Author: Rok Klemše
Location: Channel Zero / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 05.04.2008
Attendance: 53
Ticket price: 13,00€
The Lord’s Day, Sunday April 6th, was the perfect reason for every God-fearing passerby to steer well clear of Metelkova. On a cloudy, rainy Sunday evening the place was totally deserted, with only a handful of black-clad folks hanging around in front of Channel Zero. It had been a while since the last black metal show at Channel, and there couldn’t have been a better day for one. Somrak, Demon’s Shade, Corpus Christii and Malfeitor wrapped the Channel Zero stage in darkness.
The Sunday desecration was kicked off by Slovenian black metal legends Somrak. Last October their debut album The Abhorred Blessings came out on the American label Decadence Through Ruination, and the Slovenian black metal giants played it in its entirety. The demonic creations from the record come alive in a properly dark atmosphere that would send shivers down the spine of any God-fearing Christian and make their knees buckle. Somrak don’t mess around and take it extremely seriously from the moment the frontman steps on stage with some super necro grim corpse paint and an “inverted” cross, instantly creating that uneasy feeling that has to be present at a black metal show. The drums and bass were effective, while the guitar played buzzing black metal tremolo backed by some interesting, almost thrash riffs. The band brought a few devotees from the coast, who cheered them on enthusiastically in front of the stage. Somrak knocked out an hour-long set, sawed through the verses of The Abhorred Blessings drenched in the blood of Christians, and added Gathering at the Ruins from the 2005 demo to close. Somrak ist krieg!
SOMRAK:
1. Trumpets of Malevolence
2. Crowning of the Morbid King
3. Lux Nova
4. Glorification in Loss and Misery
5. Banished Into the Void
6. Veter (Howls From the Devil…)
7. Murmurs of Diseased Tongues
8. Lifeless
9. The Abhor Bless
10. Gathering at the Ruins
The first foreign band on stage was Demon’s Shade from Milan. The guys took a lot of time on the soundcheck and drove the sound guy up the wall, since they were never happy with the sound. Once they were finally ready, they played a good half hour of hellish black from the demo Omega Creation and the EP Under Satan Kingdom. Practically unknown here, the band got a reaction to match, though they came across as fairly confident on stage, especially vocalist Strigoi, who stood out with his performance and a solid black metal “screech”. Demon’s Shade cut their set short when Strigoi angrily yanked out the mic and flung the cable to the floor.
The third band up were the Portuguese giants Corpus Christii, because their frontman Nocturnus Horrendus was tired and sleepy… Not exactly very black metal, is it? Still, Corpus Christii proved from the very first song that they were the band of the night. The lineup was tight and extremely active, with bassist Norgaath shining in particular, headbanging and posing like mad, and the two guitarists were no slouches either, with some interesting ideas and excellent riffs. But the charismatic Nocturnus Horrendus was in the spotlight the whole time. With his big, bulging eyes, accentuated by Abbath-style (Immortal) corpse paint, he inspired awe, and his vocals and approach only underlined it. The uneasy feeling his presence stirred up was something special, and so was his voice, which isn’t your typical black metal shriek but a deep, almost clean vocal, though typically hoarse, a sort of semi-growl you could say. With an extremely polished performance full of churchly gestures and crucifying, he hit the bullseye, and vocally he came across as the narrator of satanic verses. Corpus Christii have often been unfairly accused of National Socialism and labeled an NSBM band, but there isn’t a shred of truth in it. A set of over an hour of misanthropy and hatred of everything religious was unforgettable, and Corpus Christii played a setlist packed with black metal wrecking balls. Maybe the only thing missing was a song or two from the first album, but they made up for it with a pair from The Fire God, Penetrator and the title track, which Nocturnus Horrendus dedicated to Matevž and Nataša, the organizers of the show. The most weight went to the band’s latest record, last year’s Rising, and Corpus Christii finished with Soaked in Your Blood from the album The Torment Continues. The obligatory encore for all the “mother fuckers” followed, of course, with the killer In League With Black Metal. All Hail… (Corpus Christii)!
CORPUS CHRISTII:
1. Stabbed
2. Black Gleam Eye
3. Penetrator
4. Crimson Hour
5. Bleak Existence
6. The Fire God
7. The Wanderer
8. Soaked In Your Blood
—encore—
9. In League With Black Metal
Last to take the Channel stage were the Italian Godless, Malfeitor. The band was founded in January 2006 by M. Fabban, who is active in a small sea of bands, but he has evidently put Malfeitor first. The Rome-based black metal outfit put out a solid debut album, Unio Mystica Maxima, after just a little over a year together. Malfeitor were the only band of the night to treat themselves to a creepy recorded intro, which sounded like something you might hear in The Lord of the Rings alongside images of Sauron. Adveniat Infernus, which also opens the album Unio Mystica Maxima, created a properly ominous atmosphere, which was quickly cut through by the brutal black metal vocals of band leader Fabban, who haunted the stage with effective corpse paint and was also covered in a cowl, which made him seem even more mystical. Malfeitor played their debut in full, and live the songs that came off especially well were Jesus Christi to the Lions (the Polish legends Behemoth already have a song with a similar title – Christians to the Lions, but still; “can black get any more blacker?”) and the title track Unio Mystica Maxima. Malfeitor, with a cover of Mysticum’s Black Magic Mushrooms, wrapped up the Sunday black metal mass at Channel Zero nicely.
MALFEITOR:
1. Adveniat Infernus (Intro)
2. In This Place Forever
3. Jesus Christi to the Lions
4. Unio Mystica Maxima
5. Fiamme Udite
6. Dungeon
7. Rex Bestia Fera
8. Baphomet
—encore—
9. Black Magic Mushrooms
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Text: Rok Klemše
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