HAEVN - Up Close - Atmos Concert Blu-ray Review

There’s a quiet revolution underway in concert cinema: one where the sonic world feels less like it’s playing at you and more like it’s unfolding around you. HAEVN “Up Close” is a vivid example of what that can look and sound like when a thoughtful band meets a deft immersion mix. On this Blu-ray release, the newly crafted Dolby Atmos mix doesn’t just add layers, it enhances the emotional geography of the entire performance.

I caught up with Producer Christoph Diekmann who tells me about the latest release, “Up Close was created as a streaming concert during the pandemic. The aim was to celebrate an intimate moment with HAEVN fans worldwide at a time when concerts were not possible. Up Close was therefore designed with stereo sound but recorded as a multitrack session. This production was then offered to fans on DVD with stereo sound.” It was performed live without an audience at De Vereeniging Concert Hall in Nijmegen, Netherlands, from a video perspective, some camera moves and cuts are distinctly very live compared to a purely cinematic shoot. That’s because the production had to work both as a live stream and forward think as a future film, which is a tricky balancing act.

As an update to its release on DVD in 2021, Up Close has been fully remixed to include an astonishing Dolby Atmos mix and released on Blu-ray in late 2025. This review focuses on the Atmos mix on the Blu-ray edition. For the tech curious, audio engineer Harald Gericke created the Atmos mix in a 7.1.4 environment. The 5.1 surround and stereo mixes are drawn from these mixes, with additional adjustments for their particular format.

Diekman describes the immersive mix layout, “musicians, the string ensemble, and gospel choir were spread out across the room. We took the liberty of filling this space accordingly and positioning the music around the listener. Since everything was available as individual tracks, this was achieved in an impressive way, and Harald Gericke, the Atmos mixing engineer, really did a fantastic job.”

Diekman’s description is very evident from the moment the Atmos track begins, its intent is clear: this isn’t a stereo crowd-noise trick, it’s an immersive stage that you are invited into. HAEVN’s arrangements—already lush with live strings and a choir—bloom into a three-dimensional soundstage, placing delicate harmonies above, around, and even behind the listener. In quieter moments, the mix’s spatial placement feels almost tactile: woodwinds breathe beside you, bow strokes on strings pass overhead, and the sense of “being in the room” isn’t a marketing line, it’s perceptual reality.

Unlike many live mixes I have heard that merely sprinkle ambience behind the sweet spot, the Atmos mixes on Up Close use height and depth to fully encompass the listener. Choir swells don’t just rise; they envelop. Drum accents don’t just punctuate; they ring with three-dimensional resonance. This results in a concert film that feels far more like a shared presence with the band than a formulaic front centric stage performance.

Over the years, I have come to expect nothing less than aural ecstasy, as the tools of the audio industry have advanced dramatically. Still, it remains the duty of the audio engineer to take full advantage of the tools available to them. Certainly, audio engineer Harald Gericke excelled in this area navigating the spaciousness of Up Close without sacrificing detail. The midrange clarity where HAEVN’s vocals and melodic core reside is warm and richly defined. The Atmos placement enhances rather than obscures the intimate interplay between lead vocals, strings, and choir, giving each performance nuance and presence. Dynamic transitions feel purposeful, with quieter passages offering breath and space before soaring textures emerge overhead or around you.

It’s the kind of mix that rewards dedicated Atmos systems, revealing how judiciously the soundscape has been sculpted. Diekman goes on to tell me, “The fact that Up Close was not a traditional concert with an audience, but essentially a “live” studio production in a magnificent concert hall, provided an opportunity to redesign the space, including its natural acoustics. We wanted to draw the listener in, onto the stage, and immerse them as much as possible in this fantastic sound. The 5.1 mix was created from the Atmos mix with the same intention: immersion.”

He continues to comment, “The stage was the concert hall itself. The musicians were scattered throughout the auditorium and not exclusively on stage. This sparked our imagination, allowing the audience to become part of the musical experience; right in the middle of it instead of in front of it.” Imagine if you will, lead vocalist Marijn van der Meer and keyboardist/composer Jorrit Kleijnen occupy the center. The remaining band members, drums, guitars, keyboards) are arranged around them. Then a string ensemble forms an outer arc behind the core band. The G-Roots Gospel Choir is placed further back, creating another sonic layer. This layout forms a series of concentric semicircles, almost like ripples around the central performers.

The visual direction mirrors the sonic ethos of intimacy. Shot with a combination of close framing and thoughtful perspective shifts, cameras don’t merely document the performance; they invite viewers into the physical space alongside the musicians. Close-ups catch flickers of expression, the weight of chords, or the breath before a vocalist’s entrance, visual textures that pair seamlessly with the expansive soundscape. Viewers will see slow circular tracking shots moving around the ensemble, Steadicam passes between musicians, tight close-ups on strings, piano keys, and vocal moments, along with wide shots that reveal the geometry of the ensemble in the hall. Blu-ray producer Diekman adds a side note, “We weren't involved in the filming at the time, but the camera work is indeed superb. The intimacy of this special concert event is intensified by the many close-ups. Up close, as the title suggests.”

I feel that instead of relying on grand sweeping crane shots or flashy edits, the film leans into stillness and presence. This visual restraint works beautifully with HAEVN’s music and the expansive ambiance of Dolby Atmos. I think of it like this, spatial audio heightens where the frame holds, telling us that silence and focus are just as crucial as motion and spectacle.

The 2025 edition brings this film to life with the all encompassing Atmos mix taken from the multi-tracks recorded at the time of the live performance. For mixing geeks, the audio remix was re-created from the original multitracks, and sound plug-ins which were not saved on the multitrack have been re-inserted. In fact, some of these special plug-ins were sourced on the secondary market to be able to re-create the sound scape.

For the detail minded, I offer a focused breakdown of how the Atmos mix shapes a few tracks. “We Are” is a perfect example of the dimensional blueprint found on Up Close. The piano is anchored in the front-center, warm and stable, while reverbs extend into the height channels like light through cathedral glass. As the strings enter, they bloom laterally across the surrounds rather than simply stacking in front, rising with ambience into the heights and surfacing in the fronts at moments throughout the song, plus plucked strings chirp from the back heights. When the chorus lifts, backing vocals gently arc overhead, and lead vocals rise off the floor, never theatrical, but beautifully enveloping. A subtle, elegant use of verticality.

“Fortitude” benefits enormously from Atmos precision. The strings are separated with remarkable clarity; violins are subtly elevated in the back height speakers while cellos maintain grounded warmth in the surrounds. This provides a cushion of comfort behind the sweet spot that one can rest upon. The vocal intimacy remains front-focused, while dynamics swell without heading into compression. Piano plays underneath the vocals with ambience flowing across the soundscape. Fortitude is lush and resilient, cocooning the listener completely.

I always yearn for an outstanding reproduction of drums in an acoustic space. “Holy Ground,” excels well above many other live performances I have heard. The kick is solid, filling the bottom with remarkable richness. Furthermore, the snare is gentle and not overly bright, cracking with clear ambience into the room, while the hi-hat is distinct without any sharp overtones. For listeners seeking low to high dynamics, it is all here in pure audio ecstasy. Synth pads take to flight in the rear heights, and the patter of drums is partially elevated in the fronts. As the piece elevates, naturally the gospel choir chimes in singing ‘Holy Ground’ from the heavens as the ambience fills the room. From the vibrant ambience of the lead vocals that encapsulate the space to the strings that bloom from behind, in all its mixing subtleness, Holy Ground is a perfect demo track to share with your immersive audiophile buddies.

Everyone has personal favorites, and at this moment “Bright Lights” is mine. On this track I find the low-end foundation to be superbly pronounced. The kick drum carries controlled weight in the LFE without smearing into the midrange. Ambient textures radiate into the rears, creating a sense of depth that makes the stage feel physically larger. What I really admire about the mix, which has continued across Up Close, is the choir passages are layered in semi-circles around the listening position, creating an immersive halo effect that feels organic, even as the choral section rises in the rear heights. The strings surround from behind also rise into the heights, while the vibraphone stretch broadly across the front channels and rise off the ground.

Up Close contains 15 beautiful songs from the band’s repertoire, somewhat re-imagined for this live stream performance. “Back in the Water” closes out the performance and this is where rhythmic propulsion meets immersive design. Percussive accents subtly ricochet into the side surrounds, giving motion without distraction. With the entire band, strings and choral group on point, the Atmos mix truly displays its spherical effect. The choir expands rearward distinctly, soaring from the height speakers in the chorus, placing you inside the harmonic swell. The entire mix contains a sheen of ambience for all the other instruments, absolutely giving the listener a complete aural palate of the room. The song culminates with the choir only, starkly ending the album with pure brilliance and an ambient decay.

Beyond the Dolby Atmos mix, the Blu-ray contains DTS-HD Master Audio 48kHz / 24-bit 5.1 surround and LPCM 48kHz / 24-bit Stereo mixes. The surround mix is not a fold down of the Atmos mix, placing instruments and vocal parts in different positions throughout the soundscape. Like the Atmos mix, it immerses the listener, albeit yielding subtler dynamics and naturally losing the expansiveness offered by the height speakers in the Atmos mix. For listeners who prefer a 5.1 surround sound experience, Up Close will absolutely satisfy your all-encompassing desires.

Flattening the mix further to the stereo version still provides an impressive listen. The front soundstage is generous, with strings stretching convincingly left to right and vocals locked center with admirable focus. Imaging is stable, reverbs decay naturally, and the emotional intent comes through intact. From what I noticed, in all its warmth and depth, the stereo mix seemed to be derived from the 5.1 surround mix, or probably the other way around. The LPCM codec offers excellent dynamics, and as previously mentioned the overall recording is incredibly transparent. I must add, there is a second stereo mix, which is a binaural mix which I did not check out. My preferred listening environment is in a room with speakers!

Up Close has quickly become a favorite for me, and I couldn’t help but wonder what is next. Diekman commented, “We are talking about various projects, and I hope to be able to announce a new project soon.” As an immersive fan, I can only hope that it will also be in Dolby Atmos!

Final thoughts, in an era when many concert films feel like glossy highlights reels, Up Close stakes its claim with honesty, craft, and sonic empathy. For me, the Dolby Atmos mix by far is the centerpiece: it doesn’t just add channels, it reimagines how a live performance can be conveyed in the home theater. It’s immersive not for its own sake, but because it serves the music—placing you amidst the strings, the choir, and the quiet emotional spaces between notes. Pair that with cinematography that privileges connection over spectacle, and you have a concert film that doesn’t just play for you, but almost with you.

Highly recommended for immersive collectors, concert video enthusiasts, and fans of indie pop seeking a spiritual connection via their listening experience. Up Close demonstrates how Atmos should serve emotional storytelling. No swirling theatrics. No gratuitous overhead gimmicks. Just spatial intention, dynamic nuance, and enveloping musicality. For listeners who appreciate immersive audio done with taste and restraint, this release doesn’t shout, it cocoons.

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 About the Author

Wesley is a lifelong music enthusiast. He started his career in the recording industry in New York City as an audio engineer, producer, and studio manager. Subsequently he toured across America as a guitarist with the short-lived band Land's Crossing. After many years in the technology sector and amassing a substantial vinyl and CD collection, he delved into immersive audio and created Hi-Res Edition to share with other listeners about the sound quality and discrete mixes available on many formats. He recently upgraded his system to 5.1.4 Dolby Atmos and continues to seek out and share about the best sounding releases.