Original Post Date: Sep 27, 2009
Dream Theater+Opeth+Bigelf+Unexpect, Stockholm 25/9-2009

Unexpect
I don't like these guys and seeing them live didn't change anything. Especially not with crappy sound. They were very tight thou. But honestly, the only thing I was thinking about during their half-hour set was "I hope they fix the sound for the other bands".

Bigelf
Old english hippies? Something like that, they were entertaining for 30 minutes (especially as the sound was good by now). Also you have to give a band that enter the stage with Imperial March some credit. ^^
Also funny when Mike Portnoy rush on stage and play one sobg with them. :)

Opeth
Ah, forth time seeing them and the main reason for me to go to this gig! Not dissapointed at all. Getting to hear Harlequin Forrest and White Cluster in the same set was awesome. :D
I've allready written so many times before how perfect Opeth are live so now I find it hard to write anything really... they're just what you expect simple as that!
I did miss Deliverance in the set thou... :P

Dream Theater
Another band that delivers exactly what you expect. And I mean exactly. I don't think DT are satisfied unless everything is perfect. So they were probably a bit dissapointed with this gig, as the guitars went out three times when Petrucci tried to play a Meshuggah-riff. Meaning Portnoy had to improvise a second drum solo...
Rudess was one hilight of the show, he's crazy. But we all knew that allready. :)
I was kinda hoping that he would bring his iPhone and make something like this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KFG7-Q0WI7Q but sadly not. :P
The only thing that DT lacks is a good frontman thou, sure LaBrie has a good voice (and it held well during the show) but he does absolutly nothing to fire up the crowd.

Ahwell, all in all a nice eve!


Original Post Date: Sep 12, 2009
Jorn + Saint Deamon + Vindictiv - Stockholm 10/9 - 2009

Saint Deamon
First band tonight was Power Metal quartet Saint Deamon. Very good singer and very technical bassist. Other than that it was pretty generic Power Metal, very solid stuff but not something that really did stuff in my mind. However I will most likely see them again in November when they are supporting Freak Kitchen!

Vindictiv
Okay, this band is very talented. But they don't play like a band. Take each bandmember by themselves and they're all really good at what they're doing. The singer has some incredible range, and really good voice. He has a strange style on stage thou, that kind of represents the sound pretty well - as he's beeing here and there, just like the music. The only time that they really played as a band was when the new singer went of the stage and made space for old singer Oliver Hartmann - that lifted the whole band, and they had some good songs (with guitar solos that were NOT just running up and down scales for once!).
Overall I didn't really like them thou, too bad as they're obviously very talented.

Jorn
Ah, I hadn't heard the other two bands beforehand so Jorn was the reason for me beeing there. Was really nice with some good hardrock with that amazing voice of Jorn. I don't think he made a single mistake during the whole set! He was a bit of a coward thou, starting out speaking english instead of norwegian - I guess he was really keen on getting a response or something... :P
With that said he said funnier stuff in norwegian than the standard engligh phrases... Like when he introduced the drummer as 123 years old and explaining that when Hitler was studying to become Fürhrer he became bitter because the drummer was playing so damn loud...
Other than Jorns great voice it was also nice hearing some guitar solos with a bit of feeling in them. I really like Tores play style, and he did a really nice solo (real solo, you know one of those when the rest of the band goes off the stage).
The only thing I'm a bit dissapointed in is that they didn't play any songs from the first album. Not a single one! The setlist was basicly what's on Jorns myspace ( http://www.myspace.com/realjorn ) with a few additions to make it last for 1 and a half hour. It was still nice thou, as Jorn is a really good artist and entertainer.
All in all a good night, in a nice venue and not too crowded. I guess There could've been a few more people for the air to really move, but there was a decent crowd at least.


Original Post Date: Apr 22, 2009
Satyricon+Degradead+Zonaria, 21/4

Zonaria
So the second time I see these guys in a pretty short time then! And they still play nice melodic Death Metal with heavy Behemoth influences, and they're still really tight and they're still good entertainers. It's a pretty good opening band all in all, becouse they still lack that little "extra" so it gets a bit dull after a while. They finnished strong thou, with really nice songs.

Degradead
Uh, I've lost count on how many times I've seen these guys... I was a bit surprised that they were the second band, I expected Zonaria since they've been around longer! But that just proves my first impression of Degradead/Septima from way before they got signed, that they can go really far. It's nice to see! :)
The guys looked a bit tired thou, and the singer didn't quite show what he's capable of in the clean vocals. Still a nice solid performance, and the songs from the new album sounds nice as well.

Satyricon
Ah! Satyr cut his hair? Had no idea. It doesn't suite him. :P
Nevermind that, Satyricon live is a great experience really. They're one of the few bands that can actually pull this Black'n'Roll off in a good way, and the new stuff really mix well with the old Black Metal sound live. And Satyr is a really good frontman, really good at putting the crowd on fire. It was actually the biggest moshpit I've seen in a long time for the encore with K.I.N.G. and Mother North. Really nice!
Frost was on fire (...) too, nice with a drum solo leading into Now, Diabolical. And well, if you have huge horns on your drumset you just have to rule.
Oh, and on a sidenote Ola Lindgren (GRAVE) was also at the gig. He seems to be on all gigs I go to these days, either playing, setting up the stage or in the crowd. Really nice, showing some passion for the scene. :]
Needless to say, my neck hurts today. Satyricon needs to come around more often really. Vi ælsker Norge!


Original Post Date: Apr 13, 2009
GRAVE+Demonical, Stockholm 13/4-2009


Demonical
They didn't seem that "into" this gig really. They went up there, played their songs and left again pretty much. Still pretty nice oldschool Death Metal thou. But I got free peanuts and chilinuts from the bar after this gig and those were quite honestly more memorable! :D

GRAVE
Third time in a short while that I see these guys now! And I never get dissapointed really. This gig offered more old songs mixed with a few of the songs from the latest album. Stuff like Obscure Infinity, Morbid Way to Die, And Here I Die, Bullets Are Mine and Christ(in)sanity mix well with Bloodpath, Deathstorm etc. Was a really nice setlist actually, and of course they end it with Into the Grave and Soulless.
Pretty much what I expected from GRAVE, a nice show it was. Too bad there wasn't more action on the floor thou. Allthough I can kind of understand that, becouse GRAVE makes Death Metal that's so damn nice to just listen to. All the transmissions and bridges, it flows so naturally. It's just awesome to listen to instead of headbanging constantly.
Also nice seeing Johnny of UNLEASHED enjoying the gig as well.
I don't have that much to say really, GRAVE speaks well for themselves...


Original Post Date: Mar 14, 2009
UNLEASHED+Belphegor+Devian+Decadence+Guillotine, Stockholm 13/3-2009


First of all, Diabolical were supposed to play, but were apparantly replaced by Guillotine and Decadence. A fair trade I must say, despite not knowing Diabolical! Also I must mention the roadies. They were really professional, it didn't take more than 10 minutes between the bands (except 25 min for UNLEASHED, but they're the main act so...). Awesome!

Guillotine
Fredrik Manneberg and Nils Erikssons (Nocturnal Rites) old project has been ressurrected! This is some damn awesome Death/Thrash that kickstarts the evening in just the right way! This is the way to go, just pure energy on stage that at least spread to some of the crowd. I just had a smile on my face for the entire set. I will have to get their discography.
Nils Eriksson is one funny guy to watch on stage by the way, smiling like a maniac all the time and running around like Angus Young or something. Awesome energy! :D

http://www.guillotine.se/
http://www.myspace.com/guillotine2007

Decadence
Ah, more swedish melodic Death/Thrash! This time with a female vocalist. And they were by no means worse than Guillotine, might even have raised the bar even further! The smile on my face broadened. Allready after seeing the first two bands I was thinking this turned out to be one awesome night.
Decadence seemed a bit nervous at first, but after the first 2-3 songs and the great response from the crowd they started rocking out even more. Really nice seeing that! Looking forwards to next time, whenever that might be! Hopefully not in a too far future!
Meanwhile I have another discography to get...

http://www.decadence.se
www.myspace.com/decadenceswe

Devian
With LEGION (Legion) and DRAGU (Legion, Marduk...) in the line-up can it be anything but awesome? Blackened Thrash/Death at it's finest and with a VERY competent guitarist in Tomas Nilsson... and they're comming out on stage psyched and energized rocking out like the world is ending - automatic headbang!
Also they seemed like really fun guys to hang out with, times like these when I regret not having contacts so I could go backstage! ^^,
And that's another discography to get...

http://www.devian.se/
www.myspace.com/truedevian

Belphegor
Ah, I'm sure everyone knows about these crazy fuckers allready! They're probably the ones who suffered from the extra band as they only played ~35 min. If I have to name a worst band of the night I'll have to say Belphegor but still they kept the high bar of awesomeness high! After the three bands with so much energy playing before them Belphegor looked very... slow and stationary. Like monoliths or something. It goes well with their image thou, so it's OK!

www.belphegor.at
www.myspace.com/belphegor

UNLEASHED
I had been looking forwards to this gig for like 2 months, and here they are! Johnny and they boys again, playing on Friday the 13:th! Ah, it was well worth the wait. UNLEASHED always play on 11. I felt the crowd was a bit tame compared to last time I saw them thou, but it's still allright.
Johnny didn't really have any rants this time, but they rather played an extra song! They played for no less then 2 hours and 15 minutes! Awesome! Also filming for their 20 years anniversary DVD, but that's not what we celebrated, but rather we celebrated the comming 20 years! Hell yeah!

The setlist was something like this:

Greatest of all Lies
Neverending Hate
Your Children Will Burn
Never Want to be Born
This is Our World Now
In Victory or Defeat
To Valhalla We Fly
Black Horizon
Into Glory Ride
Midvinterblot
Hammer Battalion (Stockholm)
Death Metal Victory
-encore-
Immortals
Final Silence
-encore-
Before the Creation of Time
Evil Dead (cover of Death - outside of setlist! :D )

I think this was all the songs, might be in the wrong order thou.

www.unleashed.se
www.myspace.com/666unleashed


All in all it was a fucking great night. Huge thanks to all the bands! :]


Original Post Date: Feb 27, 2009
Kreator, Stockholm 26/2-2009

Emergency Gate
Danish melodic Death band, music didn't really impress me much but the singer was really good and a great frontman too actually. The crowd wasn't really up for it thou. Perhaps they'll get some recognition in the future, for now it wasn't that great thou.

Eluveitie
They had the longest soundcheck of all and still their sound sucked. That's quite impressive I guess. For the band themselves it was pretty nice to see, I feel like they're way too overhyped thou. Certainly a strange band to open for Kreator anyhow. But it was rather enjoyable.

Caliban
I've never been so bored in my life. I spent 45 minutes wishing for another pair of earplugs, one just wasn't enough in this case.

Kreator
Finally time for Kreator! Third time seeing them, and they're just one of those bands that never dissapoints. You know you'll get lots of headbanging and a crazy crowd (which wisely decided to show up for Kreator and skip the support bands) and an excellent performance by Mille and the boys.
"So I talked to a drummer the other day and he asked me: 'Are you really serious about this killing eachother business?' I answered: 'Of course not! It's only a metaphor for all the people out there have a great time.' But you know what? I lied to the motherfucker. Becouse when I see you all here tonight I really feel the PLEASURE TO KILL!"
There's not that much to say really. The new songs fit in the set very good, as expected. I missed a few songs such as Recounqering the Throne and Impossible Brutality thou, but some had to go I guess. At least they played Amok Run, the one I was looking forward the most to hear from the new album.
All in all a nice show, I just don't understand why they always seem to have so strange support bands with them...

The set was something like this:
Hordes of Chaos
Warcurse
Extreme Agression
Phobia
Pleasure to Kill
Voices of the Dead
Enemy of God
Destroy what Destroys You
People of the Lie
The Patriarch/Violent Revolution
Terror Zone
Coma of Souls
Betrayer
(A song I didn't recognize)
-
Amok Run
Riot of Violence
Flag of Hate/Tormentor