Season's End provide a fully enjoyable opening set at this year's Thirteenth Day
With the impending release of their remastered edition of their debut album "The Failing Light" Season's End have everything to gain with this appearance at Thirteenth Day 2005. Luckily despite setbacks they pull of an entirely enjoyable set which will have gained them some new fans and confirmed what those of us "in the know" have seen all along.
Opening with the new song (a particular treat for those of us who have followed the band for a while now) "Into The Flames" Season's End pulled out all the tricks and trademarks of their gothic metal sound. Through the follow up songs "Touch" and "Nothing After All" these features of their music are still present. The male/female interplay in the vocals provided by front woman Becki Clark mixed with those from guitarist David Stanton whilst not being the newest of ideas in this genre, is still highly enjoyable. All of the music provided was of a high quality and got some particularly enthusiastic festivalgoers at the front head banging, which is always impressive for an opening act. A particular mention must also go to the keyboards provided by Dave Smith which give the atmospheric touch that is one of the reasons Season's End stick out from the many female-fronted bands of today.
Their set is, unfortunately plagued by two major problems that stop it from being truly great. High security means that the band do not get the turn up they truly deserve and this underwhelming audience size really means the band lack something to play back off, which is an essential part of a memorably set. Sound problems are also evident and at times it is hard to distinguish the vocals of singer Becki Clark. Despite these problems however, the quality of the band's music is evident throughout, which hopefully all of the lucky few who saw it would attest to.
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Closing with the anthemic "A Ghost In My Emotion" the band provide a real high note to finish on in a set full of such high notes. Although this set was held back from being as truly enjoyable as the band are on record, through no fault of their own, it is true to say that their show still showcased many of the facets of their music that make Season's End such an interesting band. Season's End are a rising star in the woefully undermanned modern UK metal scene and are worth keeping your eyes on.
To view all photos taken during this set click here. There are 17 available.