Author: Urban Bolta
Location: Explosiv / Graz / Austria
Gig date: 11.02.2014
Attendance: 250
Ticket price: 15€ (presale) / 17€ (day of show)
A few years back we witnessed a proper underground boom of new, young heavy metal bands, popping up like mushrooms after the rain, especially in the genre’s traditional strongholds. New bands kept pouring out of Scandinavia and the other German-speaking lands; some vanished as fast as they appeared, while others are still chasing their dream (and their mission). The latest in a string of tours for all fans of this kind of metal mayhem, with Sweden’s Enforcer as captains, made its closest stop to us in Graz, Austria, and a crew of five Slovenes hit the road to catch it. With the guys from our friends at the Paranoid webzine along for the ride, the drive flew by, and before we could even catch our breath we were standing in the middle of Explosiv with a glass of refreshing hop juice in hand, waiting for another live experience.
First up to introduce themselves to the home crowd were Contra Verse, old acquaintances of our hard rock underground, having played here twice last year. The youngsters released their self-titled debut last fall, and on its re-run they went all over the stage. Our Slavic ears quickly picked up on the Teutonic vocal »harmony« and had a little chuckle, but otherwise there’s nothing to pin on them! An energetic show with the guys swapping places and filling the stage, even with the bassist’s lap through the crowd, proved they know just how hypnotic a well-executed performance can be!
Who doesn’t remember the Dutchmen Vanderbuyst, who roamed around Europe three years ago alongside the legendary Saxon and, according to most, left an extremely positive impression at our own Kino Šiška? The guitarist alone, with a mustache straight out of Carmine Appice’s playbook (Cactus, Vanilla Fudge), made it clear that as a fan of seventies rock heritage I’d ended up in exactly the right place tonight. Vanderbuyst cultivate the retro sound of a classic rock trio, with a beefy guitar tone and tasty little solos, where a galloping Maiden tempo gets a whole new earthly form. The tunes swing between hard rock UFO sound and even Status Quo boogie, and what they all share is a love for the classic rock approach to music that bets on the »less is more« rule. Mini epic suites with a strong instrumental character spoke for themselves and flowed into one another, so the set didn’t need any chatter from the frontman at all. Even though the stage presence was a bit less lived-in compared to the next two acts, Vanderbuyst, with their homegrown, even dark approach, left an extremely positive impression.
The next act are also old friends of Slovenian stages. Canadians Skull Fist played Maribor’s Pekarna three years ago, and that gig was also one of the swan songs of the local metal scene, which has been practically nonexistent in Maribor in recent years. But let’s leave the Styrian woes aside for a second. Since then Skull Fist have been through a lineup revolving door, and their only original member is now the comically towering Jackie Slaughter, who holds all the reins of the Canadian gang, which put out its second album »Chasing The Dream« right before the tour kicked off. Skull Fist remain modern-day promoters of old-school heavy / speed metal with a melodic streak, especially in the vocals, where in the most atmospheric moments Jackie reminded us a few times of Joacim Cans (HammerFall), even though he instinctively sits light-years closer to the school of Steve Grimmett (Grim Reaper). Such music, such energy! Jackie and company tore all over the stage and used the crowd’s kinetic energy, which only properly thickened up for the third act of the night, to their advantage. Alternating harmonies in thirds and trading solos on one side and speed metal assaults on the other took us back to the days when heavy metal was still being born, though the question is just how far a band like Skull Fist can go when, artistically speaking, they have little to show beyond pleasant recycling.
The headliners of the night were Enforcer. The Swedes released their latest album »Death By Fire« on the reputable metal label Nuclear Blast, which was a huge breakthrough step forward for the band, but it seems the underground metal crowd just won’t let them out of its claws, so they’re still forced to play smaller club rooms. Skull Fist threw down the gauntlet with the best possible calorie-burning workout, and Enforcer took up the challenge with a smile! They too have a name as a reincarnation of early-eighties heavy metal bands and as a real live bomb. Shoulder-to-shoulder headbanging, solos over a bristling, almost speed metal foundation, and total domination of the stage are virtues in which Enforcer shine! The Swedes raced through mostly material from their last two records in fifth gear, and despite uniform three-minute songs, there’s enough dynamics and riff twists that even under the weight of a charismatic stage show the crowd got swept up in a whirlwind of pleasure. The playing of Countess Bathory brought a tribute to the cult Brits Venom, and the front-of-stage singalongs on the choruses of the originals On The Loose, Take Me Out Of This Nightmare and Midnight Vice proved the crowd hadn’t ended up at the scene of the crime by accident. The excellent sound of this acoustically outstanding hall was the cherry on top of a tight performance, but since Enforcer’s curve hasn’t bent significantly upward in the past year despite the backing of a strong label, the question poses itself whether they’re doomed to make peace forever with the »comfort« of club rooms the size of Orto Bar. The downside of the show was the short set — it looked like the Swedes ran out of steam after barely an hour!
The »outro« band of the night was Gengis Khan, but with work obligations the next day, we hit the road home before their barrage began. The »Total Metal Attack« delivered on every front, even though Graz, and Austria in general, isn’t exactly known as a mecca for old-school heavy metal heritage.
Thanks for the photos go to the Paranoid webzine and Dominika Torkar.
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