Album Review: Leprous - An Evening Of Atonement
Reviewed by Rich Oliver
Earlier in the year, Norwegian progressive outfit Leprous embarked on a short tour across major cities in Europe dubbed “An Exclusive Evening With Leprous”. It saw the band playing the biggest shows of their career to date in locations such as Madrid, Paris, London, Warsaw, Cologne and Oslo. The band also stopped at Poppodium 013 in Tilburg where this live recording “An Evening Of Atonement” took place with the band performing two extensive sets covering material all the way from their debut album “Tall Poppy Syndrome" to their latest release “Melodies Of Atonement”.
Leprous are a band who have been on quite the journey from their origins performing as Ihsahn’s solo band to the esteemed progressive rock outfit they are today. Whilst their sound has adjusted and evolved over the years, they are still unmistakably Leprous and this show was a showcase of all the band is and was. You have complex progressive arrangements such as “The Price”, “Nighttime Disguise” and “Slave” sitting alongside more emotive songs like “Alleviate” and “Below”. The band’s more tender side is explored in “I Hear The Sirens”, “Distant Bells” and “Castaway Angels” whilst the bands heavier side explodes out in “Like A Sunken Ship”, “Forced Entry”, “Passing” and “Atonement”. Whatever side of Leprous is your preference, you were more than catered for in this show.
The key to a good live album is capturing the power of the band’s live performance and “An Evening Of Atonement” does that perfectly with a fantastic mix and mastering ensuring the band and these songs sound absolutely massive. The band themselves are an insanely tight unit and this live performance continues the ethos that the band took on their last album of stripping away the orchestral elements and focusing on the performances of the five people who make up the band. Everyone in the band is at the top of their game but special mention has to go to Baard Kolstad who is one of the finest drummers out there and of course frontman Einar Solberg whose unmistakable and powerful voice is one of the main draws of this band.
I attended the London date of this tour and this is as close as you can get to that show which only took place a week before this Tilburg show was recorded. A lot of the in-between song chit chat is cut out of this live album with the focus being purely on the music but this really captures what a majestic tour this was for fans of the band, I imagine watching the blu-ray of this show enhances the experience but this is a fantastic live recording of Leprous at the top of their game.
