Sabaton, Grailknights, Intense
London The Purple Turtle 5/11/09 Review and photos by James Young
Camo trousers and jacket. Check. Plastic gun. Check. This could only
mean Sabaton playing in London, always a momentous occasion, and
even better if they’re headlining. Tonight they had the headliner
slot, although an early ferry combined with booking confusion meant
that Intense would be playing last. Line-up niggles aside, the long
line of fans snaked around the Purple Turtle were just excited about
a war-gasmic night of power metal, and the news that tickets had
sold out showed that it was going to be a crushed affair.
Just when you think you’ve seen it all in the world of metal, along
come a band that takes you off-guard, and |
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Grailknights are a perfect example of this. Anyone who
doubts whether Germans have a sense of humour (albeit a freaking
weird one) need just take one look at this gang of superheroes to
prove them wrong. With a stage-show involving lycra suits, a
pantomime horse called Beer Beauty, a dragon which was axed to death
mid-performance and a villain called Dr. Skull from whom a holy
grail had to be stolen, it was all too easy to lose track of the
music and giggle at the insanity which was unfolding before your
eyes. It’s easy to fool around on stage without any musical
credibility, but as it happens, these guys were actually rather
good, for in between their acts of pure weirdness, the band played a
fairly original brand of melodic death meets power metal, with some
catchy thrash crossover shouted choruses. It’s easy for an opener at
the Purple Turtle to be completely ignored, and a fairly standard
opener ‘Grailquest Gladiators’ didn’t really set the world on fire,
but the following songs, which included ‘The White Raven’ and
‘Moonlit Masquerade’ engaged with the crowd completely, and had a
venue full of fairly sober fans singing along, which is no mean
feat. Sir Optimus Prime and Lord Lightbringer were fantastic |
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| performers,
growling, singing and flexing their way through songs, and their
ad-libs during the Spinal Tap style costume screw-ups were
hilarious. Further adding to the energy of the live show were the
fast fingers of the two frontmen - they could seriously play their
instruments, with solos during songs such as ‘Regicide’ wonderfully
dynamic, and as over-the-top as the stage show itself (well,
almost…). Whilst saying goodbye to a horde of fans demanding one
more song, we had a brief cover of a grindcore song which I believe
was Napalm Death. For most bands such an eclectic range of
influences would lack direction, but instead we had an enjoyable
romp through some interesting superhero metal, and one of the best
openers I’ve seen for years. This band are sure to fly to great
heights in the future, probably just on their gimmick alone, but for
once it’s a gimmick backed up by great music. All hail the grail! |
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Sabaton’s debut headliner on these shores last year was
unforgettable, albeit rather poorly attended, but tonight’s sold out
show is a testament to how much bigger this band have got over the
past year, with shows at Wacken and a forthcoming trip to Bloodstock
gaining them huge publicity. The stage seemed a bit larger this time
around - the band had room to flick their hair around and we could
actually see bassist Par Sundstrom. The first strike involved a
double-header from the new opus The Art of War in the form of ‘Ghost
Division’ and the title track, and it became instantly clear why
these guys make up one of most underrated and best power metal bands
in the genre. Perfect sound, full-on riffs, pounding drums which
resembled machine gun fire, and the cherry on the cake in the form
of sunglass sporting commando Joakim Broden, whose gruff voice and
Sportacus-esque stage movements make you lose yourself entirely in
the heat of the music. Tonight we were told it was a setlist-free
night, and that the fans could request anything from their
back-catalogue. I’m not sure whether this was just a crowd-pleasing
tactic in which selective hearing on Joakim’s behalf followed a
pre-determined set, but it didn’t really matter when my request of
the epic ‘Rise Of Evil’ was taken, much to my merriment. There was a
fair deal from |
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the excellent
new album tonight - in addition to the two openers, we also had the
keyboard-tinkling single ‘Cliffs Of Gallipoli’ and the
march-inducing ‘The Price Of A Mile’. There were still a great
number of oldies, although sadly nothing from their debut Metalizer
album, but nevertheless a fairly substantial set included the
wonderful ‘Into The Fire’, ‘Wolfpack’, and ‘Nuclear Attack’, which
ensured that there was not a member of the crowd who was not
jumping, headbanging, or moving in some way or another. It was a
pleasure seeing the band have such a good time on stage, with
guitarist Oskar Montelius and drummer Daniel Mullback smiling
throughout, lapping up every minute of the atmosphere. The mandatory
‘Attero Dominutus’ and ‘Primo Victoria’ anthems signalled that the
end of the set was near, and the ‘Metal Medley’ (now a song in its
own right) combined the ludicrously catchy party songs of ‘Metal
Machine’ and ‘Metal Crüe’. This brought to a close a truly
unforgettable performance, and as much as these intimate gigs are
cherished, this group are destined to play larger stages in the
future. War has never been so much fun!
An early Sabaton ferry meant that English support band
Intense had the difficult task
of playing last, after the headliners. Any other band may have
struggled, but Intense have quite a large fan base, and a reasonable
number of people stayed through to the end of their set, which
reflects the fact that they are worth seeing. Their thrashy mix of
power and heavy metal in tracks such as ‘Fear Is Not Enough’ and
‘Trojan Transmission’ brought Iced Earth to mind, and were therefore
great to bang your head to. There wasn’t much room to move around on
stage due to space constraints, but there was enough energy in Sean
Hetherington’s actions and voice to make up for this, whilst the
crowd were still giving it their all despite running on empty. The
closer, fan favourite ‘War Of Angels’ saw one last flurry of power
metal intensity, with the track sounding powerful, even if the
Nevermore-inspired layered vocals were difficult to pull off live.
An enjoyable set, even if rather the timing issues were rather
unfortunate for Intense, although they can always say they headlined
the show!
A fantastic night in all, and certainly one that will be remembered
by every single power metaller in attendance. Be sure to catch
Sabaton in 2009 supporting Hammerfall and at Bloodstock - if not,
there’ll be war! |
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Hecate Enthroned, Eastern Front,
Empyreal Destroyer, Plaguewielder
London The Underworld 28/10/08 Review and photos by James Young
Tonight’s weather was as grim and cold as the line-up which graced
the Underworld tonight, and with bursts of snow whilst the bands
were playing, there was nothing more befitting a night of unholy
black metal (apologies for the clichés, but they simply had to be
done). Unfortunately this might have meant people were more willing
to stay at home in front of the fireplace, because the turnout was
less than stellar tonight. Great music isn’t built on selling out
venues though, and the few that were here from the start were in for
an icy treat.
Plaguewielder from Newtown in
Wales opened up tonight’s proceedings, and as their name, probably
derived from the Darkthrone album suggests, they played a hateful
breed of black-meets-death metal. The band’s sound was not the most
original ever, with vocalist D.M. mixing death grunts with black
metal rasps, but there were some interesting melodic sections which
verged on post-rock, which were certainly the most intriguing thing
about the group. This saved the set from being too one-dimensional,
although the poor guitar levels didn’t help them too much, giving
one the suspicion that they would sound a lot more brooding on
record. For a band who have only been around for over a year, the
stage presence was confident and the music mature enough to warrant
checking out further.
It seems as if Empyreal Destroyer
have gained a lot of publicity recently, with a performance at the
unsigned stage at Bloodstock under their belts, and quite a few fans
in attendance tonight. Their progressive take on the extreme metal
genre fuses black and death metal with grandiose symphonies and some
astounding technicality, which is a great formula for an
entertaining live show. With such fist-pounding tracks as ‘Cyclonic
Beast’ being played tonight, it was hard not to bang your head to
the well-structured chaos on display. Vocalist Cyclonis Niyil-ka cut
an imposing stage presence, with a combination of grunts and screams
being lapped up by the scant but loyal fans in attendance. And just
when you thought things couldn’t get any more technical, the band
outdid themselves with a cover of Death’s ‘The Philosopher’, which
saw every inch of Drona-Chaarya and Khorozun’s guitar necks shredded
to within an inch of their lives. A great show, and one more good
album could propel these guys into the big leagues for sure. |
It would take something
special to top the last bunch, but Eastern
Front were more than up to the challenge. These guys
don’t play the most technical music ever, nor are they the fastest
band on the planet, but they more than made up for this in their
frostbitten evil sound. By far the grimmest din which was conjured
up tonight, not to mention the full spikes and corpse paint attire,
these guys meant serious business. Their Burzum and Darkthrone
influences were clear, and with sing titles such as ‘Blood On Snow’
and stage names including the likes of Destroyer, Destruction,
Holocaust and Krieg, it was easy to think that this band was just an
unintentional parody of itself. Luckily the music was good enough to
cast out any doubts, with some spectacular riffs, bludgeoning
drumming, and Metzger’s vocals some of the most shrill sounding I’ve
heard for a long time. In addition, the theatrics were excellent
too, with a nice lighting display helping the atmospheres (and
making Krieg appear scarily sinister!). The UK black metal scene
isn’t the most fruitful ever, with the odd gem or two hidden amongst
swarms of rip-offs, but with upcoming bands like this, it seems like
we can finally have some pride in our country.
It’s been a while since Hecate Enthroned
have put out an album (check out the interview section for further
information), and with nothing completed for a new album yet, the
set was going to be a bit of a ‘best of’, mixing the cream of their
four albums. This would span over a lengthy setlist too, with a
total of fifteen songs, and as any Hecate fan would tell you, they
are not short songs by any means. Kicking off with a new(er) song
‘The Shining Delight’, it was clear that the band replicate their
rich atmospheres live, with a nicely balanced keyboard sound from
Pete filling the Underworld with some wonderfully devilish
symphonies. Whilst Dean’s savage vocals and Robert’s drums could
also be heard well, it was a shame that Dylan’s bass and the two
guitars blended into a static wall of sound (at least from where I
was standing at the front) which unfortunately meant that some of
the tracks sounded unvaried, which we all know is not the case in
reality. In the set, alongside the more modern death metal
influenced material like ‘Headhunter’, we were treated to some
older, more black metal |
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oriented
numbers such as ‘The Slaughter Of Innocence’, ‘The Pagan Swords Of
Legend’, and ‘Dark Requiems, And Unsilent Massacre’, which the poor
sound worked more in favour of. Well over an hour into the set, the
band played the encore without leaving the stage (it’s not that far
to walk off guys!), which consisted of the classic ‘Beneath A
December Twilight’ and ‘No One Hears’. These literally covered the
two extremes of their career, and ended a nice long set in top
blasphemous fashion.
With all of tonight’s bands hailing from the UK, it was both an
optimistic look to the future of this country’s black metal scene,
in addition to a nice look back to the past courtesy of Hecate
Enthroned. Here’s hoping that they tour when a new album surfaces,
and another night of top-notch metal will certainly be enjoyed. Snow
however is less of a certainty… |
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Watain, Withered, Book of Black
Earth, Sothis, Winterthrall, and Gravehill
Venue: The Knitting Factory, Hollywood, California. Date: October
18, 2008. By: Dave Schalek
I’m resigned to the fact that a Gaahl-fronted Gorgoroth probably
will never grace the shores of the United States; however, getting
an opportunity to see black metal masters Watain in concert comes
close in terms of experience. Naturally, I trekked out to the
Knitting Factory for the second time in two weeks for yet another
monstrous bill, this time a six-band marathon headlined by Watain.
Four local bands kicked things off with
Gravehill, an old school death metal act, going first.
Decked out in bullet belts, spikes, masks, and so on, these guys
were highly entertaining and came across as a version of old Sodom
with a great deal of energy, enthusiasm, and even some humor.
Gravehill are definitely a band to check out further. Next up were
Winterthrall, an uneven band
playing blastbeat driven black metal, but with no theatrics
whatsoever. Not bad, but not all that great, either. |
Next up were local heroes
Sothis, a symphonic black metal
act perhaps on the verge of hitting it big. Although I was less than
enamored with their debut full-length, “De Oppresso Liber”, their
performance was slick, professional, and impressive. Much better
than the last time that I saw them, and I may be becoming convinced.
Book of Black Earth from Seattle
were next and I was very much looking forward to checking out this
up and coming band, a band with which I am not familiar. Frankly,
they kicked some serious ass with awesome drumming from Joe Axler
and well written songs. Yes, I’m going to get a hold of their latest
full-length, “Horoskopus”.
Withered from Atlanta were up
next, another act with which I’m not familiar, but had been hearing
great things about. Unfortunately, they did not go over very well in
a live setting and the crowd seemed to become bored with them
rapidly. That’s too bad, because underneath a wall of noise seemed
to be some quirky songwriting with nuance that just didn’t seem to
translate, at least this night. I’m reserving judgment on Withered
until I’ve had a chance to hear their latest full-length, entitled
“Folie Circulaire”. |
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As
entertaining as the opening acts were, everyone was there to see
Watain, plain and simple. The
first thing noticeable prior to the opening of the stage curtain is
the palpable stench. Upon opening, the stage is fully dressed with
huge inverted crosses, candles, bones, animal heads on pikes, you
name it. Fully decked out in corpsepaint, Watain storms the stage
with energy and blows through a highly theatrical, visually
entertaining set. Ultimately, Watain were as I expected, and I went
away exhausted and satisfied after a six-hour marathon evening.
Oh, and the Knitting Factory’s bathroom was as I feared.
See more of the evening’s festivities at
http://metalrunsinmyveins.blogspot.com |
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