Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: CUK Kino Šiška, Ljubljana
Concert date: 24.10.2016
Highly esteemed Norwegian progressive black metallers Enslaved didn’t get to that kind of status overnight. The band, which took its name from the song Enslaved In Rot by fellow countrymen Immortal, was already warning us on its debut Vikingligr Veldi that it was far from your typical black metal outfit. Enslaved only confirmed that as their career rolled on, developing a genre-unique approach and becoming a sort of black metal Pink Floyd. This year Enslaved are celebrating a venerable quarter century of existence, and their tour has finally brought them back to our hall after a long time, along with progressive metallers Oceans of Slumber and Ne Obliviscaris.
With the first openers, Texans Oceans of Slumber, it quickly became clear they’re one of those »love ’em or hate ’em« bands, with no middle ground. The Texans are probably easiest to describe as the love child of Skunks Anansie and Opeth, mostly thanks to the female vocals of the sexy Cammie Gilbert, who, at least live, shows through her moves that she’d sooner belong on MTV than in a metal band. You can’t deny she has a top-notch, soul-flavored voice, but personally, Oceans of Slumber’s genre approach wasn’t really my cup of tea.
The real treat for all the music gourmets and prog metal lovers, though, was definitely the Australian giants Ne Obliviscaris, who shot from complete obscurity to the ranks of the more revered modern progressive (death) metal bands in no time. The sextet from Melbourne has played here before, but because of technical problems their first gig in our parts, at Metaldays the year before last, didn’t go quite as planned. This time around was a chance to retake the exam, but during the opening Devour Me, Colossus (Part I): Blackholes it looked like another failing grade was on the cards again. Luckily, guitarist Matt Klavins got his seven-string up and running fast (which, sadly, the rather thin crowd greeted with rather a lot of enthusiasm), and from then on it was smooth sailing. The Aussies put on a top-class show, and the credit goes mostly to the epically long songs that don’t get boring for even a second. Ne Obliviscaris weave in black and death metal influences, spiced with a dizzying complexity that’s breathtaking mainly thanks to the animalistic drumming full of blast beats and polyrhythms, as well as a stellar guitar trio that more often than not wanders astonishingly up and down their necks with four-finger tapping. What sets Ne Obliviscaris apart from the crowd of similar bands, first and foremost, is Tim Charles’ skillfully woven-in violin, which isn’t just decoration but an equal instrument that more or less takes over the role of the lead guitar, plus the superb mix of clean and brutal vocals. If Charles’ cleans come off a little too soft in places, Xenoyr fixes the taste, feeling right at home in both black and death metal waters. Ne Obliviscaris means »do not forget« in Latin, and we definitely won’t be forgetting this gig from the band from »down under« any time soon.
The Norwegian veterans Enslaved won us over before they’d even really begun, as the sampled voice of Alex, brilliantly portrayed by Malcolm McDowell in Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange, called everyone up to the stage. The greeting of Roots of the Mountain then immediately confirmed the band’s top form. Enslaved delivered an excellent sound, which let both the black metal shrieks commanded by Grutle Kjelson and the psychedelic excursions courtesy of the keyboards and Herbrand Larsen’s epic clean vocals shine. After the first song, Grutle addressed the sadly half-empty hall in flawless Slovenian (the reasons probably lie in a gig-packed October and a rainy Monday, but a band of Enslaved’s caliber definitely deserved more people in front of the stage), and then took us on an hour-and-a-half journey, mostly through the band’s second-half output. Enslaved proved once again that they’re top-notch musicians with hardly a rival in Norwegian black metal. The Norwegians absolutely enslaved the blending of clean and brutal vocals, and there’s no need to waste words on the instrumental performance, because both Grutle’s bass digging and the guitar duo of Bjørnson/Ice Dale (and the latter’s soloing) were outstanding. Later on came a rather unnecessary and not very original drum solo, which could’ve been swapped for another song, and given that this was a 25th anniversary celebration, Enslaved could have dusted off some long-unplayed song too. If they were going to lean toward the newer era anyway, they could have offered at least something more off Isa or even the EP The Sleeping Gods. Still, the Norwegian veterans once again delivered a top-class show of progressive black metal that only a few come truly close to.
Setlist
NE OBLIVISCARIS:
1. Devour Me, Colossus (Part I): Blackholes
2. Of Petrichor Weaves Black Noise
3. Painters of the Tempest (Part II): Triptych Lux
4. Pyrrhic
5. And Plague Flowers the Kaleidoscope
ENSLAVED:
1. Roots of the Mountain
2. Ruun
3. The Watcher
4. Building With Fire
5. Ethica Odini
6. Fenris
7. The Crossing
8. Ground
— encore —
9. Drum solo
10. One Thousand Years of Rain
11. Allfǫðr Oðinn
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