A Stormy Death Metal Sunday with Vital Remains, Malevolent Creation and Krisiun! (2012)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Rok Klemše

Venue: Gala hala, Ljubljana
Concert date: February 26, 2012
Attendance: 300
Ticket price: €20/€25

On the seventh day God finished the work he had done, and on the seventh day Satan got his turf ready. And while God rested, Satan created death metal, and he rested on the seventh day from all the hell-raising he’d done. And Satan defiled the seventh day and desecrated it, for on that day he rested from all the death metal he’d listened to while creating. And while creating, he listened to Vital Remains, Malevolent Creation and Krisiun, and last Sunday we poor sinners were granted the chance to get down on our knees and pray to the trinity of death metal gods.

Before that, though, the Italian black/death metal outfit Hatesower took the stage, and this time you didn’t even have to plug your ears or run outside for a beer. With their look of goth pussies (the vocalist had some kind of little half-sleeves over his arms; I still don’t know what those are for, did the guy forget to shave his arm hair?) they didn’t promise anything special at first, but within the first few moments they proved that looks can be deceiving. Hatesower successfully warmed up the handful of people gathered in front of the stage with an energetic blast of melodic death/black metal that at times recalled some of the newer Hypocrisy. Melodic riffs and gorgeous-sounding solos flew like there was money on it, and the perfectly tuned sound made sure the bass lines finally came through too. Thank the goat, because the bassist nimbly worked his fingers over a fretless bass, and a few of the livelier bass and guitar lines even recalled Death ere Human. What grated more was the vocal of the posing frontman, who hissed in tiresome black metal tones, but otherwise Hatesower were a really pleasant surprise.

The next act, the Italians Karnak, was already a bit harder to digest, and once again it was confirmed that Italians, with a few rare exceptions, just can’t play death metal. Karnak, whom we could also see at Metal Mania back in 2008, bored us to death for a good half hour with slow-rolling death metal crowned by a massive but muddy sound, boring riffs and monotonous songs that were as alike as pasta bolognese and pasta carbonara – the taste was slightly different, but basically the only thing separating them was a few sparsely scattered solos, which didn’t show much originality either. The growling, though hefty, fared no better, being generic, dull and repetitive – if you’ve seen Pablo Francisco’s stand-up, you know what I’m talking about. Isa consisa!

Then everything changed when the American Vital Remains took the stage and whipped little Jesus. »Where is Your God Now?« I don’t know, but last Sunday he sure wasn’t in Gala hala, since he was hiding under a rock, sucking his thumb and singing Kumbaya, because Vital Remains were back among us, and their lyrics sing about anything but love for the Lord, Benedict XVI, Rode and Ljudmila Novak. From Vital Remains we expected an uncompromising blast of Satanic, anti-Christian death metal, and that’s exactly what we got! Still, seeing Vital Remains is always a surprise, because you never know who’s going to be standing on stage. This time, besides band boss Tony Lazaro, vocalist Scott Wily (with the least death metal-sounding surname ever, »willy« being American slang for a little dick, hehe) and bassist Gator Collier returned, while for the second guitar and the drums the great bwana Lazaro once again picked two practically unknown demons from the crowd. But Vital Remains slammed Gala hala straight into the ninth circle of hell with the opening wrecker, even though the sound honestly messed with them at the start. Scott’s vocal was practically inaudible, and the whole sound was choked and muddy, at least at the beginning. The crowd didn’t let it bother them, though, and the stage diving seemed endless, and the great response from the audience squeezed even more out of a band that was visibly enjoying itself on stage. Despite the stellar performance, you can’t help feeling the absence of the practically irreplaceable Suzuki; the little solo guitarist Brian Weber confidently and precisely played the epic guitar solos and demonic passages, but his stage presence is exactly zero. But the fact is that we’ll most likely never see Suzuki in Vital Remains again, and we’ll have to get used to songs like Devoured Elysium, Icons of Evil, Hammer Down the Nails and Let the Killing Begin (with its epic, blasphemous intro and an atmosphere built by the guitar lines so good you’d want to grab a barrel of gasoline and a match and head for the nearest church) wrecking everything without mercy even in his absence. You can fault the band a little for completely skipping the first four albums, and at moments the seven, eight and nine-minute songs got almost torturous to listen to. But Vital Remains were probably the winners of Sunday night, and they hammered the nails into those tender little hands with the force of a 6(66)-ton hammer. Let us pray!

Malevolent Creation didn’t disappoint either, serving up a hefty dose of old-school death metal, even though, after past letdowns, nobody expected all that much from them. But Brett Hoffman and his crew managed to prove they still know how to serve death metal. The other Americans also took the stage in turn with an odd lineup, again there’s apparently just one guitar, Phil Fasciano’s, and the unknown bassist was probably picked up while hitchhiking at Fernetiči. Odd lineup or not, Malevolent Creation paid us back with an excellent setlist, made up mostly of tornadoes from the debut The Ten Commandments and its follow-up Retribution. Hoffman was in good vocal shape and honestly growled his way through classics a la Remnants of Withered Decay, Multiple Stab Wounds and Corronation of Our Domain, and proved once again that he has the coolest mustache in death metal. The other three members confirmed their solid form too, especially Fasciano, who pretty successfully covered for the lack of a second guitar (though it was sorely missed at times), and most of all drummer Gus Rios, who tortured his skins thoroughly and pounded them without mercy, like Vital Remains before Malevolent Creation pounded everything that even faintly smells of holy water, incense and Easter eggs. Malevolent Creation closed the set smoothly, tightly and confidently with the classic Malevolent Creation and proved that their last hour hasn’t struck yet.

The death metal sabbath was closed out by the pioneers of Brazilian death metal Krisiun, a trio that’s no stranger to our stages, made up of the brothers Max Kolesne (drums), Moyses Kolesne (guitar) and Alex Camargo (bass/vocals; Alex uses his mother’s surname). The Brazilian storm threw the sweltering crowd under its death metal wheel without mercy and once again delivered an excellent show. Even if they’re not the most original death metal band in the world, they’re certainly one of the most heartfelt, which Alex proves with his speeches and sincere thanks to the fans, and they play so fast, so hard, so tight and so hellishly, as if Duracell bunnies played death metal. Krisiun are proof that music is laid in the cradle of South Americans, and they’re true »underground survivors« who play death metal the way it should be played. Max is a real animal behind the kit, handling the skins like a Chuck Norris roundhouse kick, and everyone who gets off on 250 bpm bass drum pounding has an orgasm over his drumming. A more varied transition here and there wouldn’t hurt, but that’s just Max’s style. On the other hand, Moyses is more original, with solos and riffs that are varied, lively, fast and precise, although he could’ve moved on stage by a centimeter or so. Standing still like a statue is not death metal. Even if some part of a song gets repeated too many times and comes off monotonous, Krisiun make up for any shortcoming with excellent, heartfelt playing and sincerity. The death metal »a must« of the year, Krisiun closed out together with Tony Lazaro with a cover of the Venom classic In League With Satan.