By Jase Walker
It’s the final week for shows in 2025 for me and I’ve got a double bill this week that’ll see me making two separate trips down to the arse end of the Netherlands to Tilburg. As much as I’ll moan about it it’s a double bill that’ll see off 2025 in some classy style and I begin the first of these two back to back days with Imminence featuring a string quartet at the lovely 013 venue alongside supports, Ne Obliviscaris, whom also sport a violin playing singer and have done a collaboration on the “redux” album of ‘The Return Of The Black’ so I don’t doubt we’ll see a violin duet tonight also!
Whoever’s doing the pre-show music has a fantastic sense of humour by turning off the metal, putting on some classical music and then following it up with the Tetris theme but loud as fuck. Oh wait and now they’ve followed it up with Clown Core!? Now Cynic, Igorrr… I feel like whoever’s put this on has been snooping my listening history a bit.
Anyway after the damn good preshow playlist, it’s time for some lovely Aussie prog metal with the first batch of tasty violin to whet my appetite for strong melody. It’s been a hot minute since I saw these last and I adore their vibe. It still blows my mind that they aren’t from Sweden every time I listen to them as they’re the most Scandinavian sounding band ever!
One thing that always stands out to me about these though is just how damn good their bass player is, somehow managing to perfectly balance that fine line between hyper melodic and keeping the rhythmic elements in check at the same time. Sweeping my gaze around the room it’s incredible just how absolutely rammed the venue is as Ne Obliviscaris have only just begun, the turnout is absolutely stunning. Little wonder what Imminence were confident that they could move some big numbers with this ‘Black Finale’ tour. It does strike me as off how their unclean singer casually walks off stage once he’s finished his parts in a song, I wouldn’t say that’s exactly common but I know he isn’t really considered a full-time member to an extent.
I have to admit though, as much as I’m personally enjoying the show as I’m a big fan of Ne Obliviscaris, I don’t really feel like they’re connecting with the audience very well and the vast majority of people are standing pretty stationary. I get the distinct impression that despite the common grounds of a violin player in the band, the gulf of difference between the musical styles as well as what the vast majority of people here tonight are here for is making this a pretty tough crowd to win over.
Attempts to provoke a moshpit unfortunately fall pretty flat as the crowd continues to respond to Ne Obliviscaris with almost complete apathy. I feel terrible on the band’s behalf because they’re putting on a fantastic show as they always do but the crowd overall just isn’t giving anything back and in the process makes their intentions about who they’re actually here for painfully obvious to the band.
Prior to the last song (of 15 minutes no less), their singer and violinist makes a brief quip laced with some Aussie humour that acknowledges that the vast majority of the crowd “has no idea who the fuck we are” but at least gives thanks for showing up and watching.
A difficult show for these to break the ice with and I can see there’s definitely been a few people who’ve had their eyes opened to their unique take on proggy metal but I just wish the crowd hadn’t been so bloody cold to them overall.
To add to the weird humour tonight, after testing the lead mic someone decides to test the violin with one of the worst renditions of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ I’ve ever heard to the sounds of cheers from the crowd.
The room darkens and someone with a turquoise lantern appears at the sound desk in the middle of the room and starts making their way through the crowd to the centre front of the stage floor. After a brief moment the shadowy figure walks off to the side of the room and out through the doors, eventually the glow can be made out on the side of the stage while the main bulk is still covered in darkness.
The shadowy figure appears in front of the microphone, revealing themselves to be their singer Eddie, the stage now lit up with the church like windows illuminating the stage as the rest of the band including the string quartet appears on stage. Kicking things off with the start of The Black’s opening track, ‘Come Hell Or High Water’, the addition of the string quartet clearly adding a strong audible difference. This is the sort of show you don’t get to see very often and ever since missing the chance to potentially see Metallica’s ‘S&M’ shows, I made an active choice to never miss a band I love doing orchestral takes on their music so I sure as hell wasn’t going to miss this.
Imminence sound truly mind-blowing, the combination of brutal metalcore riffs, rapid drumming and thunderous bass only to be equally met with insane melodic power of a string section playing a mix of plucked and bow melodies while Eddie soars above them with his signature high, sweet melodies on his own violin is quite something to experience. The melodic dynamics of this show are fucking astounding in a way that I don’t think I ever could have truly anticipated but I absolutely appreciate. Another cloaked figure with a lantern appears at the back of the stage and just seemingly steps down and just walks off stage, a bit weird, but I suppose the figure in the crowd earlier may not have been Eddie?
I keep finding myself getting constantly hit with moments of pure awe at the level of showmanship and just sheer quality of performance. Eddie acts like a man possessed at times standing like a marionette with its strings relaxed before doubling over and screaming into his violin pickups for extra grit.
Now considering this is going more or less track by track through ‘The Black’ and I know what’s coming next because of the “redux” album and I’ve been patiently waiting for this next bit with ‘Come What May’ alongside Tim from Ne Obliviscaris to play alongside Eddie for a duet. More shadowy cloaked figures suddenly swarm the stage which seems like a means to distract while the other shadows wheel on a bloody piano and several seats for the string quartet to switch places and set several extra candle sets across the stage. This production clearly has taken an extreme amount of planning and thought for its execution to result in a live show like this.
My most recent show from Imminence was technically on the same album but this particular show is truly on another level that I find quite difficult to fathom. This sort of show is what defines a band, a show that people will talk about for years in reverence by those who were fortunate to see it to those that were unfortunate to weren’t.
A true career defining performance, showing Imminence’s vision for their music, their identity and their band’s future going forward. Imminence are truly out of the shadow of the other greats that took them under their wing over the years and are fully ready to expand and leave their own mark on the world of metal around the world and can see this being the springboard for them onto far greater heights. I can fully imagine with this tour finishing and another album under their belt that they’ll be following other bands that have been explosive growth recently into far larger venues very soon.
As we move towards the finale, it’s not just the violins that get played with a bow as their guitarist dramatically saws across his guitar with a bow creating a massive drone to surprise the audience. I am starting to watch the clock a bit by this time as the stage times indicated a full two-hour set but I’m not going to be able to stretch that long due to having to actually get home which is a bit frustrating.
I can’t take my eyes off this performance though. Imminence were already high in my estimations but this has fully blown that up and set the bar to dizzying heights for what a metalcore band can do for their live shows. I’ve seen my fair share of revolutionary shows from metalcore bands trying something new along the way but rarely have they had quite the same impact as what Imminence has done tonight. The addition of the string quartet, pacing the set properly and giving time to let things breathe through a small acoustic segment has just all been small parts that have added up to a truly fantastic show. Imminence should be immensely proud of themselves and I hope the following shows have a similar impact on the rest of the people yet to experience this.
Time for the two hour train ride home only to come back here again for the same time tomorrow. Gotta love what you do, eh?