Fagerlund's reviews

So once again I'm falling behind on the reviews... so here's May in a summary!

 

 

Swedish Black Metal, very atmospheric stuff. I've seen them a couple of times now and they've changed character for a few of the gigs so I was a bit curious to which incarnation of the band would be playing this night. Turns out it was the "typical" Grá, with their Atmospheric Black Metal. No talk in between songs, just pure death and silence. And then ending the gig by throwing out hang noses for the crowd so they can go home and hang themselves. Basically their normal thing, and since I have seen them before it was nothing that really stood out. It was still good however, and it's always good to see bands who have their "thing" so to say. They know what they want to accomplish on stage and that's what we get.

 

So finally the anniversary gig! This was the fourth time for me seeing them, and their performance really has been very much hit or miss. But this time Emperor Magus Caligula was back on stage, and he was in good shape as well! You could tell that the guys had been looking forward to this one quite a lot as they were full of energy blasting through the songs in rapid succession. 

Masse (Caligula) is pretty known for some hilarious talk in between the songs, but this time around he was pretty much just straight to business and presenting the songs and guests and being a bit awkward when having to wait for something... Probably sober! However, that's a good thing for the rest of his performance so I definitely don't mind that at all.

And yes, I wrote guests. Lots of old members joined the band for various parts of the set playing songs from the albums they recorded. See the setlist below for exact details. That's always a nice touch when you see a band you have all ready seen a couple of times I think, but in this case I think the only one who really added something great to the set was Themgoroth who did some awesome vocals! The other guest appearances didn't really do much, and I guess Dark Funeral themselves realised this as Themgoroth did four songs and the other guests only one song each... Good call there! Especially after Gaahnfausts short appearance I really missed Fjellström (Dominator) behind the drums. Don't get me wrong, Gaahnfaust is a very competent drummer... But Fjellström really did dominate this night. I don't think I have ever seen such fast hands in a drummer, it was simply insane.

Being a anniversary gig the set was quite long and mixed, with a nice selection of songs. I didn't really miss anything. That combined with a band performing at 100% made this a really good night indeed!

 

1. The Secrets Of The Black Arts
2. The Dawn No More Rises
3. When Angels Forever Die
4. Bloodfrozen
5. The Fire Eternal
6. Satan's Mayhem
7. Dark Are The Paths To Eternity
8. The Arrival Of Satan's Empire
9. Attera Totus Sanctus
10. Goddess Of Sodomy
11. Enriched by Evil (with Typhos)
12. 666 Voices Inside
13. In My Dreams
14. An Apprentice Of Satan (with Dominion & Gaahnfaust)
===
15. Open The Gates (with Themgoroth)
16. Shadows Over Transylvania (with Themgoroth)
17. My Dark Desires (with Themgoroth)
18. In The Sign of the Horns (with Themgoroth)
===
19. Vobiscum Satanas
20. My Funeral

 

 

10/5 Crucifyre - Release Party

 

So Crucifyre, Oldschool Swedish Death Metal! This was the release party for their new album, Black Magic Fire, which... actually doesn't exist yet. Because let's be honest, there wouldn't be a Crucifyre release party if they didn't have troubles with the distro... 
So instead of being able to buy the album they simply played the full album straight up, and then after a rather long pause played some old classics as well. And damn, the new album sounds pretty damn awesome! Really looking forward to this release now! It had some killer tracks! A nice mixture of slower atmospheric stuff with explosive beats and super fast riffs. Despite being undeniably Oldschool it also felt quite fresh. Really good! Seems they evolved quite a bit with the songwriting on this one!
Also this was the last gig with the current line up, I have no idea who's leaving or being replaced though because they didn't really say. So I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens with this band! But the new album I'm really looking forwards too now, could be a top-contender for best Death Metal album this year (or whenever it does get released!).

 

 

17/5 Stockholm Death Fest

 

Intestinal

 

Don't have too much to say about these guys, sounded very American despite being from the north of Sweden. Pretty much a Swedish version of Cannibal Corpse. Decent stuff, but nothing that stood out for me.

 

Souldrainer

 

These guys I've seen a couple of times now. Another band from the north of Sweden, but these guys have been listening too much to Hypocrisy I think. In some songs you can even sing along with Hypocrisy lyrics so... anyway, they have improved from the last couple of times I've seen them at least. It's not bad stuff, just kind of predictable if you've heard Hypocrisy before.

 

Puteraeon

 

Now, compared to the other two band who played before them this night these guys where here to KILL. Intestinal and Souldrainer got on stage and performed some songs, Puteraeon simply exploded on stage. That's the kind of energy you want to see in a good live band! Quite a new band as well. While their performance was awesome their music was pretty Dismember-esqué. Not a bad thing for sure, and I will probably see if I can get my hands on one of their albums eventually. This was definitely a positive surprise of the evening for me!

 

Sectu

 

And then on to Sweden's answer to Nile then! Technical Death Metal with lyrics about ancient cultures. Unfortunately for them their drummer had become sick just a week prior to the gig, so they hired the drummer from Volturyon who had 12 days to learn their set. Okay, this is really complex stuff. And to make matters worse he broke the hi-hat in the second song... but he still did a really good job. And the singer totally helped him as well, as he explained... "you never play wrong... you simply play jazz". Hah!

The set also included a completely new song, which was their own version of Swedish Folk/Pop artist Nordman's classic tune The Wanderer. That was certainly interesting. I'd never have guessed it was a "cover" if the singer didn't say it was...
So anyway, despite some technical issues they performed a really nice set I must say. These guys are really good at what they're doing and it's a bit of a treat to watch musicians like this!

 

Deranged

 

So then some Oldschool Death Metal from the south of Sweden! I must admit I had never heard about these guys, but they've been around for 20 years and this was their first gig in Stockholm... 

Anyhow, they play Brutal Death Metal in the vein of Vomitory I'd say. Heavy and fast. Fast and technical. Intense as hell, and super-tight. You could tell they've been around for a while, that's for sure. They had that confidence on stage, that way of skipping talking between the songs just to squeeze in one more song in the set. Really good stuff as well!

 

Hail of Bullets

 

And then finally time for the mighty Bolt Thro... erm, I mean Asphy... no! Hail of Bullets of course! But lets face it, Hail of Bullets is just the Asphyx' members excuse to play more like Bolt Thrower! Of course that was made even more clear as Martin van Druunen came out on stage with a Bolt Thrower shirt on! But it's okay, he did sing for them after all. And when they make such quality Death Metal you really can't complain!

They're also one of those bands that has been around long enough (well, the members at least) to know what works on stage. No surprises in their performance, just pure energy and Death Metal. It grabs your neck and before you know it you're headbanging. 
They're also good at pacing their show, as in when it's a good time to put a fast song in and when to take a slower one. They build a flow that works really well and keeps you interested all through the set. 

 

I don't really know what else to write about this one, good solid Death Metal from start to finish for this event. And then finishing on the best part!