On January 26th, 2025, we had the opportunity to travel to Trix in Antwerp and go watch some great melodic metal. This evening was going to serve us some nostalgic melodeath with none less than the Swedish THE HALO EFFECT headlining to promote their new album “March of the Unheard.” They brought Swedish PAIN and Finnish BLOODRED HOURGLASS with them.
Finnish melodeath force BLOODRED HOURGLASS have been around since 2005 and ventured towards a little more brutal sound of melodic death metal. To me, their sound is a little more infused with a metalcore vibe every now and then and it also reminds me of CHILDREN OF BODOM. The band plays a very tight and impressive show. They definitely gathered some new fans and proved to be worthy joining masters like THE HALO EFFECT.
With PAIN, we were served a little bit more of a party approach to metal and quite an industrial sound, but still focusing on the music and not the gimmick. Frontman Peter Tägtgren showed with this project that he is a craftsman and in for fun and a bit of entertainment on stage. The show is high on energy and a true party. Songs like “Shut Your Mouth” and “Party In My Head” were loudly sung along by the audience.
THE HALO EFFECT is a supergroup with members from IN FLAMES and DARK TRANQUILLITY at its roots. Which are some of the giants of the Gothenburg sound. The band is quite a young band as they released their debut album in 2022. However, the musicians’ skills are clearly visible on stage. We were served with a high-quality show. The skills, the production, it all fits together and with seasoned frontman Mikael Stanne’s charismatic performance this became an evening not to forget. Check out our photo gallery here…
Bloodred Hourglass
Pain
The Halo Effect
Photos by Elvira Visser
