Century Media — Release Date: October 24, 2025
Fifteen years ago, Leprous first set foot on the stage of Tilburg’s Poppodium 013 as an unknown support act. They were still carving out their identity, somewhere between progressive metal complexity and art-rock experimentation, a band with promise but not yet a name. On February 7, 2025, they returned to that very stage not as underdogs, but as headliners at the height of their creative powers. An Evening of Atonement captures that moment in full cinematic scope — two mammoth sets, filmed by director Paul M. Green, and presented as a 2CD, Blu-ray, 3LP, and digital package. More than a live album, it feels like a career-spanning statement of intent: a declaration of who Leprous are, who they’ve been, and where they’re heading.
The Arc of a Career on Stage
Leprous have never been a band to stand still. From the dense metal riffing of Tall Poppy Syndrome to the cinematic layering of Coal and The Congregation, through to the stripped-down clarity of last year’s Melodies of Atonement, their catalog reads like a restless exploration of identity. An Evening of Atonement mirrors that journey in real time. The setlist — twenty-one tracks deep — isn’t just a scattershot greatest hits. It’s a carefully woven arc that moves through eras, tones, and textures, allowing long-time fans to trace the band’s evolution while newcomers are given a crash course in everything that makes Leprous singular.
The opening stretch leans into Melodies of Atonement, with “Silently Walking Alone” immediately setting the tone. Without the orchestral overlays that defined the band’s middle period, the performance is stark, muscular, and direct. The five core members carry every nuance, every dynamic swell, reminding the audience that this new chapter is about interplay rather than symphonic gloss. From there, “The Price” and “Illuminate” draw the thread back to earlier albums, their familiar hooks sharpened by the live context.
Old Flames, New Light
The beauty of An Evening of Atonement lies in how seamlessly it ties together material from across the band’s career. “Forced Entry,” once a sprawling closer on Bilateral, reappears here as a towering ten-minute centerpiece. “Passing,” another deep cut, feels revitalized in the band’s current stripped-down mode. Newer tracks like “Like a Sunken Ship” and “Atonement” stand shoulder to shoulder with fan favorites “Slave” and “From the Flame,” and none of them feel out of place.
This cohesion underscores something often said about Leprous but rarely proven so emphatically: their discography, as varied as it is, has a through-line. Whether it’s the jagged riffing of their early work, the sweeping melancholy of Pitfalls, or the lean urgency of their latest album, everything converges on stage in Tilburg. The live setting erases the boundaries between “eras,” presenting the band not as a group that reinvents itself every record, but as one with a constantly unfolding narrative.
Einar Solberg’s Voice, Front and Center
Any conversation about Leprous must eventually come back to Einar Solberg. His voice — elastic, emotive, often pushed to extremes — is the band’s most distinctive instrument. On An Evening of Atonement, it’s also the focal point. Whether he’s navigating the haunting falsetto of “Distant Bells,” belting out the anthemic choruses of “Below,” or digging into the raw vulnerability of “Castaway Angels,” Solberg carries both the technical and emotional weight of the performance.
What’s striking, even from the promo material and the already-released live clip of “Like a Sunken Ship,” is how consistent and commanding his delivery remains across such a long, demanding set. The two-act format could have been a test of stamina, but instead it becomes a showcase of range — from fragile intimacy to arena-filling power.
Production as Spectacle
Leprous have always paid attention to visuals, and this release is no exception. With Paul M. Green behind the cameras and photography by Mathilde Miossec shaping the artwork, An Evening of Atonement aims to be as much a visual experience as an auditory one. The band themselves have emphasized that these were their largest technical productions to date — a tour of sold-out European venues culminating in this Tilburg show. While the CDs and digital album capture the sound, it’s the Blu-ray that promises the full immersion: lighting, staging, and the palpable exchange between band and audience.
For a band that has often been described as cinematic in sound, translating that quality to stage visuals feels not just natural but necessary. Early glimpses suggest that the production doesn’t overshadow the music but rather frames it, turning the show into something approaching theater — prog rock not as excess, but as drama.
Beyond a Souvenir
The risk with live albums, especially career-spanning ones, is that they can feel like souvenirs: pleasant but unnecessary for anyone who wasn’t in the room. An Evening of Atonement avoids that trap by leaning into purpose. This is not simply a record of what happened in Tilburg on a winter night; it’s a re-contextualization of the band’s body of work. By stripping back the orchestral layers and putting the five musicians at the center, Leprous prove that their music doesn’t need adornment to resonate. The emotion, the intricacy, the drama — it’s all embedded in the songs themselves.
For fans, this will feel like both a celebration and a validation. For newcomers, it may be the most comprehensive introduction possible, a survey course in modern progressive music delivered with passion and precision. And for Leprous themselves, it’s a landmark: the moment they turned a career into a narrative, a concert into a statement.
The Verdict
An Evening of Atonement is not just another entry in the crowded market of live albums. It’s an act of synthesis, drawing together fifteen years of restless evolution into a single night that feels definitive. From the aching vulnerability of “Castaway Angels” to the cathartic release of “Slave,” from the towering sprawl of “Forced Entry” to the meditative beauty of “Atonement,” every chapter of the Leprous story is represented — and every chapter feels essential.
For a band long celebrated for its studio daring, it’s fitting that they now deliver a live release that feels just as ambitious. Tilburg’s 013 Poppodium may have once been the stage where Leprous were the opening act, but with An Evening of Atonement, it becomes the place where they cemented their legacy.
Rating: 9/10 — A masterclass in how to turn a concert into a career-defining document.
I’m Drew, the founder and editor of Front of the Stage. I have a strong love for music and photography, which started at a very young age. There’s just something I love about experiencing live music and capturing memories that will last a lifetime, and that’s how Front of the Stage came to be.
