Inside the newest venue in Trondheim — Byscenen — the tension among the crowd was immense as Pagan’s Mind was set to play for their first time in two years. It was clear that the crowd became anxious and impatient when the last band, Supremacy, was midway into their set.
The first band to cut through the tension was Divided Multitude, a local Prog/Power band who released the brilliant album Guardian Angel last year and is now prepared for a European tour supporting Manticora. In spite of the fact that they have been around for 15 years, they did not sound too tight on-stage; the vocals were at times too prominent and the vocalist had a lack of stage presence that made it seem as if he was just at the office wrapping things up. Divided Multitude’s music is melodic and includes inspirations from many great classical aspects, but in concert their songs became chopped into pieces and the crowd had a hard time following all the arrangements. However, the crowd was into the choruses and did headbang and had a good time as they absorbed Divine Multitude.
Supremacy came onto the stage like a fresh breeze inside Byscenen. From Skien, Norway, all members of this Prog/Power band, and especially the vocalist, Kenneth Mori, had a stage-presence and connection with the crowd throughout the set — making Supremacy a great support act for bigger bands– but unfortunately they did not keep that connection with the audience throughout the whole set… midway in the set the band received less response and it was obvious that it was Pagan’s Mind people were there to see.
After a short intermission, Pagan’s Mind finally came onto the stage. There was no shred of doubt that these guys have been on a stage before. They were sweeping the stage with their charisma and with ease. Any other band would envy them. The vocals by Nils K. Rue were a high-point and no notes could been done more perfectly by the entire band. Pagan’s Mind is by far one of the greatest Prog-Metal acts in the world, and they make a good flagbearer for other Norwegian Prog-Metal acts. Classics from both Celestial Entrance and Enigmatic: Calling among newer songs from God’s Equation including David Bowie’s “Hello Spaceboy“ were included in the set list. BUT, the real surprise was their encore were they covered “2 Minutes To Midnight” from Iron Maiden’s back catalog and also used Twisted Sister’s “We’re Not Gonna Take It” as a crowd rouser.
All-in-all, a great Prog-Metal fest to be sure!
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