Location: Ljubljana / Gala hala / Slovenia
Date: Thursday, 04/21/2016
Norwegian outfit Borknagar have been gaining a lot of popularity in recent years, especially noticeable since bassist/vocalist Vortex (ex-Dimmu Borgir) rejoined the band. Their last two albums, Urd and Winter Thrice, were well received. Over the course of their career, Borknagar have broadened their spectrum quite a bit. They started out as a black metal act, then began taking cues from viking and folk metal and repackaged the whole thing so that their music sounds progressive and like something special. After 2014, when Borknagar last played in Slovenia as part of the Metaldays festival, it was time for the band to test how well they can fill clubs. They brought along renowned Norwegian black metallers Kampfar and Swedish death metallers Diabolical.
First up, playing to an empty hall, were Diabolical, who tried to win people over with their vision of death metal, which is full of surprises. Diabolical lean quite heavily on atmosphere, which shows in the calmer passages that come after the powerful, aggressive riffs. The emphasis was of course on the latest album Neogenesis, the band’s most polished and complex release. The band started moving around a bit more once the hall filled up. Diabolical warmed up the Gala hala atmosphere solidly, even though their music doesn’t go straight to the ear. And there’s no sugarcoating either to make the whole thing appealing to a bigger audience.
Norway’s Kampfar, winners of a Norwegian Grammy, drew a bigger crowd to back them, so the hall was nicely full. With their energetic performance the band got even those who weren’t in the mood for moving going. You could really tell they’ve got a huge amount of mileage behind them, and the tightness was more than up to par. In the music itself you could see the band swears by simplicity, with songs built on a handful of chords, much like Taake, for example. But Kampfar make the whole thing more interesting by bringing in “tuneful” vocals, which also gives their music an extra bit of atmosphere and something special, even though there were no real standout moments. The fans definitely got what they came for, and the packed hall confirmed that next time the band can come back to Gala hala as the headliner.
Every tour, Borknagar face a pretty tough task: convincing the audience they’re worth seeing even without the legendary vocalist Vintersorg, who for unknown reasons doesn’t go out on tour. Borknagar try to win people over with Vortex, who undoubtedly stands out with his vocals, and even more with his nimble-fingered bass playing, which gives Borknagar a certain trademark. Borknagar solidly presented the new material, and older fans got their fix too, when the band played Oceans Rise, The Eye of Oden, Icon Dreams, Ruins of the Future, Dauden, The Dawn of the End and Colossus. Sadly, they skipped material from the albums Epic and Empiricism, which makes sense given that Vintersorg really stands out there. Either way, it was a good mix of old and new material. With the new stuff, though, it seemed the band is writing more and more bouncy, cliché songs, mostly thanks to the influence of folk metal, but sadly it’s not original.
The band’s tightness is solid, the rhythm section is prominent, and besides black metal-inspired riffs, the two guitarists also offered nice melodic bits, harmonies and the occasional clean passage. Borknagar’s music is undoubtedly varied, sometimes oversaturated once the keyboards kick in. The most distracting factor was actually the vocals. Vintersorg’s vocals were taken over by vocalist Athera, who previously gained experience in Susperia and Chrome Division. Screaming wasn’t a problem for him, but in the actual singing you could hear quite a few off notes, which overall didn’t make the best impression. Athera wasn’t there for the entire gig, though, as the main vocalist role belonged to Vortex. Regardless, Borknagar held their own pretty well. Not all expectations were met, but with the old songs they showed that their longtime fans mean a lot to them, which is also worthy of respect.
All in all, Borknagar and Kampfar put black metal on full display, while Diabolical carried the death metal banner.
author: Primož Novak
photos: Anja Ivanovič
Diabolical:
1. Into
2. Requiem
3. Reincarnation
4. Wolve’s
5. Vinkelen
6. Eye
