These past few months have been FULL of good games coming out : I still have to play Star Ocean (the PS3 version), I had a blast with Heavy Rain, I dived into Final Fantasy XIII as soon as it was available, I recently got Sands of Destruction on the DS, I’ve yet to complete Silent Hill Shattered Memories…

That’s a lot to do.

Yet all those are going to sit on their shelf as I’m indulging in a game I’ve been waiting for since I first heard of it, more than a year ago. It’s release date is this friday, but I managed to find a copy in a store where it had been delivered already.

So I put the disc in my console as soon as I could, but unfortunately only had half an hour to try it out. But even in such a short time, the game delighted me more than FFXIII’s awesome graphics or Heavy Rain’s realism could.

But which game is it, I hear you ask ? It’s “Fragile Dream ~ Farewell ruins of the moon” on the Wii.

That game has it all : As Seto, you’re bound to explore a derelict post-apocalyptic world from which humankind seems to have vanished entirely. Except for a silver-haired girl you meet at the start of the game, and who runs off just as quickly. And you guessed it, our brave young man will try to find her again, all the while traveling through an eerie abandoned Tokyo in the direction of the only place that shines in the cityscape : Tokyo Tower.

This plot looks almost like someone tried to make my perfect game! And seeing the beginning of the adventure only confirmed what listening to the soundtrack and watching the trailers indicated : the dreamy quest will be enchanting every step of the way. The setting oozes a strange kind of magic, the kind of which you can find in ICO or Shadow of the Colossus.

Fragile Dreams is at heart a “survival-horror” game, but from which you would replace the “horror” part with something far more dreamy and eerie (I’m gonna wear those two words out if I’m to write more than one post about this game…). And the “survival” part ? Well, looks like Seto’s adventure will be more about exploring than surviving… So I guess the game is an “Exploration-Dream” after all ? Sounds about right…

What are your memories made of ?

Once all the photographs have been lost in a fire (or a hard drive crash), when there’s no video on the Internet capturing the moment, what is capabable of evoking vivid images of days long past in your head ?

Figuring out the most common trigger for me isn’t really rocket science : it’s music. That’s pretty common, but it’s the truth nonetheless. Reading a post on the subject on Nicole (formerly pengie)’s “23ji no ongaku” (formerly “unchained”) made me realize that, yeah, not only do I associate music with periods of time or event, but down the road even the best photographs aren’t as powerful as said music in terms of evocative power.

At times, these links are so strong that unconsciously go back to a particular album when conditions match to some extent the “original” memories. A prime example of that is the soundtrack to the Escaflowne movie. I listened to it extensively during our trip to Tunisia at the end of my last year of high school. Now, it’s really one of my “summer-only” album, and one that almost switch me instantly to “recollection mode”.

Setting my portable media player on random is like taking a stroll through time, spending pensive summer nights with MONO, proudly leaving an exam room in the company of Kamelot, finishing reading a book crying to Chihiro Onitsuka, or learning to play the guitar with Metallica.

If Xenogears is my favourite game, it’s for good reasons. One of these is this quote, taken from the beginning of the game :

” Music is a mysterious thing. Sometimes it makes people remember things they do not expect. Many thoughts, feelings, memories… things almost forgotten… Regardless of whether the listener desires to remember or not.”

That is so very true. I cannot tell how many times I’ve been taken back by a song I hadn’t listened to in months, or, on several occasions, years. The feeling is akin to vertigo, so sweeping that usually I have to pause for a moment and let the memories come back. In a way, music is not completetely unlike magic.

On the other side of things, another feeling I cherish is the one I get when I realize that a song/album is beginning to associate itself irrevocably to what I’m living. Because I know then that I’ll be able to recover a big part of what made that moment special simply by listening to that song or album. For example, Eastmountainsouth is now permanently linked to my first trip to Japan last august, and more specifically their song “Still Running” is now synonymous with Kyoto in my mind.

People sometimes tell me that I spend too much time with my headphones on, especially when I’m visiting new places. I’m supposedly “missing out” on many things. And I can agree to some extent, as hearing the background noise of a place is part of the experience. Yet I don’t simply listen to music to “kill the noise” or “isolate myself”, but rather to engrave things into my brain.

To me, music is more than simply the “soundtrack” of my life. My identity is completely entwined with what I listen to, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

I hereby engage a procedure that may warp my mind for the rest of my life as I’m trying to decide the right way to start this post about one of the weirdest things I’ve ever seen.

I am really fond of H.P. Lovecraft’s works, so I’m no stranger to how madness can overcome one’s mind and reduce a perfectly sane human being into a blabbering puddle of meat. Yet, I’m not sure the sunken R’lyeh itself houses beings that could make as many jaws drop or inspire as many “WTF?”s as can the latest Wii game I had the pleasure (don’t take me too literally there, I’m not sure “pleasure” is what describes the experience best) to test.

And that would be Muscle March.

Everyone who has heard of Japan knows that, alongside their traditional customs, on the other side of the sakura trees, past the kimonos and under their tatamis, the Japanese create an unending stream of WEIRD STUFF.

So I should have known that something called “Muscle March” would be cazier than the Joker. And to some extent, I knew it. I knew it was a game where macho men in speedos ran one behind each other, striking poses to pass through walls. And I had seen some videos, too !

Yet the real thing was even crazier.

Right now, I’m entering the second week of what’s probably the most tiring part of the year for me. And by this I mean the part when students from the University of Fukuoka are in Louvain-la-Neuve to learn French.

Each year, between 20 and 30 students take part in a 3-weeks “internship” during which they have a whole lot of French lessons, they go visit cities in Belgium and partake in “cultural activities” with students of Louvain-la-Neuve’s Université catholique de Louvain. And that what I’m doing : setting up and participating in those cultural activities that take place in the evening.

Seems like a cool way to spend some fun evenings, and it is, for sure. But it’s very tiring. On sunday, we went to visit Liège, and walking in the cold all day going from churches to museums proved to be pretty hard. And it’s only been a week, I don’t know how I’ll manage to get through the remaining time…

That being said, it may be demanding, but for what reward ! This year again, the group of students is a really cool bunch, and while we still did not have the chance to have them all at once for our activities, the ones that do come seem to be enjoying themselves, and we’re starting to feel friendships developping.

And to top it all, one of last year’s students, Keiko, is coming for a visit in Belgium next week. I’m really happy to see her again (last time was in August), the news was the icing on the cake of a very cool day in Liège.

Well, so much for staying on schedule… But no sweat, I’m just going to make up for lost time by posting my impressions for the past three weeks.

Sora no Woto – 04, 05 & 06

The last three weeks of Sora no Woto continued to delight me, yet it really needs to pick up now. There are way too many great things about the world that beg to be explored further.

For example, there is a scene at the end of episode 5 where the girls are showed an apocalyptic landscape, but like, really, destroyed skyscrappers and all. It hints at the timeframe of Sora no Woto being our future, but it still doesn’t explain what caused our world to change so drastically. And that’s probably the question I want answered the most : the past of the characters seem like good opportunities to approach this central question from various angles, but are not -as of now- enough to keep the whole series going.

But, well, it’s still gorgeous to look at, and the opening theme by Kalafina is really an awesome song !

Verdict so far : Great

Ookami Kakushi – 04, 05 & 06

Things continue to fall into place, yet we’re still mostly in the dark. Sure, everyone who’s watching ought to have a fairly good guess on what is going on, yet I know I for one would be very hard pressed to find who is doing what exactly.

Except for Issei doing creepy things. That one’s easy, as was forseeing the true identity of the scythe-wielding girl. And finally, the guy who is seen having bad dreams in several of the first episodes (and who was conducting the drugs deal, did you notice ?) is taking steps towards becoming a more important character. My only true gripe with the show is how passive the main character still is. But I want answers, so I’ll bear with it.

Verdict so far : Pretty Good

Dance in the Vampire Bund – 04, 05 & 06

Incredible, those episodes were actually pretty good. I really hope it’s finally Dance in the Vampire Bund showing its true colors. They don’t have that much episodes left, but enough to tell a good story, if they decide to.

After the third week, I was almost ready to give up on my hopes regarding SHAFT’s latest production, but I may have judged them too soon…

Verdict so far : Decent

Durarara!! – 04, 05 & 06

Oh, my. They did it again. And again, and then again a third time. I don’t know how Brain Base do it, but it seems like that studio is able to pull any type of episode off with equal ease. Be it lengthy expositions, action-packed scenes, mystery-filled moment, it just works.

Frankly, I’m almost considering buying a thesaurus to help me find synonyms of “good”, “awesome” or “great”. Because honestly up to now I can’t complain about any aspect of Durarara!!, and if it keeps its momentum, it’s directly headed to somewhere near the top of my all-time favorite list.

So, well, if you’re not watching this one, may I ask why ?

Verdict so far : Need I say it’s still awesome ?

Baka to Test to Shukanjuu – 04, 05 & 06

The best thing about Baka to Test is that it REALLY doesn’t take itself seriously. It’s a show that you can sit in front of, switch of your brain and enjoy. Sure, some of the jokes are done over and over to the point where you see them coming from miles away, but on the whole they’re still funny.

I really think of Baka to Test as the “shonen” counterpart to the “shojo” Ouran Host Club. Only maybe with a way higher level of fanservice. Yet, I suppose that’s a pretty universal difference between shonen and shojo shows.

Verdict so far : Very good

Closing notes :

Well, the pictures are coming, but I wanted to have this out of the door in time. As I would have for the gazillion other posts that are currently half-written, or the ones still in my head. The next post will probably be about what’s keeping me away from writing now (kinda ironic, isn’t it ?).

Also, please please please go vote for the International Saimoe League ! The second phase of the preliminaries is starting today, and some characters need your support, badly. In particular, Shindo Chihiro, Senjogahara Hitagi, Miyamura Miyako, Isurugi Noe and Amamura Yuuko. There’s no sign-up required, so don’t be shy 😉 And I swear I’ll do proper posts explaining why I think those characters are worth voting for. As soon as I find the time and if they’re still in the competition, of course.

(Pictures -from a cellphone- by Laurie Delmer)

On the first day of february, something happened. For an hour, time stood still, my whole universe centered around what was happening a couple of meters before my eyes. Eerie guitar melodies filled the air, as if coiling around melodic basslines and the precise hits of a drummer. And on top of it all, a voice. Gentle yet powerful, aerial yet filled with feeling.

I was in the Spirit of 66 in Verviers on monday, and I saw Presence of soul work their magic.

This was a special night, that is sure. Arriving something like an hour early with two friends, we had the chance to chat a little bit with some members of the organisation (who were, let it be known, really nice people) about how we came to know about the show and the band. Because Presence of soul isn’t really what you would call a “famous” band, though they’d deserve to be.

The Japanese post-rock outfit were concluding their first three-dates European tour, and were playing in the Spirit of 66, which is not a venue that’s specialized in post-rock, unlike places like the Vaartkapoen for example. Rather, they usually host progressive/classic rock bands. So, the relative obscurity of the band and the unusual genre for the place unfortunately combined to reduce the attendance to somewhere probably less than 50 as far as I could guess.

The low attendance made me a bit disappointed for the bands, but I could do nothing about it, so I concentrated on the music when the opening act stepped onto the stage. During their show, they displayed a number of very interesting ideas, but unfortunately some playing mistakes and on the whole a lack of stage presence (the only word the band adressed to the audience was “Merci”, which is nice, but they didn’t even present themselves, nor say goodbye, and yet they speak the local language) prevented the show to move beyond being “good”.

That being said, I’m not that familiar with Next Exit to Nowhere (excellent name, by the way), but what I heard of them before the live was very good, and in my opinion way better than the live versions. I do suspect some technical problems though, for example regarding the drums microphones.

Afterwards, it was Presence of soul’s turn to step up and make some noise. And from the get-go, they showed they meant business. Even with such a small audience, they really put on an impressive show. And they confirmed something I’m starting to notice about Japanese post-rock bands : they look beautiful on stage. The way they move, the total abandon, the sheer energy, the obvious pleasure to be on stage are unparalleled. MONO, Presence of soul, envy… All these bands have something in common on stage, something that Explosions in the sky or Yndi Halda don’t.

But aestethics asides, the music was jaw-dropping. Compared to the album, the drums and bass really shone and took a bit of the focus away from the guitars, which are more prevalent on the recording. YUKI’s voice was every bit as good as on the CD, and on the whole, I’m impressed at how they manage to improve their songs live compared to the album. I honestly didn’t think it was possible to such an extent.

I could probably go on for many pages about the virtues of the band, but I’d rather urge every one who has the chance to go and catch them live. It’s more than worth it.

After the show, we even had the chance to greet them, and the impression they gave off from the stage wasn’t proved wrong : they were happy to exchange a few words with those of us who approached us (in something not totally unlike English), and take pictures or sign CDs. It was a great way to finish off an amazing night.

As a closing word, a big thanks to all the people involved : to the management of the Spirit of 66 for hosting this show, to Higashi Music for making it happen (you deserve much praise guys, I’ll continue to follow your activities from now on), and to Next Exit to Nowhere for taking up the difficult task of opening in front of so few people. And, of course, thanks to Presence of soul for turning a normal monday evening into one my perfect birthday present !

Some links :

Next Exit To Nowhere : official website – MySpace – GarageBand
Presence of soul : official website – MySpace – Facebook
Higashi Music : official website – Facebook

Do you know what “ISML” stands for ? If you do, then this post won’t teach you anything new, but if you’re like I was some months ago, you absolutely don’t have a clue. And if I tell you that it means “International Sai Moe League“, that doesn’t really help.

Well, the ISML can be described as a sort of popularity contest pitting female anime characters that appearead on shows that aired last year against each other. And all around the so-called “anime blogosphere”, or “otakusphere”, you can see bloggers campaigning for their girl(s) of choice.

So what’s the big deal ? Isn’t the ISML like any number of tournaments that can be found on the internet ? Well, yes and no. While it’s maybe a little less in the international version of the Sai Moe tournament (the Japanese one being even more extreme), this is a tournament that really seems to light up the flame of passion hidden inside many anime fans.

Some of the “official” coverage places become the center of heated debate on why did X lose against Y, or how come Z passed this round. Factions form, betrayal happen.

But what got me interested in Sai Moe is the way so many people seem to be passionate about their favourite characters. Sure, you may find the whole affair pointless and/or childish, but to me it goes to show something that sets anime apart from many entertainment media.

Anime characters have a way to be “alive” within you mind in a very peculiar way. Let me explain myself a little bit better by looking at other media.

– Books : Book characters are very much “alive” in your mind because when you read a book, you have to use your imagination to make up your own image of everything that’s happening in the story. But, unlike anime, this is a vision that cannot be shared. That’s a problem with book adaptations : often, you find the way a character is portrayed on-screen doesn’t fit with your representation of said character, and that leaves you disappointed/angry at the filmmaker. So in the end, the character himself isn’t “alive”, it’s your personal representation of him that is.

– Movies : Here, it’s quite simple. Movies are short, thus the characters need to be as “to-the-point” as possible, and so usually end up being not as develloped as in a several hours-long show, that’s almost a necessity. So yeah, some movie characters are indeed deep (just as many anime characters are shallow), but in general less time is spent examining who they are. Or in the case they are very well fleshed-out, they at best are alive only in the limited events of the movie.

– Live-action series : Here, it depends. But, most of the time, characters develop along the story, whose length is decided by how well the series is doing. And sometimes the characters change drastically over the entire course of the show, which can be a good or bad thing depending on how it’s handled. But in the end, you’re often left with characters so defined that they don’t have any “blanks” for your mind to fill. So while the characters are vividly “alive” (ER is a prime example of shows that managed to make their characters feel like real people), they are so realistic that you don’t “internalize” them at all; they live outside of you.

– Video games : There, the characters are either underdeveloped, or in games where they tend to be the focus of the game (mainly in RPGs), you control them anyway. Game characters are supposed to be avatars for the player that let them enter the game world. But can something that you control really feel “alive” ?

In contrast of all of the above, (good) anime characters strike a middle ground. You get to make up a personal representation of them as they’re only drawings, yet in well-written shows the time you spend following their antics give you an opportunity to learn how they function. When combined with the themes often at the center of anime plots, it helps creating characters that feel truly alive.

Well, at least that’s my personal opinion…

Now, back on track, I suppose it’s my duty to get you to vote a little bit, isn’t it ? Right now the preliminaries of ISML 2010 have started, so go on the ISML website and get voting 😉 And you know who you should vote for ? Easy enough : Isurugi Noe (True Tears), Miyamura Miyako (ef), and Senjougahara Hitagi (Bakemonogatari). Help me get them to pass this first round !

I’m weak… And because of that I bought yet another game. I don’t know how I’ll manage to complete all the ones I started, and that’s not even thinking about the coming months which will see the release of Fragile on the Wii, and Resonance of Fate, Final Fantasy XIII and Heavy Rain on the PS3. I’m so doomed…

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, I got what seems to be “THE” first-person shooter. The definitive game of the genre. And that is Call of Duty : Modern Warfare 2. I didn’t play the first one (and I will, because it’s frustrating when a game starts with “Five years later…” and you don’t know what happened BEFORE that point), I’m 2 hours into the single player campaign, and oh boy.

[picture]

First of all, let it be known that I rather like the Call of Duty franchise. I played CoD 2 on PC, and I’m well into CoD: World at War on Wii. I love their cinematic approach, because it makes for some pretty memorable sequences, and on the whole the games impress me with their “chaotic” feel. The other “serious” series I tried were Medal of Honor and Killzone. The first one is too “heroic”, while the second is awesome, yet less immersive than CoD, at least that’s what I think.

So, what are my first impressions ? Well, I’m impressed. I knew it was going to be beautiful, but it is to an extent that surprised me. One of the early sequences have you climbing an icy mountain, looking down the cliffs was almost vertigo-inducing. Every environment is detailled, and feels alive.

[picture]

The gameplay is also top notch, even if I think some minor details could be better – though it’s a matter of personal taste. Some of the weapons feel a bit too “light”, especially when compared to a game like Killzone 2. But others may think that on the contrary, Killzone 2 felt “clunky”.

But overall, what makes Modern Warfare 2 so impressive is the pacing and directing of the campaign. There’s little time to breath, and if most levels don’t get your adrenaline pumping, I don’t know what can. The game really builds bridges between video games and movies.

All in all, Modern Warfare 2 has so far been a stellar experience, including the controversial airport level, and I look forward to finishing the campaign and trying the co-op and online modes.

Guess what ? Yeah, you’re in for another round of impressions, just in time before the fourth episodes start to pop up.

Sora no Woto – 03

Seems like my wish about this is about to get fulfilled. More than ever, Sora no Woto showed that it steers more in the direction of Haibane Renmei than K-ON!. I’m almost ready to bet that the ending will be sad, or at the very least melancholic.

Because that’s really the vibe that this series is giving off. It’s probably the sweetest post-apocalyptic world, yet its decay is everywhere to be seen. A lot of work went into establishing the universe as a credible one, and it really shines through, the gorgeous backgrounds aren’t there just for show.

Also, this episodes shyly begun to shine some light on things that will probably evolve into the core of the plot. Honestly, this is a show that managed to completely free itself of its K-ON! clone image, and that’s a good thing.

Verdict so far : Great

Ookami Kakushi – 03

In case you’re watching this and have trouble picking all the subtle clues, let me lay it down for you : when the music is cheesy and the sun is shining, with people laughing, it means that everything is fine. Now, when things get darker, and there are creepy chords and mad-looking people, things are BAD.

Really, Ookami Kakushi continues to ask questions and provide little answers, but the directing could be better. I’ve seen worse, but if people aren’t able to instantly tell when something more or less creepy will happen, they must be deaf and blind, and so why bother ?

As far as the plot is concerned though, we get some insight on what could be going on to some extent. Of course, things are probably not that simple, and maybe the “hints” are actually a red herring. Time will tell. I hope the main protagonist will show some courage down the road though, he seems a little too passive for my taste (especially compared to Higurashi’s Keiichi).

Verdict so far : Very Good (except for the directing by Captain Obvious)

Dance in the Vampire Bund – 03

SHAFT, what on Earth are you doing ? This episode was better than the previous two, but still, things are moving forward as fast as a snail, the fanservice (worse of which, the loli-fanservice) is almost past my tolerance level, and well, on the whole I guess I was expecting too much.

The premises were good though, and maybe, just maybe, they’ll bear fruits that don’t taste so bitter.

Verdict so far : Bad

Durarara!! – 03

I don’t recall when was the last time I anticipated the arrival of new episodes of a show as much as I do for Durarara!!. Granted, I marathon through most of the stuff I watch, but still. I thought that Durarara!! showed its best during the last episode, but guess what ? Yeah, this episode blew the previous one out of the water. How can this be ? How do they do that ?

Again, everything was perfect, but they added some more action and character interaction into the mix. Apparently Mikado (the country boy that came to Ikebukuro in episode 1) is special, and Izaya (the mysterious guy introduced in ep 2) and Shizuo (the man throwing vending machines around) are ennemies, yet both are connected to Celty (the headless biker). Simon (the black Russian sushi guy) seems to be as strong as he looks, and a romance between Mikado and one of his classmates seems likely.

And that’s only a brief overview of what happens in the episode, I left out quite a bit. Durara!! is supposed to last 24 episodes, yet for nows it advances at breakneck speed. If they don’t run out of things to tell and show (which seems likely, given the huge cast), this series is going to be so fullfilling… What’s more is that they still manage, even with all those characters and their interwined stories, to make the setting play a big role in the story. It’s not just a static background.

Durarara!! really is made directly out of pure awesomeness.

Verdict so far : Mind-boggingly awesome !!

Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu – 03

Hmm, I have mixed feeling about Baka to Test’s third episode. On one hand, you get some really funny scenes that had me laughing hard, while on the other hand, there’s a little too much fanservice for my taste.

I still think the balance tips towards “good”, but less so than for the previous two episodes. So beware, Baka to Test !

All in all though, there’s not a lot to tell about the show if you don’t want to spoil all the gags, dates from hell and scandalous statues in the background. The only thing I can say is that I really hope it’ll stay on the “Ouran” side of things and stay tasteful.

Verdict so far : Very good

Last sunday, I went with a friend to something I hadn’t been to since what seemed like forever : an Epica concert. This band is special to me, as it’s one of the first band I saw live. In fact, it was my first metal gig. It was at the Graspop (a big metal festival in Belgium) some years ago, and they were playing the first gig of the first day on one of the two small sets. Not the most glamorous spot, but they were a young band, with only one album under their belt. Yet they delivered a performance I won’t soon forget.

The following year, I went to see them live no less than 7 times, almost always getting there ultra-early to be on the front row. A true fan. Then the excitement somewhat vanished. I had discovered a myriad of other bands, and their second album was simply more of the same. By the time they released their third album, I was starting to lose hope of seeing them really evolve as musicians. Then the fourth album came. Having changed their lineup somewhat, they delivered a very solid album, which rekindled my interest in them. So when I saw they were coming to Antwerpen during their tour, I knew I had to be there.

And oh boy, what a night. The atmosphere in the room was electric, and it’s been a while since the Trix crowd was so enthusiastic. You could almost feel the excitement in the air, and after each song there was a huge roar and a thunder of applause.

For me, after several years without seeing them, what struck me was how much their popularity had grown. “Back in the days” they were still a small band, but now, wow, they’ve become stars. But it’s deserved, as they really have talent. Sure, they’re not the most original band around, but they still have their distinct sound, and among the ocean of female-led gothic metal band, they manage to stand out and emerge above most.

The performance itself was very solid, with a long setlist which delivered all that one could have hoped, and then some. They didn’t shy away from performing their longer songs (like “Design Your Universe”, one of their best tracks ever), and they even did their cover of Star Wars’ Imperial March ! Honestly, the song selection was top notch.

What was less awesome was learning upon arriving that the first of the two opening acts (Ocean of Sadness) had to cancel their show. Which meant we had to wait 45 minutes more for the second opening band to start playing.

Neither me nor my friend knew Krypteria, we just read that it was a German gothic/power metal band. Oh, and we also saw that they had awful review scores for their album. Of course, they were only rated by one person, but still, albums scoring 2% or 26% don’t help building up expectations.

So we were a little bit wary of what was to come when the lights were turned down and the ominous intro started playing.

Then the musicians stepped onto the stage.

Then they started playing one of the most powerful riff that I heard in a while.

Then the singer came and we went “WTF ?”

A Korean girl singing in a German power metal band ? How can this be ? But at the first chorus all my doubts (well, doubts, not really, I have a good a-priori towards asian singers) were erased, and only remained the sheer awesomeness of Krypteria’s music.

And the band went on to prove they weren’t a one-trick pony with only one good song. They performed a superb song after another, each one having a crushing chorus. They were also very nice, smiling most of the time, and visibly enjoying themselves. Honestly, for an opening band, they delivered quite the show…

And Ji-In Cho, the singer, had a powerful voice. Moreso that, I would discover that later, on their albums. Weren’t it for Epica’s stellar setlist, they would have stolen the show. Yeah, they were that good.

All in all, that was a very, very good gig. Even better than the Stratovarius concert the week before, even though that one was very good. I know look forward to the whole bunch of lives I’ll be going to in february : Presence of soul, Gamma Ray, Enter Shikari and The Gathering are bands I’m really looking forward to seeing perform.

(Pictures by Kevin De Cuyper)