Support act: K E O P S

Report and photography by ©Jeanny Petrocchi, METALPHOTO

In support of their latest studio album Leviathan III, Swedish symphonic metal giant  T H E R I O N  will embark on a headlining European Tour in Februari and March accompanied by the Croatian band K E O P S as support. Last Friday they gave an amazing show at Metropool in Enschede.

K E O P S  has been around for a while, but it’s still unknown to many visitors. So here is a short recap of this band:  In the very beginning, the band participated with a demo song in a festival Ritmi Globali Europei in Italy and won the first prize in the category for the best band. After a tour in Italy, they changed their lead singer and started to work on original material for their first record which is released in 2012. Last year they were the opening act of the iconic trashers OVERKILL and this year as a support act for mighty THERION. They have released 3 albums:  Keops (2012), Lice Sudbine (2012) and Road to Perdition (2022).

Now back to last Friday! When they started to play, the main hall of Metropool was only sparsely filled. However, this quintet started their performance enthusiastically. Keops’ songs are quite straight forward heavy metal with a touch of groove metal. The singer uses all the tricks to excite the audience and ensure some interaction. Even though their musical performance was short and the hall half empty, KEOPS can look back on a great show. There was certainly a modest applause, definitely a decent opener of this evening  which brought the band many new fans. Their mission was accomplished, they’ve got the attention of the audience and gained noticeable popularity in Enschede.

The great T HE R I O N has been around for a very long time, leaving a solid mark within the metal world. Orchestrated by mastermind Christofer Johnsson, their musical output has been in constant evolution. They started out as a death metal band in the early nineties, but soon expanded their musical horizons with a whole series of classics to their name. They have gone from death metal to symphonic metal pioneers, showing an endless determination for new sounds and ideas.

The bonding that the band  developed with the Dutch audience last Friday was unique and we were definitely rewarded with a great setlist. From classics songs to new songs from their latest album Leviathan III.

They kicked off strongly with ‘The Blood of Kingu’ and then followed by ‘Ruler of Tamag’ from their latest album. The band worked up their way to the end of the setlist with favorites such as ‘Birth of Venus Illegitima’, ‘Twilight of the Gods’, ‘Mon Amour – Mon Ami’, ‘La Maritza’, ‘Leviathan’, ‘Ginnungagap’ and ‘Sita Ahra’.

Everyone was waiting for the encore since the fans knew what they were going to experience. The jubilant reaction of the crowd was clear when hearing the first notes of ‘The Rise of Sodom and Gomorrah’ and of course last but not least their greatest hit ‘To Mega Therion’.

It was a great evening, 2 hours full of metal ecstasy unleashing lots of guitar magic and enchanting vocals by Thomas, Lori and Rosalía. Lori Lewis in particular can count on a lot of support from the audience since she recently returned to live performances with THERION.

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