Pyogenesis
Lux, Hannover - 2020
Text: Tobias Nilsson Photo: Lunah Lauridsen
A new album fresh out of the presses. And an old album celebrating its 25th anniversary. What’s a band to do?
Well, if you’re Pyogenesis, the answer is simple - play a double show to give the audience the best of both worlds! And if you're us, that makes for a lengthy review, so buck up, buddy!
Yes, at selected shows during their tour in support of A Silent Soul Screams Loud, Pyogenesis went on stage twice in the same evening - as a first support band, where they played a selection of songs solely from the Twinaleblood album, then letting the actual support band, Anchors & Hearts, take the stage, to finally return with a regular headlining show with songs from all around their career, more or less.
Why only at selected dates, and why only some of the songs from the album? We do not know, but we knew we were going to catch one of the shows where it happened, and thus we found ourselves at Lux in Hannover, Germany, on a cold February night. Incidentally, not too far from where Lunah Lauridsen had first seen the band two years ago.
The band has consistently put out good music, and Lunah Lauridsen had done a good job of hyping their live performance abilities as well over the last two years, so the anticipation was high to say the least, as we entered the small club venue. So small indeed, that the backstage area was in the opposite end of the building to the stage, so the band had to walk through the crowd to get to the stage.
Pyogenesis, or Twinaleblood as I believe they chose to call themselves at this point, did just this, and without any fuss or muzz, they kicked off the introductory words leading into Undead, the opening track of the Twinaleblood album.
Something was a little… off, though. There was a definite lack of energy and enthusiasm in the band. There had been a few changes to the personnel, as Gizz Butt had handed over guitar duties to Thilo Schmidt somewhere back in 2018, and Jan Räthje had temporarily handed over the drumsticks for this tour to Chris Schütte (who on a regular basis plays the drums in 5 Kleine Jägermeister, a Die Toten Hosen cover band he shares with Thilo Schmidt), as Räthje had just become a father. At the time, I doubted it had anything to do with personnel changes though, as it came through more as fatigue, and even uninterest. This was weird, as it was the complete opposite of what I’d expected.
The songs selected were still good though, and even though Flo Schwarz had some problems with his voice (they had to restart Those Churning Seas, and try out a few different keys before settling and continuing), the audience pitched in as well as they could, and the crowd singing was predominant through all the songs.
The band did warm up slowly, but honestly, it never got really good. The songs were the one saving factor here, and as they had finished the first set, and bid the actual support band welcome, I was left surprised and confused. Was that really it?
“Have fun with Anchors & Hearts, and later Pyogenesis!”
- Flo Schwarz (vocals/guitar)
Alright, so the start had been a bit rough, to say the least, and Anchors & Hearts weren’t really my cup of tea, but the time had come for Pyogenesis to hit the stage (again), and at least we’d get some more of their great songs, right? I admit, I had looked at a setlist online beforehand, and while it lacked some stuff I had hoped for, it looked pretty damned good anyway, so I was ready for the second act.
The band showed up much as before, but had now had a slight change of outfits, as they were now in their more stylish vest wearing looks. Not only that, but they were smiling a bit more as well, and my jaw dropped as they opened their headlining gig the I Can’t Breathe suite from their latest album - one (yes, sure, two then) of the songs not on the setlist from before, and also one that I had hoped for the most from said album. Not only that, but the band did it pitch perfectly! Schwarz’s vocals were on point, and the energy was a world apart from what we’d witnessed before! Had they tricked us before, had they made themselves worse on purpose to save the energy, or pretended to do a bad support band gig? So many questions, and no apparent answers, but damn it, I was sucked in from the first second, and this time the band didn’t let up for a second - not for the rest of the evening was there a single misstep!
I was also duly pleased to see that This Won’t Last Forever had been added to the setlist - another one of the songs that I had really hoped for, but not counted on, as it had not been on the online setlist I had seen.
Here a big hand for the band members seems to be in order, especially so the helping hand from Schütte, who had in a very short while not only learned a lot of songs to the beat (if there were mistakes, I didn’t notice them), but also seemed well integrated with the band, while having fun playing and being a good part of the performance.
Both Schmidt and Malte Brauer upped their game as well - more posing, more messing about, and a whole lot more connection with the audience. And again, awesome sound!
Flo Schwarz was probably the most impressive to see though, the change he went through almost made it seem like two different persons. He was on point, as mentioned, he felt the songs and was present in his performance. He talked a lot and made jokes all the time (all in German though, so I have to assume they were fun), and was there something about some hazelnut schnapps? He didn’t play guitar all the time, but worked his performance in to function well both with and without. And he worked the crowd!
Yeah, let’s not forget about the crowd. Lux was certainly not the biggest place I’ve ever visited, but it was well populated for the evening’s entertainment. And after having been properly warmed up by the “two” previous acts, they were now in full swing. There was loud singing in every song, whether the band invited to it or not, some headbanging, and in general just a most excellent mood. Blaze, My Northern Flame impressively saw a large moshpit open the floor up, and Flesh And Hair had a loud and enthusiastic sing-along session added to the end of it, just as Don’t You Say Maybe had one at the start. During I Have Seen My Soul, Schwarz borrowed cellphones from the audience, to film and take selfies - some fans walked home with some fun memories recorded, that’s for sure!
Well, in the end, I guess we all did. After that surprising start, Pyogenesis really came around, and for their headline set, they delivered a contestant for gig of the year! Finally I understand what Lunah Lauridsen’s been talking about for the last two years, and now I too can’t wait for our next encounter. If anything more could be asked for, it would be to get the full version of The Capital (A Silent Soul Screams Loud) instead of the shorter video edit, but hey, that’s a minor thing that can easily be lived with.
Setlist:
Twinaleblood set:
Undead
Twinaleblood
Weeping Sun
Every Single Day
Those Churning Seas
Addiction Pole
Empty Space
A Silent Soul Screams Loud set:
I Can’t Breathe (Prologue)
I Can’t Breathe (Monologue)
Sleep Is Good
Every Man For Himself And God Against All
Steam Paves Its Way (The Machine)
Blaze, My Northern Flame
Flesh And Hair
Fade Away
The Capital (A Silent Soul Screams Loud)
This Won’t Last Forever
Love Nation Sugarhead
Will I Ever Feel The Same
Modern Prometheus
I Have Seen My Soul
Don’t You Say Maybe
Well, if you’re Pyogenesis, the answer is simple - play a double show to give the audience the best of both worlds! And if you're us, that makes for a lengthy review, so buck up, buddy!
Yes, at selected shows during their tour in support of A Silent Soul Screams Loud, Pyogenesis went on stage twice in the same evening - as a first support band, where they played a selection of songs solely from the Twinaleblood album, then letting the actual support band, Anchors & Hearts, take the stage, to finally return with a regular headlining show with songs from all around their career, more or less.
Why only at selected dates, and why only some of the songs from the album? We do not know, but we knew we were going to catch one of the shows where it happened, and thus we found ourselves at Lux in Hannover, Germany, on a cold February night. Incidentally, not too far from where Lunah Lauridsen had first seen the band two years ago.
The band has consistently put out good music, and Lunah Lauridsen had done a good job of hyping their live performance abilities as well over the last two years, so the anticipation was high to say the least, as we entered the small club venue. So small indeed, that the backstage area was in the opposite end of the building to the stage, so the band had to walk through the crowd to get to the stage.
Pyogenesis, or Twinaleblood as I believe they chose to call themselves at this point, did just this, and without any fuss or muzz, they kicked off the introductory words leading into Undead, the opening track of the Twinaleblood album.
Something was a little… off, though. There was a definite lack of energy and enthusiasm in the band. There had been a few changes to the personnel, as Gizz Butt had handed over guitar duties to Thilo Schmidt somewhere back in 2018, and Jan Räthje had temporarily handed over the drumsticks for this tour to Chris Schütte (who on a regular basis plays the drums in 5 Kleine Jägermeister, a Die Toten Hosen cover band he shares with Thilo Schmidt), as Räthje had just become a father. At the time, I doubted it had anything to do with personnel changes though, as it came through more as fatigue, and even uninterest. This was weird, as it was the complete opposite of what I’d expected.
The songs selected were still good though, and even though Flo Schwarz had some problems with his voice (they had to restart Those Churning Seas, and try out a few different keys before settling and continuing), the audience pitched in as well as they could, and the crowd singing was predominant through all the songs.
The band did warm up slowly, but honestly, it never got really good. The songs were the one saving factor here, and as they had finished the first set, and bid the actual support band welcome, I was left surprised and confused. Was that really it?
“Have fun with Anchors & Hearts, and later Pyogenesis!”
- Flo Schwarz (vocals/guitar)
Alright, so the start had been a bit rough, to say the least, and Anchors & Hearts weren’t really my cup of tea, but the time had come for Pyogenesis to hit the stage (again), and at least we’d get some more of their great songs, right? I admit, I had looked at a setlist online beforehand, and while it lacked some stuff I had hoped for, it looked pretty damned good anyway, so I was ready for the second act.
The band showed up much as before, but had now had a slight change of outfits, as they were now in their more stylish vest wearing looks. Not only that, but they were smiling a bit more as well, and my jaw dropped as they opened their headlining gig the I Can’t Breathe suite from their latest album - one (yes, sure, two then) of the songs not on the setlist from before, and also one that I had hoped for the most from said album. Not only that, but the band did it pitch perfectly! Schwarz’s vocals were on point, and the energy was a world apart from what we’d witnessed before! Had they tricked us before, had they made themselves worse on purpose to save the energy, or pretended to do a bad support band gig? So many questions, and no apparent answers, but damn it, I was sucked in from the first second, and this time the band didn’t let up for a second - not for the rest of the evening was there a single misstep!
I was also duly pleased to see that This Won’t Last Forever had been added to the setlist - another one of the songs that I had really hoped for, but not counted on, as it had not been on the online setlist I had seen.
Here a big hand for the band members seems to be in order, especially so the helping hand from Schütte, who had in a very short while not only learned a lot of songs to the beat (if there were mistakes, I didn’t notice them), but also seemed well integrated with the band, while having fun playing and being a good part of the performance.
Both Schmidt and Malte Brauer upped their game as well - more posing, more messing about, and a whole lot more connection with the audience. And again, awesome sound!
Flo Schwarz was probably the most impressive to see though, the change he went through almost made it seem like two different persons. He was on point, as mentioned, he felt the songs and was present in his performance. He talked a lot and made jokes all the time (all in German though, so I have to assume they were fun), and was there something about some hazelnut schnapps? He didn’t play guitar all the time, but worked his performance in to function well both with and without. And he worked the crowd!
Yeah, let’s not forget about the crowd. Lux was certainly not the biggest place I’ve ever visited, but it was well populated for the evening’s entertainment. And after having been properly warmed up by the “two” previous acts, they were now in full swing. There was loud singing in every song, whether the band invited to it or not, some headbanging, and in general just a most excellent mood. Blaze, My Northern Flame impressively saw a large moshpit open the floor up, and Flesh And Hair had a loud and enthusiastic sing-along session added to the end of it, just as Don’t You Say Maybe had one at the start. During I Have Seen My Soul, Schwarz borrowed cellphones from the audience, to film and take selfies - some fans walked home with some fun memories recorded, that’s for sure!
Well, in the end, I guess we all did. After that surprising start, Pyogenesis really came around, and for their headline set, they delivered a contestant for gig of the year! Finally I understand what Lunah Lauridsen’s been talking about for the last two years, and now I too can’t wait for our next encounter. If anything more could be asked for, it would be to get the full version of The Capital (A Silent Soul Screams Loud) instead of the shorter video edit, but hey, that’s a minor thing that can easily be lived with.
Setlist:
Twinaleblood set:
Undead
Twinaleblood
Weeping Sun
Every Single Day
Those Churning Seas
Addiction Pole
Empty Space
A Silent Soul Screams Loud set:
I Can’t Breathe (Prologue)
I Can’t Breathe (Monologue)
Sleep Is Good
Every Man For Himself And God Against All
Steam Paves Its Way (The Machine)
Blaze, My Northern Flame
Flesh And Hair
Fade Away
The Capital (A Silent Soul Screams Loud)
This Won’t Last Forever
Love Nation Sugarhead
Will I Ever Feel The Same
Modern Prometheus
I Have Seen My Soul
Don’t You Say Maybe
Pyogenesis
