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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