Live 4 Metal - Live Reviews

Amon Amarth, Finntroll and Octavia Sperati 14th April 2007 at Nottingham Rock City Review by Sam Thomas photos by Steve Green I’m afraid I have to begin this review with a bit of a rant: Why the fuck were Finntroll and Amon Amarth playing downstairs at Rock City (capacity 300) when there was nobody playing upstairs (capacity about 1000)? The number of people being turned away because they didn’t have tickets was absolutely ridiculous, there would have been potential to sell shitloads more. I’ve seen Finntroll sell out the Underworld as headliners, and Amon Amarth have to be one of the best known (and probably best loved) Viking bands around.
I can’t tell you what Octavia Sperati were like, only that they played three songs, because, due to a cock-up at the door, we were still outside when they played. Fortunately, things were resolved just as Finntroll began their set. This was the first time I’d seen them since new guy Vreth took over on vocals, and I have to say I was mightily impressed. Of course he didn’t have the massive stage presence of Wilska, but then to be fair the poor guy probably only weighs about one-tenth as much! He also looks rather more like a dark elf than a troll, but that’s not a bad thing. I was very impressed with the way that he went straight for the throat with Finntroll’s back catalogue, rather than sticking to the safer waters of “Ur Jorden’s Djup”. The basement was rammed to an extent that I’ve never seen it
before, and it was getting extremely hot and sweaty right from the start as Finntroll launched into a blisteringly paced trip through the nightmarescape that is their world. The plastic swords were being held aloft, and I had grave doubts about the chances of some of the guys who seemed to be dressed for battle actually surviving the evening without succumbing to heat stroke. “Ormhäxan” was an early choice from the new album, followed by a little cooking lesson (how to cook humans, priests in particular) in the shape of “Kitteldags” By this stage the audience were happily clapping along, as we experienced total anarchy, humppa style. “Trollhammaren” was almost too much for us all to cope with, being the absolute epitome of everything Finntroll stand for. We were allowed to calm down a bit, with “Slaget Vid Blodsälv” from Jakten’s tid” and then back to Midnattens Widnunder. The only possible criticism that I could make of Finntroll’s set was that maybe it would have been better to finish with “Trollhammaren”, but that is just nit-picking. This was a superb demonstration that Finntroll are here to stay, as bawdy and malicious as ever!
And then Amon Amarth came onstage. Given that they’ve never played Nottingham before, I was wondering what kind of a reception they would receive. But on this basis, you would have sworn that they were everybody’s favourite local band, coming home after a triumphant tour of the UK. The atmosphere was just incredible, before even a note had been played. Johan Hegg launched straight into “Valhall Awaits Me” and we were treated to a display of sheer brilliance, Viking style. Amon Amarth are one of those bands who, when you hear them on a CD you think “fuck, these guys are good”. And then when you see them live you think “fuck, I never realised they were this good”. Every time I see them, I’m blown away by just how good they are, and this was no exception . We’d all been thinking what a
great band Finntroll were (and they are a really good live band), but Amon Amarth are something else. And they clearly have a great time on stage, giving 110% to what they do. Johan’s beard was even longer and bushier than before, leading me to strange speculations as to whether it rotated in the same direction or the opposite direction when he was windmilling (I never did get it sorted out). “Runes to my Memory” was sheer perfection to my ears (it’s my favourite Amon Amarth track), and was followed by a performance of “Death in Fire” that I can only describe as absolutely captivating and hypnotic. We then began a trip through the Norse pantheon, “With Oden on our Side” swiftly followed by “Asator”. I was pleased to note that the Swedes were no kinder to priests than the Finns, Amon Amarth were hanging theirs in “The Sound of Eight Hooves”. By this stage, we were all drenched with sweat, and it was easy to spot who’d economised on the deodorant (and, yes, he was standing way too close to me) (and it wasn't me - Steve). Johan was delightedly holding aloft a scimitar (weird weapon for a Viking) that he’d purloined from a member of the audience and clearly having a great time. All in all, this was just such a great night for Amon Amarth that I can’t find anything at all to complain about. The set list was brilliant, every song was performed to perfection. And after a stunning set, what better way to end it all other than with promises to return again soon, and to perform “Pursuit of Vikings”. This is probably going to be the best gig I see all year, it’s certainly the best I’ve seen in ages. PS: Sorry the photos are shit. The venue was so rammed I couldn't get into the photo pit and these were taken at the side of the venue - Steve



Severe Torture, Desecration, Evile London Electrowerkz, 17/04/2007 Review by James Young It was November of last year when Severe Torture could last be seen in England tearing up venues around the country supporting Vader, and perhaps for this reason the turnout tonight was less than impressive. Consequently Northerners Evile were met with very few people when they opened the night with their take on old-school thrash metal. ‘Enter The Grave’ brought a great energy to the venue despite the almighty gaps in the audience, all the band members merrily banging their heads away. The Testament, Exodus and Slayer influences were obvious in the exciting riffs, although Matt Drake’s shouts were far too quiet in the mix. This wasn’t too much of a problem, as headbangers such as ‘Armoured Assault’ were led by the extremely competent thrash leads rather than being reliant on vocals. ‘We Who Are About To Die’ brought a soft intro reminiscent of South of Heaven to the fray, before turning into a thrashy number. The drumming of Mohican-sporting Ben Carter was nice and precise, and veered towards the snare assault end of the thrash metal spectrum unlike the double bass battery of some bands. ‘Russian Roulette’ and ‘Killer From The Deep’ finished off a highly enjoyable half hour, with the solos of both Drake axemen of the band bouncing to and fro in splendid fashion. A future release is expected through Earache and I will certainly be checking it out. I’m not sure how relevant they were in tonight’s dominant theme of brutal death metal bands, but they impressed the minority who turned up all the same.
Ooh, the idea of a Desecration set just sends shivers up your spine doesn’t it? These Welsh sickos just go from strength to strength as far as studio recordings go, and the same applies on the live circuit, although sound and time restraints usually work against them. Quite aware of this, the band launched straight into their set without any intro, sample or otherwise, the sound as unbalanced as ever, but to be honest who cares? The brutality of this band is quite simply unmatched live - classics like ‘Pharaonic Circumcision’ whilst mighty in their brutality contain flashes of groove and catchiness that never cease to impress, with Ollie’s death grunts hitting all the right spots. With the floor filling out a little bit more, we were even treated to a new unnamed track from a forthcoming album, although rather bizarrely there were calls for Manowar before it kicked off. Fortunately there was no semblance at all to the greased up musclemen, but we could Hail to Wales for the new stuff sounding every bit as brutal as previous platter Process Of Decay, with blastbeats and grunts aplenty. Personal favourite ‘Cleaver, Saw and Butcher’s Knife’, followed by ‘Bacterial Breakdown’, sped things up even further, which given the intensity of the first few numbers didn’t seem possible. The ludicrously fast double bass drumming of Mic was as tight as
his stage attire, consisting solely of a pair of lycra shorts - brutal! With the older ‘Asphyxiate On Blood’ and newer ‘Grave Wax’ concluding an all too brief half hour, there is little surprise that the crowd were thirsty for another. Calls of ‘we want more’ after the band had left the stage were answered when the band returned to the stage with their instruments, only to be booted off again. What a tease! Severe Torture’s brutal death metal straight from the netherworld (or was it Netherlands?) is rather a mixed bag on record. Some tracks vary from the very interesting to the rather dull, and tonight certainly reflected this drawback. This wasn’t helped by the fact that the band members were rather stationary in posture, whilst the drum kit, which you would expect to provide the main centre of action, was pushed so far back that it was nearly out of sight. Any hopes of seeing the distant kit were squashed anyway as two band members, both bassist Patrick and vocalist Dennis, formed an impenetrable wall in front of it. Theme-wise, the band sported an unwholesome mix of blasphemy and gore, opening up with ‘Faces Of Jesus’ and ‘Pray For Nothing’, but followed with the more grizzly ‘Impulsive Mutilation’ and ‘Consuming The Dying’. I wasn’t overly impressed with the style, the repeated riffs of which weren’t technical enough to be anything above average, but not structured well enough to justify their simplicity. This wasn’t aided by the fact that the vocals were fairly low in the mix, a recurrent problem of the night, reducing Dennis to the sole role of introducing songs, and trying to incite violence in the pit which could never really take place with so few people present. Nevertheless, things turned around slightly with a couple of cracking numbers later on in the set, including ‘Baptized In Vaginal Fluid’ and ‘Impelled To Kill’, which saw the band grooving and grinding, which to me seemed far better than what had been heard so far. By the time ‘Mutilation Of The Flesh’ and ‘End Of Christ’ signalled the end of a rather mixed set, I was actually quite disappointed to see it finish. Poor turnout and sound problems aside, this was a highly enjoyable night of extreme metal. I can speak on behalf of most of the people there when I say that Desecration deserved more stage time - a joint headliner wouldn’t have been a bad idea, but all in all this was anything but severe torture.



Taake, Urgehal, Koldbann London The Electrowerkz 19/03/2007 Review by James Young A long black queue outside the Electrowerkz on a grim London evening anticipated an awesome night of cult black metal. Nights like these are fairly few and far between (and usually subject to various prison sentences), and it was nice to see such strong support for an all-Norwegian bill. Taking the stage first were Koldbrann, who to be honest are unknown to me. Sounding more like a fibre-packed breakfast cereal than a grim and frost-bitten horde of the undead, I was a tad sceptical to start off with, but any doubts were swept away when the first evil track kicked off. The only resemblance to cereal was the rumbling that was stimulated in the bowels of the audience - I was astonished how powerful the sound was for an opening act, with Mannevond’s vocals crystal-clear. The riffs were as razor-sharp as the spiked leather outfits that the band wore, and with horns aloft and hair spinning, the band blasted through ‘Alt Er Befengt’ and ‘Steinet Til Jorden from their latest release Moribund. I was reminded of the punkier numbers of Carpathian Forest at times, especially in ‘Djevelens Treskeverk’, although having subsequently purchased some of their material, on record this takes a backseat to the grittier and colder production. Nevertheless, in a live environment there was a clearer sound, and headbanging was absolutely compulsory for such barnburners as ‘Kaosmanifest’ and ‘I Suveren Forakt’, the latter of which saw a descent into pure up-tempo noisy mayhem. Fordevelse’s drumming was a mixture of unrelenting blasts and more disciplined black ‘n’ roll, lending its Carpathian sound. I also have reason to believe it was all executed without the use of triggers, judging by the appeal to prevent their use on the back of their albums, although it didn’t sound lacking at all, perhaps testifying to the quality of the drum work. Finishing with ‘Inkvisitor Renegat’, providing a slower, more melancholy opening, the crowd were suitably chilled and impressed, despite a lack of movement in the pit. I loved this band’s set, perhaps more than the other groups of the night, and they did a most outstanding job of warming us up (or should that be freezing us up?) for what was to follow. After an agonisingly long wait whilst the entire drum kit, piece by piece was dismantled, it was time for Urgehal to destroy. Having caught a few snippets from their back-catalogue, I was quite aware that this was a band that takes themselves quite seriously, whilst sparing no generic touches. Let’s take for instance the band’s attire. Guitarist Enzifer (who’s alias by the way is Mr. Triggerhappy Lepermessiah - enough said) sported a headpiece which resembled the pin-headed villain of the Hellraiser saga. Vocalist and lead-guitarist Trondr Nefas had on a pair of jeans which had ‘Satanist’ and all sorts of blasphemous slogans scrawled in biro. Moving onto the music, song titles such as ‘The Sodomizer’ and ‘Goatcraft Torment’, with its opening line of ‘This is Satanic Black Metal!’ just oozed cheesiness. Let’s not forget the king of predictable song titles, ‘Satanic Black Metal In Hell’, just in case there was any doubt over what their style was. This said, if you shut your eyes and listened, what you had was a wonderfully impenetrable wall of sound with some amazing headbanging opportunities. ‘Goatcraft Torment’ introduced us to the first real solo of the night, contrasting to the previous band, of which Mannevond was still on stage, this time as bass player. Many more solos were to follow in absolutely blazing fashion through ‘Raise The Symbol Of Satan’ (groan) and ‘Possessed’, executed in laughably grim fashion. Nefas, as much as he irritated me for showering the front two rows in beer by kicking a full can of lager into the monitor, was an amazing frontman, keeping energy levels optimum throughout and never ceasing his hideous rasps. The reasonable stage time they had flew by, and Urgehal were as impressive as they were cheesy.
If you haven’t come across (perhaps the wrong expression to use) the infamous picture of Taake’s frontman with his Viking hanging out his trousers, then good for you. (It's here - helpful Steve) If however you have, you can understand my apprehension about standing on the front row for their set, but this was too good an opportunity to miss with such a rare London show. I’m not too familiar with many of the track titles, all of which are in Norwegian and split into a number of parts, but I think ‘Hordaland Doedskvad’ made an appearance in a few parts, as did ‘Voldekt’. Vocalist Hoest made a number of bark-like grunts throughout the set, and on a number of occasions hoisted up a Norwegian flag. A fairly energetic display from all members made for an immensely enjoyable set, which saw Hoest nearly taking my head off a few times with flying kicks when the punkier elements exploded. If I remember rightly he was much more animated than when I saw him last, when his other band Ragnorok toured London a few years ago. Back then, there was possibly a lack of audience interest on a largely death metal bill headlined by Krisiun, but tonight’s pure black metal line-up and solid fan base certainly brought out the best in the boys. And by the looks on Dragon and Skagg’s faces, they did appreciate and absorb every second of it. However, Thurzur, the touring drummer, managed to keep an
extremely miserable expression on his face throughout the set, providing a grim exterior, although his frantic hammering was far from depressing. I was beginning to really enjoy the set when the set came to a quick conclusion after about three quarters of an hour. Despite a brief encore after the band had left the stage, which culminated in Hoest flicking a cigarette into the face of a fan standing nearby (ouch), the fleeting performance lacked the impact to leave much of a mark (except perhaps on the guy whose face met the cigarette). Taake didn’t really deliver the chaos which they are capable of, but alongside two very strong supports, nobody could really complain that they had not witnessed a wonderfully evil night of the best Norway has to offer. A very grim line-up had (ironically) made lots of people very happy, and let’s hope the future sees more tours of this calibre take place.