Forge

This was my first time ever seeing Switzerland’s all female heavy metal act Burning Witches. Truth be told I wasn’t familiar with them until I saw the ad for the show and decided to check them out. I’ll say they really deliver an awesome set full of screaming riffs, crashing drums and powerful vocals. After seeing them live they are definitely getting added to my regular rotation. Recommended for fans of power metal.

Set List

Unleash The Beast
Wings Of Steel
Sea Of Lies
Dance With The Devil
We Stand As One
Lucid Nightmare
Evil Witch
The Dark Tower
Tomorrow
Hexenhammer
World On Fire
Flight Of The Valkyries
The Witch Of The North
Burning Witches

Illumishade – 05/03/2024 at The Forge

Illumishade opened up the night with their own brand of Melodic/Groove/Prog Metal that really got the crowd going. I hadn’t put two and two together that Illumishade featured Fabienne Erni and Jonas Wolf of one of my personal favorite bands Eluveitie. So when I was told they were playing, I was immediately intrigued. And Illumishade definitely delivered. It’s not too often that you attend a show and fully enjoy every band on the line up, but tonight was just one of those nights. If you get a chance to see Illumishade you should definitely get out and see them.

Visions of Atlantis 05/03/2024 at The Forge

So this was my first time seeing Visions of Atlantis in several years. Actually the last time I saw them they had a difference singer, so I wasn’t too familiar with their music or even their style. That being said, I will say they put on a great show. I was thoroughly impressed by their performance and I highly recommend them for fans of folk metal, pirate metal, symphonic metal or melodic metal.

Korpiklaani 05/03/2024 at The Forge

Korpiklaani returns to the states once again bringing with them their unique style of folk metal. As per their usual the band put on a stellar performance rocking out the crowd. Their set list contained a nice mix of both of their older folk ballads and their bouncy folk metal party songs. Regardless of which version of Korpiklaani you enjoy, the show was great. I personally look forward to seeing them and other folk metal acts return to the states after the long cold spell we’ve had post vid.

Johnny Hexx – 04/28/2024 – Whitestown, IN Viking Festival

Johnny Hexx is what I like to call metal adjacent. Although not actually a metal band, they play a style that a large number of metal heads gravitate towards. Similar in style to Wardruna or Heilung, Johnny Hexx plays Germanic, Pagan Folk music. Whether this is your style or not, Johnny Hexx stole the show at the Whitestown Viking Fest this year.

Chaoseum

This was Swiss metal band Chaoseum’s first trip to the United States and to be perfectly honest, I didn’t know anything about them or who they were. I was told by one fan that they are very similar to Korn and Jonathan Davis. Overall though, they were pretty good. Not extremely heavy, but definitely a good band if you like Korn or similar bands.

Tarja

TarjaMarko Hietala, I was really hoping to see a cameo, but I guess we can’t win them all. Overall a great show, hopefully she starts visiting the states a little more often as she is one musician that I’d love to see more of.
SET LIST
Eye of the Storm
Demons in You
Falling Awake
Diva
Naiad
Oasis / You And I (Acoustic Only Tarja)
Shadow Play (with Band Solo)
Enough
I Feel Immortal
Nemo
I Walk Alone
Victim of Ritual
Innocence
Die Alive
Dead Promises
Until My Last Breath

Insomnium – Chicago – 04/11/2023 – House of Blues

So I personally had never witnessed Insomnium live until this show, however, I was quite impressed with what I saw. the set was great and the crowd loved it. One particularly energetic guy probably crowd surfed to the front at least a dozen times throughout their set. All in all a great show.
Set List
1696
White Christ
While We Sleep
Godforsaken
Lilian
And Bells They Toll
Witch Hunter
Valediction
Gale
Mortal Share
Heart Like a Grave

Enslaved – Chicago – 04/11/2023 at The House of Blues

Enslaved returned to Chicago and rocked out the House of Blues on Tuesday, April 11th. They put on a phenomenal show even with the absence of one of the only two remaining founding members, Ivar Bjornson. Enslaved’s setlist contained everything from new to old closing out the night with my personal favorite song “Allfadr Odinn”.
Set List
Jettegryta
Homebound
Return to Yggdrasil
Kingdom
Forest Dweller
The Dead Stare
ISA
Havenless
Heimdal
Allfadr Odinn