Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: San Dona Di Piave (Treviso) / Revolver / Italy
Concert date: 19.10.2018
Attendance: 250
Ticket price: €28.00
It was a lovely October day, a Friday in fact, perfect for a trip to -Italy. Somewhere out toward Treviso. That’s where Sweden’s Entombed A.D. (or more precisely, one of the two working versions of the once-whole Entombed) played as part of a joint tour with Polish death metal legends Vader.
The Revolver club, in the industrial zone of San Dona DI Piave, really surprises with its lineup. One night you get jazz and rock fusion stars like Simon Phillips, Stu Hamm or Greg Howe, another night some rockers like The Dead Daises, then cult speed metallers Anvil, or Finnish zombie clowns Lordi, and there’s plenty of room in the schedule for the extreme side of heavy metal too. and this time was no different.
Both cult death metal acts have played on Slovenian soil quite a few times and are old, good acquaintances of ours, so no special surprises were expected. The biggest draw, really, was the announcement that Vader would play all of the first three albums, one after another, in full. That of course didn’t happen, but at least the setlist put the emphasis on tracks from those cult studio achievements of the band.
We were late getting to the venue, so Mortuary had already finished their set, and a handful of people were just being entertained by Italy’s Resumed. A quartet playing a sort of metal with progressive lines in the old-school complexity of Dream Theater, plus a death metal growl. In other words, technically complicated, with quite a few theatrically melodic lines, which the Italians love, and of course a satisfyingly punchy rasp. A confident, likable warm-up, then.
With Entombed A.D. you basically already know what you’re getting. Setting aside the fact that there’s another version out there playing under the name Entombed and also thrilling with its shows, Entombed A.D. stuffed their set full of Entombed classics, the ones whose vocals on the Entombed albums were donated by the charismatic, cheeky, incredibly entertaining and likable singer Lars Goran Petrov. In Entombed A.D., active since 2014, LG rounded up some ex-Entombed buddies with a considerably shorter tenure: Olle Dahlstedt (drums), Nico Elgstrand (guitar), Victor Brant (bass), while an extra guitarist, Guilherme Miranda, helps out on tour.
That rolling death n’ roll, with a “stumbling little doggy” LG who snarled and rasped furiously as he dragged his growl up from his boots, delivered a phenomenal walk through the ironclad repertoire of Entombed classics. In between, Entombed A.D. slipped in four new original songs, among them the brand-new single Fit For A King, which quietly heralds the new album, plus the already road-tested but still confidently effective Midas In Reverse, Second to None and Dead Down, but otherwise, like I said. They backed the set up with a flinty crew of Entombed favorites, which the crowd greeted eagerly. The massive Stranger Aeons and soon after Eyemaster, then Linving Dead and Out Of Hand, kept the energy excellent thanks to the superb playing and LG’s growl, and then the crowd woke up even more when the band launched into the expected Revel In Flash, which announced a hellish entrance into the final stretch of the set. In sequence they lifted the show to its closing peak with Wolverine Blues, Left Hand Path and the closing Supposed to Rot.
A great new experience with a seasoned and incredibly tight band, where the mischievous Lars Goran kept the mood good and cheerful throughout. He fired up the crowd with all sorts of jokes and teasing comments and, among other things, cooled his hands on the pipe exhaust that puffs mist onto the stage. Entombed fans got their money’s worth, but you have to keep in mind that there’s another Entombed out there that will need checking out too. Live, of course. Then we’ll know which of the two versions is better.
The night’s main stars Vader have had an unchanged lineup since 2011. The crew is led by chieftain Piotr Wiwczarek (growl, guitar), with Marek Pająk (guitar), Tomasz “Hal” Halicki (bass) and James Stewart (drums) keeping him company. Back in January, when they played before Kreator at CUK Kino Šiška, they wowed with a performance of the entire debut “The Ultimate Incantations”, and this time, for their 35th anniversary, they went even more in the old fans’ favor. Half the setlist was devoted to the first three albums, and on top of that they added two tracks from the fourth, “Litany”, and with the exception of “Welcome to the Morbid Reich”, played at least one track from every other album. There’s incredible determination in Vader. The focus they bring to the stage. There wasn’t much talking between songs, practically none, but Vader once again won us over with an outstanding performance, outfitted with an apocalyptic, gloomy, crushing atmosphere. Especially in the first part, Vader mercilessly hacked through the classics. The club’s bigger stage let Marek move to the center or the right side several times, which successfully broke up the apparent stiffness of the band, since Piotr is constantly glued to the mic. The band plays a ton, and you can feel it in the exceptional tightness, the stage relentlessness and, to a degree, the incredible ferocity. Both guitarists deftly trade solos, the rhythm section is locked in and crushing, and a massive sound wall of thundering riffs cuts into your guts. An hour and twenty minutes flew by in a blink. Vader raged mercilessly from song to song and put some 200 heads into a state of hypnosis!
Judging by our past run-ins with the band, we figured Vader would blow us away once again with their one-of-a-kind death metal cult. This time the meeting paid off even more, because we got a string of tracks from the band’s early era, the kind Vader don’t play all that often at their shows in the new millennium. They don’t lack brutality and scorn through their theater of doom and destruction even in their mature years. They remain legends who, even in new times, breathe their creativity onto the stage to the max, and that magnetic pull and exceptional chemistry just don’t let up. Wiwczarek stays young at heart, incredibly devoted to what he creates (and has created), and so still hungry for new challenges and triumphs. And so the band absolutely won us over once again, marking their big first 35 years with an outstanding setlist and show.
Setlist
ENTOMBED A.D.:
1. Midas In Reverse
2. Stranger Aeons (Entombed)
3. Second to None
4. Eyemaster (Entombed)
5. Dead Dawn
6. Living Dead (Entombed)
7. Out of Hand (Entombed)
8. Fit for a King
9. Revel in Flesh (Entombed)
10. Wolverine Blues (Entombed)
11. Left Hand Path (Entombed)
13. Supposed to Rot (Entombed)
VADER:
1. Dark Age
2. Vicious Circle
3. Sothis
4. Silent Empire
5. Black to the Blind
6. Testimony
7. Kingdom
8. Fractal Light
9. Carnal
10. Wings
11. Epitaph
12. Never Say My Name
13. The Red Passage
14. Prayer to the God of War
15. Triumph of Death
16. Cold Demons
17. Helleluyah!!! (God Is Dead)
Photo Gallery
