Misery Signals - Farewell Tour - Leipzig

Look, I have a swollen arm, from a wasp, of all things. Something that has me lying around all day until Friday. But before I had a diagnosis and a check-up, I had the pleasure to bid my favourite band farewell. And what a farewell that was. With some of my favourite human beings: optimuschprime und h-e-f-f-i.

For years, this band has meant a lot to me. There has been a farewell video made for me, by Musch to the sound of The Year Summer Ended In June. There have been times I shouted, cried, danced, moshed and played airguitar or airdrums to the music of Misery Signals. There is an art piece on my wall by a friend, who is now a documentary producer, that made the song lyrics into an art piece. I have seen Misery Signals at least three times live. I might not remember where else, but I know I have seen them three times in Leipzig. Conne Island twice and then Naumanns on Monday.

Here is an old post from my blog:

Misery Signals - A Certain Death

Hier könnte sowieso jeder Song des Albums stehen. Dieser ist aber der Eingängigste und war der erste Favourit auf dem (meiner Meinung nach) besten Album des Jahres 2008.

Hier nochmal mein Review von Partyausfall:

Dieses Review gehört meiner Meinung nach noch vor dem Jahreswechsel herausgeballert! Für mich ist "Controller" DAS Album des Jahres 2008. Seit, ich glaube "Into The Abyss" von "Hypocrisy" hatte ich nicht mehr das Gefühl, wie beim Hören und Fühlen dieser Scheibe. Bei den ersten Durchläufen klingt alles noch recht unspektakulär und nur die Songs (mit den kurzen) Gesangsparts stechen heraus, doch nach einiger Zeit wird dieses Album unglaulich groß. Grandioser Soundteppich vom Herrn Townsend (Strapping Young Lad) mit einer unglaublichen Tiefe - man sollte sich ruhig mal der dicken Kopfhörer bemühen. Die Texte sind ebenso alles andere als flach und entfalten im Einklang mit der Musik eine Flucht in ein anderes musikalisches Universum. Ich kann nicht einmal einen Anspieltipp nennen, am Anfang war es das eingängige "A Certain Death" mittlerweile "Labyrinthian" oder auch "Coma" - nein, man sollte diese Scheibe komplett und mindestens 4-5 mal anhören. In Zeiten von Wegwerfmusik und der zwanzigtausendsten-geleichklingenden Metalcoreband sicher nicht für jeden machbar, aber bei diesem Album bekomme ich Gänsehaut und genausoviele Gedanken wie Metalcorebands durchfließen mich. Dieses Album gehört eigentlich bei allen "Heaven Shall Burn" und "Killswitch Engage" Fans in den CD-Schrank. "Controller" ist weniger Metalcore als der Erstling "Of Malice And The Magnum Heart" und mehr Death Metal als "Mirrors" mit einer druckvollen und sehr klaren Produktion in der auch die feinen Nuancen durchdringen. Ich würde die Musikrichtung als gefühlvollen Death Metal beschreiben, um einmal neue Kasten zu kreiren. Anhörbefehl! Ich war mir noch nie so sicher eine Höchstwertung zu vergeben.

Punkte 10/10 - Heute also - same as 29.12.2008...

I used to write music reviews and basically reviewed every show I have been at. There has rarely been an album that influenced me that much. Karl's shouting is literally music to my ears and hits my eardrums as lovely kisses. I love both their singers and all their music, but Controller has a special place in my heart. I can't count the time I walked through Shanghai at night, when there was a slight drizzle "And I find every time I face this skyline - I picture it in ruins - It's not going to stop" and that was and is beautiful. Honestly, there has been so many times that I listened to this album. Back to back and with not a single song that I would skip. That is rare. It's from a time when bands made albums. Member? Back with Jesse they released an album in 2020 called Ultraviolet and there was magic again. The perfect mix of heaviness and melody. Something the late nineties and early 00s were only capable of, a sound I missed.

Sunlifter, The Tempest, River King and Cascade Locks are standouts and then some time in 2023 they announced their Farewell tour and first seemingly just in the Americas. Then a Europe-leg of the tour was announced and the stopped in Leipzig. So tickets were bought.

Together with Inner Space (a Leipzig outfit that reminds me a bit of Knocked Loose and highly produced new breakdown bands) and Renounced (a UK band that has an old school Metalcore sound similar to 7Angels7Plagues) Misery Signals rocked my world again. The sound was fantastic for Inner Space, for Renounced, however I had to construct the beautiful melodic parts partly in my head. For Misery Signals the sound was great, but I am also biased, as I know every song and part by heart. So your results may vary. Anyway, there was a mix of songs of the Jesse and Karl eras of the band, and the last two songs they alternated. It was everything I wished for. I will miss them, but their music will always be there, and I wish them all the best and promise I will be there if they ever decide to come back out with or tour another 'final' time.

A silver lining. There will be projects these awesome musicians will be involved in, but no Misery Signals for the time being. Follow them. Check them out. There is nothing like them, and in the meantime there are Counterparts (they scratch that itch for me). Misery Signals should be bigger. They should be the spearhead of Metalcore, but that is sadly, or maybe gladly, not the place they are in. A band for enthusiasts. For people that are close to or around 40 now and got hit by a freight train of amazing music in the early 2000s that left a permanent reminder of what a perfect mix of hardcore and metal could sound like and rarely does any more. Modern Metal and Metalcore sometimes miss that moment when you want to jump onto the stage, share a mic, dance around, hug someone and make the band and everyone around just one loving being. Misery Signals can do that and some bands sound fantastic, but they miss that Magnum Heart. Farewell and all the best!