Venue: Channel Zero, Metelkova, Ljubljana
Concert date: 21.01.2009
Attendance: 130
Ticket price: €14/€18
Black metal has been breathing easy in Slovenia lately. For the most part we get to see Slovenian bands that are seriously good even by global standards, but it’s nice to hear what fellow sufferers from other countries have to offer on our stages too. This time we were honored by the presence of the “proper” black metal nations, Norwegians and Finns, and alongside them Slovenia’s Somrak and Italy’s Eterna Scomunica had their chance to prove themselves.
Wednesday’s Black metal mini festival was opened by Italy’s Eterna Scomunica, a quartet from Gorizia. Their job was clear: warm up a pretty sizable crowd that had gathered in front of the club entrance. But despite a confident performance, they got extremely weak support from the floor. True, with their slightly experimental Black metal they were probably by far the biggest musical departure from the concept of the night, which was all about traditional Scandinavian Black metal. It seems skepticism toward Italian Black metal is still around, and to a certain extent it’s totally justified, but still, this time the crowd could have shown Eterna Scomunica a bit more love, since the guys put on a pretty decent show that, quality-wise, surprised no one, either for better or for worse.
After the Italians, the only Slovenes of the night took the stage, the by now well-known Somrak, who didn’t disappoint this time either. They played pretty classic black metal with all the tricks: blood on their faces, upside-down cross, gloomy dissonant guitars, tortured vocals. Somrak get better with every show, and I reckon they have the potential to become much better known abroad too, despite some fairly stereotypical black metal shtick.
Next up were Norway’s Celestial Bloodshed, who were also expected to deliver big time. I wasn’t all that impressed myself, and I have to admit Somrak sounded a lot more confident to me. The Norwegians didn’t stray from the black metal template either, but somehow I just didn’t feel that “real pain” like I did with Somrak.
Then came the night’s favorites for many, Finland’s Sargeist. With their epic music and stage show, Sargeist managed to convince most of the crowd that they’re “true” black metallers and that they’re rightfully treated as one of the best acts in the genre. Every now and then they wove some heavy metal into their dark, dissonant melodies, which undoubtedly livened up the set. They spiced up the show with their look too: everyone was dressed as some kind of anti-monks, or rather zombie monks. After the gig I heard a lot of negative words about Sargeist, but I can’t fault them for anything at all, apart from maybe a somewhat unlucky snapped string, which they surely can’t be blamed for themselves.
Closing the night were another Finnish band, Baptism. The singer appeared on stage in anti-monk garb similar to Sargeist’s frontman. And that wasn’t the only similarity. You can hear the typical Finnish school of black metal with occasional detours into more standard heavy metal melodies. Maybe some people find that misguided, but for me that’s exactly what makes it even more appealing.
The Scandinavian black metal mini festival was a complete success. We got to see typical black metal in action: blood paint, upside-down crosses, odes to Satan and everything else that goes with this kind of show. Black metal fans definitely got their money’s worth, and everyone probably took home something positive (or negative, as the case may be). Personally, my favorites were the “epic” Sargeist, but the contributions of Baptism, Somrak and Celestial Bloodshed shouldn’t be overlooked either. The Italians put on a good show too, and anyone who missed them (some probably because they figured the gig would start late) has reason to be sorry.
All in all, the bands played pretty typical black metal with very little deviation. Personally I prefer it when performers mix things up a bit more, but shows like this are good too, since they take you back to the roots of black metal. Hats off to the promoter for knowing how to bring the right bands to Slovenia, where even the opening acts (Eterna Scomunica and Somrak) delivered a good dose of quality music. I’m hoping for more events like this.
Text for Eterna Scomunica and photos: Matevž Ftičar
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