Live Review : Sirenia + Temperance + Symphonity @ Club Academy, Manchester on May 11th 2024

Symphonic metal is a rather incestuous affair. Nightwish’s Floor Jansen and Epica’s Mark Jansen both come from the ranks of genre pioneers After Forever. Delain Svengali Martijin Westerholt formed that band after he left Within Temptation and Beast in Black came into being when Anton Kabanen was ousted from Battle Beast. Sirenia, the headliner of tonight’s symphonic metal nights package tour came into being when Morten Veland walked away from the similarly musically orientated Tristania. Basically it's like a game of musical chairs, but with more swirling keyboard flourishes.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas12 May 2024Manchester Academy ClubSirenia, Temperance, Club Academy, Manchester, 2024, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Johann Wierzbicki, SymphonityComment

Live Review : Tarja + Temperance + Beneath The Embers @ Academy 2, Manchester on February 4th 2023

You can't help but feel sorry for our Tarja. In Lisbon on the 7th of March 2020, she embarked on an envisaged mammoth tour of continental Europe to support the release of her latest album, “In the Raw”. What was meant to be a glorious celebration of her rapidly ascending profile, unceremoniously ground to a halt in Bilbao after a solitary four shows. It was the dawn of the global pandemic and borders were slamming shut all over Europe.

Gig ReviewAuthor : Stewart Lucas5 February 2023Manchester Academy 2Tarja, Temperance, Beneath The Embers, Academy 2, Manchester, 2023, Live Review, Stewart Lucas, Johann WierzbickiComment