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To be honest, the name Reaper didn't ring a bell when a friend told me that they'll play in Hamm. I know the town, to get there with public transport is easy, but to get back... Well, even if Dortmund isn't far, it's a trip. I told him about my problem. He should go to the show with the band to do photos and they agreed to drop me after the show at the station in Dortmund. Thanks again!
So, I had the chance to see them. Actually they picked me up at the station and so I was there during the sound check and when they been at the Italian restaurant next door, we chatted a little.
Unfortunately just a handful of fans come tonight - there was the Steel Meets Steel festival in Dortmund (as someone told me) and there was some kind of fest in Hamm - and so it was more like a rehearsal for the band. During the set the band from the Kassel area played some songs of their Elements MCD. In a way they remind me of a mixture of old Grave Digger / Rage.... Anyway, guitarist and singer Daniel Zimmermann did a good job. He's an excellent guitarist and even if not a great singer did a good job. He got supported by bassist Matthias Kraft and guitarist Michael Kauba. The set included the some tracks from Elements like The Raven and Azrael. Especially The Raven remind me of Grave Digger, guess it's mainly the vocals of Dan. The track is a really heavy mid-tempo song which after a break speeds up and becomes an up-tempo power metal tune, but also has some fast double bass drumming. Surely they are more complex then Grave Digger or Rage been in the early days! At all it could be said that Reaper cross borders of true metal, heavy metal and power metal and also add some speed metal parts. The song Azrael starts heavy, mid-tempo again, then after a break slows down, almost balladesque before the chorus is back to mid-tempo. The chorus is catchy. A surprise was the song Erlkönig which uses the poem of Theodor Storm for the lyrics and is based on a heavy tune. Very unusual and so really interesting! With Nemesis they also a track which couldn't be found on Elements. A track with a fast double bass drum, a faster one. Built a contrast to the slower ones. Another surprise is that Reaper covered a Kate Bush song! Wuthering Heights was already covered by a metal band - Angra. This cover version is also on Elements. This time is a slow, almost doomy version. Interesting. At the end of their set the band offered another cover tune - Breaking The Law of Judas Priest. A smart decision was to do it in a different style, coz Dan isn't able to sing this tune in Halford style. It was heavy and slow, the band did it in a kind of Type O'Negative sound. Cool.
Surely the band was a little disappointed that just a few metal fans showed up, but they made the best out of this. That they are a good live band documents that they play in the area of their hometown in front of a few hundred fans! Hope to see more metal fans next time!
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