Epica & Amaranthe: Arcane Dimensions Tour (com Charlotte Wessel and The Obsession) 01/02/2026

 

Há muito que não escrevo sobre um concerto, mas este foi o melhor que podia ter tido para abrir a temporada de concertos de 2026, dada a energia e entrega de cada uma das bandas.

Charlotte Wessels começou a noite com a sua banda The Obsession, apresentando o seu álbum do mesmo nome, o primeiro lançado pela Napalm Records e o terceiro da sua carreira a solo desde que saiu dos Delain. Desde o tema de abertura ao mais recente “After Us The Flood”, os Obsession tomaram o palco de assalto e prenderam a atenção do público do princípio ao fim do seu set. Com efeito, Charlotte Wessels não podia ter escolhido melhor banda para a apoiar ao vivo, dada a qualidade dos músicos envolvidos e o seu empenho (o baterista encontrava-se incapaz de andar mas conseguiu tocar apesar disso). É de destacar as vozes de apoio do guitarrista e da teclista, os solos daquele e a forma como Charlotte se entregou a cada tema, nomeadamente “The Exorcism”. Dado que apenas conhecia um tema desta artista (“After Us the Flood”) fiquei bastante impressionado com o resto do seu repertório e actuação.

Os Amaranthe foram a principal razão por ter ido a este concerto e não me desapontaram pois a energia esteve em alta desde o primeiro tema ao último (“Drop Dead Cynical”), num set de mais de uma hora com direito a encore. Apesar de já não os acompanhar em termos de lançamentos há algum tempo fiquei bastante surpreendido pela voz dos vocalistas que ainda não tinha tido oportunidade de ouvir, nomeadamente Nils Molin na voz masculina limpa (que entrou em 2017).

De facto cheguei ao final do concerto dos Amaranthe pensando se seria possível suplantar um espectáculo assim, tal foi a sua intensidade. Na verdade, os Epica trouxeram uma produção de palco que me recordou dos Muse, com uma projecção de ecrã que abrangia todo o palco, por um lado. Por outro lado, o entusiasmo da banda desde a incrível voz de Simone Simons ao teclista Coen Janssen (cujo destaque para mim vai para a actuação em dueto com a cantora acompanhando-a apenas ao piano). Com o recurso a uma hand held camera, quase todos os membros da banda tiveram a sua interacção com o público, tornando o concerto numa sala tão grande quase intimista.

Em conclusão, a noite em Lisboa desta Arcane Dimensions Tour foi incrível desde o princípio ao fim, se bem que o ponto alto foi a actuação dos Amaranthe. Destaco por fim, que todos os artistas tiveram uma interacção muito próxima com o público desde a quase entrarem para a plateia (no caso dos guitarristas de Epica) a tirarem fotos com os fãs depois do espectáculo (Charlotte Wessels).

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A nota final deste artigo é, como sempre faço, tem a hiperligação para cada um dos artistas para que se possam familiarizar mais com o trabalho destes três artistas:

 

Epica: https://www.epica.nl/

Amaranthe: https://amaranthe.se/

Charlotte Wessels and the Obsession:  https://charlottewessels.nl/

The Lives of Others (Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck: 2006)

 

This drama about a Stasi officer who has to maintain constant surveillance on a play-writer seems to me to be incredibly relevant today, in a society where we give away our private life with relative ease and without a sense of the true consequences of our actions (mostly through social media).

Having lived as a citizen of a communist dictatorship who studied the ways of breaking the will of a person through interrogation and torture (shown in a class he is giving in the beginning of the movie), Gerd Wiesler is a devoted officer of the Stasi (GDA’s political police), who he sees himself as the “shield of the Party”, whose sole purpose is to watch and deal with any threats to it. However he becomes conflicted about his beliefs, when he discovers that the purpose behind his new assignment is simply the lust of a man who wishes to get rid of the husband of his mistress, not the protection of the state.

Being Portuguese, born long after the “Estado Novo” dictatorship which enforced a similar type of surveillance and methods, I usually think of how lucky I am that our society is now free of these restraints on speech, social relations, political opinion, etc... However I believe that as long as we remember that such a system existed, one must not forget that it can return if we, as a society, are not careful, for democracy is as frail as a dictatorship. Relating to this I remember the line in which the former Minister of Culture addresses his former rival in the love triangle that drives the plot after the re-unification of Germany: “People are beginning to miss our little Republic”. As badly as this translation from German might be, I believe it to be faithful to the line spoken in the exchange between these two characters near the end of the movie.

The Lives of Others is a moving film about empathy, freedom (and the lack of it), inner conflict, romance, friendship and loyalty where every actor is perfectly cast for their role, from protagonist Ulrich Muhe (the Stasi officer) to the lustful Minister of Culture (Thomas Thieme) the opportunistic Oberstleutnant Anton Grubitz (Wiesler’s superior played incredibly by Ulrich Tukur).  

  

Top 5 January Songs

I’ve had the privilege of seeing most of the artists featured in this Top5 list live in concert. First off, is the instrumental that opens Tales From The Thousand Lakes by Amorphis, one of my favorite bands, that I saw live while they were promoting their album Circle in the now extinct concert venue Paradise Garage back in 2013. Recently I got my hands on Tales From The Thousand Lakes and this haunting piano instrumental is just one of the highlights of that classic record.

It was in back in 2011, November the 17^th , to be more precise when I first heard and saw Darkest Hour live, they, alongside Devildriver and Bring Me The Horizon, were opening for Machine Head. Although I was unable to see the headliners due to an unexpected incident among the friends I was attending the concert with, I managed to watch all of the others and Darkest Hour were the band that left the biggest impression in me. Fifteen years later I still get goosebumps every time I hear John Henry scream “I don’t give anything away” in this emotional “Love as a Weapon”.

Although I was turned into Wovenhand thanks to their 2012 album The Laughing Stalk, I only managed to see them live five years later when they were promoting Star Treatment. Ever since I have been listening to everything Dave Eugene Edwards has put out thourghout his career, from 16 Horsepower to his solo album, Hyacinth, released three years ago. Recently I came across a live concert on Youtube by Wovenhand that opened with “Sparowes Fall”, a haunting song that I have listened to frequently this January (it reminds me of Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds’s “Red Right Hand”).

I love to watch Tiny Desk Concerts, and Caroline Polacheck was an artist featured in one that opened with “Pretty In Possible”, a catchy pop song that sticks with me long after I’ve listened to it.

To cap off this list is my favorite song from Tomahawk’s Anonymous, “Ghost Dance”. Every track on this album was based on records of songs related to Native American music (except the closing track), although no author is known, thus the tittle Anonymous. I love experimental music and this album is a prime example of how inspiration from traditional music can give way to some incredible arrangements and surprises.

 

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As usual, I leave below the link to the playlist, made in the order I would listen to it and the link to each artist’s individual website or social link so that a curious reader can learn more about them.

 

Top5 January Songs: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6wEZbQyMMkWUGHz7DvUjSx?si=162c557414014142

 

Darkest Hour: https://thedarkesthour.online/

Amorphis: https://amorphis.net/

Wovenhand: https://wovenhandband.com/home

Caroline Polachek: https://www.carolinepolachek.com/

Tomahawk: https://www.facebook.com/Tomahawkband/