Persefone, Manticora and more at Petit Campus (2018)

Petit Campus (Montreal, Québec, Canada)

Persefone, Manticora, Heaven’s Cry
When I saw that MANTICORA and PERSEFONE would play in my hometown, I was like; […]
By Martin Doomed Desbois
September 2, 2018

When I saw that MANTICORA and PERSEFONE would play in my hometown, I was like; "oh my God, finally I have the chance to see them live for the first time"! MANTICORA formed around 1999 and it was their first visit here. I did see HEAVEN'S CRY many times since they are a local band, but they were not that much active live for some time.

So it was great to see HEAVEN'S CRY play again and hear their newer stuff. Last time was many years ago and I can't remember where! They evolved pretty much and are more aggressive and even better musicians. The band symbiosis was remarkable and the sound engineer did a very good job to represent them. Having many albums over their career, they played older stuff like "The Alchemist" or newer like "The Mad Machine". I had the pleasure to hear them covering RUSH's "Jacob's Ladder". A big success!!

 

 Some rare visit from Denmark

After that I had the Danish MANTICORA up on stage. The singer Lars Larsen was wearing a blue one-piece suit and goggles and a hood was hiding his head. At first, I didn't understand why. But my friends told me that the last album was a conceptual one based on a serious killer story.

Now that makes sense! Their music is aggressive Progressive Metal with powerful vocals. They got a young new bassist that is pretty good. He was a very friendly guy that I had a chat with.

They played a lot of good songs and some of their latest album called: "To Kill to Live to Kill".

Also, Mr. Larsen invited us to have a look on his book, which is the story behind the conceptual album released on August 3rd. The execution was flawless, except from Lars that seemed to need more space on stage: he seemed annoyed and was searching what to do at moments. But he showed a great sense of humor and shared a good laugh with us and seemed happy to be here. He also asked for song requests; my friend Eric tried one but he was denied, unfortunately.

The Andorran Machine set sails to Montreal

After that mesmerizing moment, I had the privilege to see PERSEFONE play in front of me for the very first time. All was setup I had Carlos Lozano right in front of me and the first notes were stroke. But unfortunately, there was a connection problem that caused them to stop playing after less than one minute. After a few apologies and some jokes they started for good, the problem was solved and they could start the technical machine.

They played a lot of songs. From "Aathma" and "Spiritual Migration". They played one of my favorite tracks called "Living Waves". We also had the pleasure to hear "In lak'ech" from their "EP".

PERSEFONE were capable of bringing technicality and complexity, while having the mastering of delivering majestic moments of smoother ambiences, soundscapes, and that perfect sound leaving me breathless. The crowd was very energetic and contemplative at the same time, a participating one. This show was really impressive and moving. Marc Martins was amazing for the growling parts and leading the band, as Miguel Espinoza showed a real talent for the clean singing parts and playing the keys.

This night was awesome and it was another great opportunity to spend time with fellow mates from Metal Temple's crew, Eric Poulin and his brother Jean-François. We had a blast!!!
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