Concert review: Maelføy, Torrential Rain & Call It A Day, Helios37 Cologne, 24 April 2025

2025 seems to be a year full of headline shows of bands I’ve picked up either as support acts or at festivals during the last year. Especially this spring I had a lot of shows scheduled of smaller German bands that I’ve seen last year. One of those shows was part of Maelføy’s renewed tour this spring. For different dates, they had different support acts in tow and since I also really wanted to see Torrential Rain live, I decided to attend their show in Cologne this time (although driving to Cologne always gives me mild anxiety…).

Here’s how it went.

Call It A Day

Unfortunately, we arrived a little late due to the traffic situation, so when we entered the club, Call It A Day were already playing. That’s kinda sad, because after a moment of getting settled, I immediately enjoyed their sound. Call It A Day are a fairly new post-hardcore band from Würzburg. Their Facebook says they were founded in 2021, Youtube gives 2022 and I guess the reality lies somewhere in between the pandemic months. I don’t remember super much about their show or stage presence (despite taking photos) but I do remember that I really loved their sound. I’m a sucker for post-hardcore and I’d say they were exactly my jam. Altogether their performance was great, although I missed parts of it.

I don’t really remember much about their set, but what I do remember is that they played their latest single Weight of Time, which was to be released the day after the show. I’m also almost sure that they’ve played the song Fortress, because I feel like I remember the song somehow. As the evening started quite early, the audience was still kinda small, but those who were there were definitely having a good time and there were some tiny moshpits forming.

The sound at the venue was really good and super clear, and as far as I can judge, their live sound is at least as good as their studio recordings (if not even better). Truly an act I can recommend and I’m planning to follow their path further.

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Torrential Rain

The second act of the night were Torrential Rain, a modern metalcore band from Nuremberg. I was a little familiar with their music beforehand since I had discovered them on Threads before and decided to check them out – and I really liked their sound (I later found out that their latest album Digital Dreams was mixed by Christoph Wieczorek and I’m starting to think that in the future, I can define my taste in music basically by naming him… Looks like my brain likes whatever this man touches). So generally I was super excited about their performance – and I wasn’t disappointed.

Their sound was amazing and there was a great atmosphere in the audience. Based on the t-shirts you could see that there was quite an amount of people that already knew Torrential Rain, so the space in front of the stage filled much quicker than with the opener (possibly also because a few more people had arrived by now) and generally, there was more dancing and moshing happening now. Which is very understandable, as their music invites you to move.

I’m a big, big fan of their vocalist, both when it comes to clear vocals as well as shouting (and of his pretty long hair 😂). So all in all, it was a great performance and I’m happy that I finally got to see them.

One word on their merch: At their merch stall at shows they usually have only a limited choice of shirts. A lot of their stuff is print-on-demand and can be ordered online. But you’ll find a few t-shirts, patches and of course their CDs at the merch.

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Maelføy

Main act of the night were Maelføy, a Post-Hardcore band from somewhere-around-Bremen (Ganderkesee?), so the only not-Bavarian band that night. I discovered them last year as opener for Our Mirage and then saw them again at Free For All in Stapelmoor. I quickly fell in love with their sound, but even more so with their energetic live performance.

This time, their drummer was missing due to, if I remember correctly, some exam preparation. Daniel Heuken from Avalanche Effect filled in for the last few shows of the tour and did a great job (and matched the band’s energy really well, he obviously had lots of fun behind the drum and joined in hyping up the crowd. Big shout-out, he did amazing!). Also, singer Marne was a bit ill that night if I remember correctly, so his voice wasn’t in its best condition. Nevertheless, they delivered an amazing performance, even when he had his little solo moment to play the the acoustic songs Borrowed and Help/7$.

They opened their set, which was about 70 minutes long, with two of their newer releases, With You and Bad Thoughts. The rest of the setlist can be found behind the spoiler:

For me personally, a highlight at every Maelføy show is their song Eiskaltes Blut – I can’t tell why I’m so much into this German rap part, but it’s great fun and an absolute live banger. Generally, the atmosphere during their set was at a peak, there was a lot of energy in the room and people jumped and danced. For me personally, the entire evening was absolutely great and I think the entire line-up was a good match. I almost regretted not attending their other show in Oberhausen as well, but my concert schedule in April/May was so stuffed that I needed a day to rest.

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