Tin Omen
By Philip Whitehouse
Wolverhampton, The Giffard Arms
24th July 2003
I've never exactly been the biggest fan of industrial music - a quick conversation with fellow UM reviewer Russell Garwood will tell you that, since he's been trying (and failing) valiantly for some time now to convince me of the merits of the style - but, of course, for every rule there are exceptions. I'm a confirmed Nine Inch Nails fanatic, and am quite partial to Ministry too. Lately, though, there has been another band who have been impressing me in the style.
Tin Omen, then - a trio consisting of vocals, guitar and keyboards/programming. So far, so typical, one might think. Right up until the point when they take the stage - and they do literally take it - no near-apologetic, heads-down wandering, but a confident display of a talented unit ready to do what they've become very, very good at - impressing the hell out of people with their majestic, layered display of goth-tinged industrial metal.
Bands of this type normally rely strongly on their look to stand out from the crowd, but other than the keyboard player's ever-present forehead-tilted goggles, guitarist Brian's impressively rubber-spiked shirt and vocalist Kelly's sublimely decadent yet subtly elegant clothing (provided by local alternative/fetish gear designers and suppliers, Metrofox), the focus is totally on the music. An exceptionally clear mix helps every nuance of the band's sound hit home, from the snarling, buzzsaw charge of the guitars to the minimalistic, near subliminally-driving drum loops. Kelly's vocals sound the most prominent in the mix, and deservingly so - her Toni Halliday-meets-Cristina Scabbia dulcet tones providing the catalyst that gives the music its otherworldly, hypnotic edge.
Right from the set's beginning, the audience are captivated, and it rapidly becomes clear that Tin Omen have a following as ardent and admiring as any signed band's legions of adoring fans. Tracks from the recent 'Forbidden' EP are sung along with word for word, with Kelly encouraging the impromptu back-up vocalists while still managing to infuse the lyrics with added emotion through her gestures and expressions - all while clutching a bottle of red wine throughout! Even a cover of Kylie Minogue (Conifde In Me) goes down a storm, with the aggressive reworking fitting in completely with the rest of the band's material, while the new songs aired show a more up-tempo, energetic feel.
By the end of the show, all critical faculties have been overwhelmed - I've been dancing (badly) throughout, becoming one of the enthusiastic crowd, cheering and clapping and constantly grinning from ear-to-ear, and it seems that the wealth of emotion in the building has transferred also to the stage. After responding to demands (and make no mistake, it was a demand rather than a request) for an encore with a cover of Razed In Black's 'Oh My Goth' which causes the already-pumped crowd to go completely bananas, the band are surprised to be rewarded for their efforts with flowers and hugs from the venue's management and the crowd alike.
Amazingly, this adulation is received with a show of joyful tears from Kelly and stunned grins from her bandmates - all of which brought home to me the outstanding element of Tin Omen's music that caused me to sit up and take notice in the first place. They have sidestepped the traditionally cold, clinical sound adopted by most industrial bands and embraced the fact that even synthesised and electronic instruments can be infused with a depth of emotion - it is this sense of humility and soul in the songs which causes the listener to be able to make a personal connection with them, and therefore to lose themselves in the sound totally.
As the band leave the stage as triumphantly as they entered it, surrounded by smiling, laughing fans and gobsmacked new converts to their cause, I consider myself lucky to have seen them in a venue this size - the empathetic connection to the sound is amplified, methinks, by the proximity to the band, and I have a feeling that we won't be seeing Tin Omen in venue of this size for too much longer - although I'd be just as willing to pay to see them perform at Wembley Arena. Revelatory stuff.
Note - Photographs from the gig reviewed should hopefully be added to this review soon.
Tin Omen website
Metrofox website
By Philip Whitehouse
Wolverhampton, The Giffard Arms
24th July 2003
I've never exactly been the biggest fan of industrial music - a quick conversation with fellow UM reviewer Russell Garwood will tell you that, since he's been trying (and failing) valiantly for some time now to convince me of the merits of the style - but, of course, for every rule there are exceptions. I'm a confirmed Nine Inch Nails fanatic, and am quite partial to Ministry too. Lately, though, there has been another band who have been impressing me in the style.
Tin Omen, then - a trio consisting of vocals, guitar and keyboards/programming. So far, so typical, one might think. Right up until the point when they take the stage - and they do literally take it - no near-apologetic, heads-down wandering, but a confident display of a talented unit ready to do what they've become very, very good at - impressing the hell out of people with their majestic, layered display of goth-tinged industrial metal.
Bands of this type normally rely strongly on their look to stand out from the crowd, but other than the keyboard player's ever-present forehead-tilted goggles, guitarist Brian's impressively rubber-spiked shirt and vocalist Kelly's sublimely decadent yet subtly elegant clothing (provided by local alternative/fetish gear designers and suppliers, Metrofox), the focus is totally on the music. An exceptionally clear mix helps every nuance of the band's sound hit home, from the snarling, buzzsaw charge of the guitars to the minimalistic, near subliminally-driving drum loops. Kelly's vocals sound the most prominent in the mix, and deservingly so - her Toni Halliday-meets-Cristina Scabbia dulcet tones providing the catalyst that gives the music its otherworldly, hypnotic edge.
Right from the set's beginning, the audience are captivated, and it rapidly becomes clear that Tin Omen have a following as ardent and admiring as any signed band's legions of adoring fans. Tracks from the recent 'Forbidden' EP are sung along with word for word, with Kelly encouraging the impromptu back-up vocalists while still managing to infuse the lyrics with added emotion through her gestures and expressions - all while clutching a bottle of red wine throughout! Even a cover of Kylie Minogue (Conifde In Me) goes down a storm, with the aggressive reworking fitting in completely with the rest of the band's material, while the new songs aired show a more up-tempo, energetic feel.
By the end of the show, all critical faculties have been overwhelmed - I've been dancing (badly) throughout, becoming one of the enthusiastic crowd, cheering and clapping and constantly grinning from ear-to-ear, and it seems that the wealth of emotion in the building has transferred also to the stage. After responding to demands (and make no mistake, it was a demand rather than a request) for an encore with a cover of Razed In Black's 'Oh My Goth' which causes the already-pumped crowd to go completely bananas, the band are surprised to be rewarded for their efforts with flowers and hugs from the venue's management and the crowd alike.
Amazingly, this adulation is received with a show of joyful tears from Kelly and stunned grins from her bandmates - all of which brought home to me the outstanding element of Tin Omen's music that caused me to sit up and take notice in the first place. They have sidestepped the traditionally cold, clinical sound adopted by most industrial bands and embraced the fact that even synthesised and electronic instruments can be infused with a depth of emotion - it is this sense of humility and soul in the songs which causes the listener to be able to make a personal connection with them, and therefore to lose themselves in the sound totally.
As the band leave the stage as triumphantly as they entered it, surrounded by smiling, laughing fans and gobsmacked new converts to their cause, I consider myself lucky to have seen them in a venue this size - the empathetic connection to the sound is amplified, methinks, by the proximity to the band, and I have a feeling that we won't be seeing Tin Omen in venue of this size for too much longer - although I'd be just as willing to pay to see them perform at Wembley Arena. Revelatory stuff.
Note - Photographs from the gig reviewed should hopefully be added to this review soon.
Tin Omen website
Metrofox website
