Live Reports

The haul from two and a half hours of aggressive yet melodic death metal: 31 songs played, both 1000th Millennium and Northland performed in full, a rich pick of the back catalog, and eight guests!

How high does Max's soul really fly, and how solid are Soulfly these days? Years are a bitch, there's no stamina left, and faded stars have to concede the win to young, stage-starved gladiators of a new era – the granite-solid alliance of…

No survivors in Beelzebub's land this time either. Manson's artistry is beyond dispute. Even after the eighth studio album and a fresh live experience in Padua, Italy, definitely not.

American indie rockers The War On Drugs delivered a heartfelt, confident and emotionally powerful show at Ljubljanski grad. Pure enjoyment was guaranteed.

Who would have thought at the start of the year that we were in for such a packed June? While one of the few Slovenes we can truly be proud of right now,

An energetic, primal concert built on tempo from French electronic sensation M83, who gave Zagreb and the wider region one of the shows of the year. Fresh and high-quality, a night of superlatives and maximum enjoyment.

After a quarter century of playing, Obituary are still raw, aggressive, crushing and uncompromising - and they're like the finest kind of slow-fermenting, genuine homemade "redneck" "moonshine" that scorches your throat and strips you down…

Ah, the end of the weekend. Sunday morning coffee goes down harder when the next one means a grim Monday at work. But this Sunday was different: the coffee went down easy, with heavy guitars and Mustaine's growl on the stereo to warm up for…

While the more mainstream-leaning metalheads were partying at Kino Šiška for the Megadeth show, those of us with blacker souls headed to Gromka on Sunday, June 3, for a doom feast served up by The Canyon Observer, Ophis, Esoteric and Ahab.…

Kyuss might still be alive, but with a dry, aging throat and, at least when it comes to that proper, grimy, desert stoner guitar tone and the riffs in the Kyuss songs, a touch of dementia. Yeah.

"We haven't hosted a package of bands this good in a long time. It's genuinely rare for every act to be excellent, from the first opener onward, which makes it all the sadder that there were barely more of us in Gala hala than members of…

As part of the traditional Majski koncert and Brucovanje (the May concert and freshers' party), Big Band Wonderbrass, BHC, The Dreams, Divje Jezero and the evening's headliners Dan D took the stage at the Grajski park in Gorenji Logatec.

Photo snapshots of the gig scene in Postojna on 05/26/2012, when Divlje Jagode, Mary Rose and Gringo! played Ambasada YU

Guitarist Slavko and bassist Marjan Lebar are two musicians whose names are well known on the Slovenian rock scene. Morning Fire is their new lineup, and together with drummer Miro Hodža (Rock N' Band), vocalist Jani Krmac (Vabe) and rhythm…

A quick photo report from a black metal event in Podrožica, in the Karst region

A brush with the blues, courtesy of the most soulful masters of the craft. Only with a lot more laid-back vibes than you'd expect!

In a good hour we got to hear a live rendition of the album "Beležnica", a polished gem added to an already rich, confidently standing and expressively vivid mosaic of the singer-songwriter pulse and heritage in Slovenia.

Location: Ljubljana / CUK Kino Šiška / SloveniaDate: Monday, 21.05.2012 Boštjan Narat is a poet, a musician, even a philosopher, known to everyone as the frontman and guitarist of Katalena and, now more than ever, a…

Boštjan Narat, poet, musician, even philosopher, known to everyone as the frontman and guitarist of Katalena and now, more than ever, a singer-songwriter too, premiered his new solo studio album "Konec sveta vedno pride nanapovedano" at CUK…

This time, in the spirit of the Canadian landing on Juno Beach in Normandy, 3 Inches of Blood (if I'm not mistaken, for the first time) stormed into Gala hala as headliners, bringing their brothers-in-arms Havok, Angelus Apatrida and…

High expectations met, big appetites sated. Despite the lack of big names, the eclectic experience of the second Kapa was flawless, and the winners of the night were more than we dared hope for ...

Just like every year, this year's Teden mladih in Kranj served up a night of metal in front of the legendary Down Town.

"Mr. Hammill, one of the greatest and most unique vocal authorities of the second half of the 20th century, showed up solo this time in the middle of Trieste's Teatro Miela."

Despite the bombastic visual effects, Metallica remains a minimalist concert machine at heart, one that tears down everything in its path in the spirit of defiance!

As always, one thing has stayed beyond dispute over the last few years: both Uriah Heep and Nazareth are one-of-a-kind live attractions. The surviving pioneers of rock n' roll blew people away once again with a pair of shows in Feldkirchen,…

With their body of work, Avtomobili prove they remain one of the most distinctive and recognizable bands of our time and place. They've developed a symbiotic blend of extraordinary perfection in delivering fully exploited soundscapes, along…

Master Hamilll completely blew us away once again, proving that he may be the only singer on the entire planet who can create such an intense atmosphere with nothing but the power of his voice that you don't miss a backing band even a…

Requiem return to the vineyards of the Primorska region!

Photo report from the concert by metal godfathers Judas Priest and classic hard rock standard-bearers Thin Lizzy, in Linz (Austria), on 05.05.2012

Another meeting with the band that long ago crowned itself the most influential heavy metal outfit in this solar system, another unforgettable experience – only Judas Priest can deliver that!

Heavy metalac to sam jaaaaaaaaa!!!

We got another reminder that Mr. Palmer hasn't lost a single step over the years when it comes to his theatrical dissection of the drum kit, with his young and much younger instrumental partners-in-crime giving him serious backup.

The explosion of The Help, a brand-new American-European project, in the temple of blues "Bluesiana" on Lake Wörthersee!

A nostalgic photo flashback from the Zagreb motorcycle fair on April 27, 2012, when Preki Sud, Divlje Jagode and Atomsko Sklonište took the stage

The pre-holiday mood had well and truly settled in, and our minds had already drifted off to gig mode. This time, back to Dvorana Golovec in Celje for the so-called Rock žur celjskih knezov.

A Free Form Funky Freqs show is musical hypnosis like no other. Guitar wizard Vernon Reid, virtuoso bassist Jamaaladeen Takuma and drumming jazz powerhouse Grant Calvin Weston! Nothing less than three total musical lunatics.

Australian band Sleepmakeswaves delivered a gig that was the real deal, the kind that makes you ask, and rightly so: "Is it even possible to make bad post rock?" A concert full of emotion and full, melodic sound!

Photo report from the gig with Mit, Last Day Here and Classified at the MC Jedro club in Medvode, April 21, 2012!

Yet another stunning concert manifesto from the state of Laibach on their new "We Came In Peace" tour, kicked off with a warm-up premiere screening of the film "Iron Sky" at Ljubljana's Kino Šiška.

Nikogaršnji rock'n'roll has clamped its claws down once again, holding Orto Bar in a grip of wild abandon for a good hour and a half.

Low Peak Charlie celebrated the first milestone of their career so far with a release party at the Channel Zero club in Ljubljana, dedicated to their debut "Kdo bo komu". There was no shortage of sheer joy over the sprawling scale of that…

With an energetic show full of ambient highs, mostly thanks to Petric's guitar wizardry, Moonlight Sky Trio once again proved they remain a one-of-a-kind musical phenomenon on the home scene.

Longtime friends and musical partners-in-crime David Knopfler and Harry Bogdanovs proved that a love of music runs through their veins. Even without the glare of the big media houses' flashbulbs, it was enough to serve the crowd a real…

Photo report from the Chaosstar, Last Day Here and Dead By Grace gig on 04/14/2012 (Mladinski center Zagorje ob Savi)!

Instrumental "tour de force" trio GHB played a gig at Orto bar that was tailor-made for every fan of names like Vai, Satriani and Gilbert!

How deep into the soul of a drowsy world can particles of juicy, in-your-face rawness penetrate? There have been plenty of failed attempts to fly to the stars with figs in your pockets, but Grrizli Madams never pretend and always serve up…

As part of this year's Orto Festival, Novogorica's own Avtomobili took the stage on Thursday, April 12. Another great chance for all the loyal fans of this truly legendary Slovenian band to enjoy the beats of their older hits, which are…

One of the rare shows by prog metallers Seventh Wonder in this part of Europe was the first of five dates on a mini Italian tour that, after Trieste, took in Turin, Parma, Milan and Rovigo.

At the battle for Stalingrad in Kempten, Germany, the legendary German metal cosmonauts Accept, the great lords of the Teutonic metal craft, proved once again that the inexhaustible potency of kids just starting out still flows through…

In bitterly cold weather, totally unfit for standing around outside clubs, Vulvathrone, Psychofagist and Fuck the Facts were getting ready in the guts of the venue. What all three bands have in common is unconventionality. To express their…

Photo report from the gig by Croatian rock legends Parni Valjak, on 06.04.2012, in Maribor (Tabor Hall)!

On Thursday, April 5, 2012, at the suggestion of our relentless RockLine photographer, I headed out for a night that was anything but typical for me. Umazani dihurji brought us an interesting mix of bands, headlined by A Wilhelm Scream!

It hadn't even been a year, and the king of fusion blues, Philip Sayce, was back at the temple of blues in our neighbor to the north. No way were we going to miss another chance to see the guitar master live.

Four bands, four great sets, and fresh proof that metal gourmets haven't forgotten the melodic, hard-hitting legacy of heavy metal.

"Sarcasm-ing" to mark 25 years of Slovenian speed/thrash metal legends Sarcasm in Medvode! A great show in front of a nearly empty venue!

A top-notch show in every way from Croatian masters of music and stage spectacle. Everything was just right: older hits and newer tracks, ballads and livelier songs. Definitely a band worth catching live more than once. The next chance…

A solid two-hour set spanning decades of Benč's favorites was tailor-made for everyone who isn't too keen on the anomaly that is the modern rock circus.

After four years of anticipation, fear, uncertainty and hellish effort, the calm is finally here – the Styrian quintet Inmate have, in the style of true perfectionists, given birth to their firstborn, given it a fitting name and thrown a…

On one of their rare European visits this year, Beckley and Bunnell and company proved with feather-light ease that even after 42 years of defiance, they've kept all the elegance of an infectious charisma and the unmistakable contours of…

This double bill of Italian symphonic prog rock masters spoiled us for almost four hours and, for a little while, whisked us back to some 'long' bygone, romantic era.

Despite their venerable age in music years, three decades on their seen-it-all shoulders and a run of ten anything-but-ordinary albums, they keep coming back – like a nasty case of herpes you never get rid of.

"A nice experience, a decent performance, a decent show, great, almost fanatical atmosphere. That makes up for it. Above all, everyone who had never seen Bayley on stage got their money's worth, as did everyone who missed Iron Maiden at a…

Photo report from the gig with Slovenian bands Dandelion Chidlren, After Burn and Aliens on 03/22/2012 in Tržič (Biljardnica), as part of the "Naj Kugla 2012" contest!

In February, Origin and Psycroptic played Gala hala. After that gig I figured I wouldn't see a better tech death package for a long while. Then Obscura, Spawn of Possession, Gorod and Exivious announced a tour.

The night with L.A. Guns beat expectations (admittedly not high ones) and, for a moment at least, brought to this sleepy corner of the world the spirit of the Sunset Strip, something Slovenia is chronically short on.

Cranky, motor-mouthed uncle Blaze Bayley dropped in on the Croatian capital, drove 250 fervent Iron Maiden fans wild and presented his new studio album "The King Of Metal" (2102)!

"Almost two hours of wandering through their set convinced me once again that Mary Rose are one of a kind on the Slovenian hard rock map"

Another concert spell from this one-of-a-kind guitarist and vocalist! This time he's presenting his new album "24 Hours" at Teatro Miela in Trieste! Richie Kotzen keeps all the trademarks of outstanding stage authenticity, spontaneity and…

Blaze Bayley wanted to storm the Gala hala as the King of Metal, but he only made it to the first step of the throne.

"I never thought anything could surprise me after Cynic, Atheist and Pestilence played here. And then they casually announce that Fates Warning are coming to Orto bar"

A good hour and a half of cruising through the career of a charismatic frontman warmed Pekarna up to working temperature, but it's worrying that Bayley's curve started bending downward in 2012.

Roger Daltrey has proven that after all these decades he's still one of the top masters of his trade and one of the few still unbending authorities of rock's golden era, someone who knows how to serve up good rock to an always hungry crowd.

I don't know why Mark Knopfler refuses to give us Dire Straits back, but if it never happens, generations of music fans are officially off the hook from the grueling hunt for a proper live execution of Dire Straits' music. The Straits are…

Anyone going to a Kotzen show always gets what they pay for: a musically flawless gig. Still, there was a bitter aftertaste in realizing that Kotzen has become an industry.

The traditional Saturday metal nights at the Fabrka club, just a stone's throw from the center of Ljubljana, in the shadow of Ljubljana Castle, gave way to live music this time around. Ahead of the release of the long-awaited follow-up…

Photo report from the gig by Slovenian thrash metal veterans Sarcasm, on March 16, 2012, in Kamnik (Kotlovnica club)! Armaroth and Desc handled the opening duties as support acts, giving the crowd a nice warm-up scratch behind the ears.

For the last stop of their tour, Irish post-rockers God is an Astronaut played Kino Šiška again on Friday, March 16, after a gap of just under a year. I'd gone to their show last April too. Back then they were a complete unknown to me, and…

Fates Warning, the fathers of progressive metal, played Slovenia for the first time. Even big names like Mike Portnoy (who said in one interview that Dream Theater get wrongly credited as the fathers of the genre, when it's really Fates…

According to some opinion polls, Swedes are the best-looking men in the world. Thursday's gig with two bands from that Scandinavian country not only confirmed that for me, it also showed that they clearly have massive personal reserves of…

A package of three metal bands from different corners was tailor-made for fans of the more extreme side of metal.

All Tomorrow's Parties is more than it promises. It's not just a peek at some musician's taste in music, movies and books. It's their permission to step into their world, their mind and their heart. It's a musician sharing all their…

Two dozen enthusiastic fans of both bands who made the trip from Slovenia to Treviso for this show are an appeal in themselves to Slovenian local promoters: next time, finally bring a similar band (Crashdiet, Sister Sin, Crazy Lixx,...) to…

The first rays of spring sunshine coaxed one of the greatest legends of Slovenian rock out into the open: Avtomobili from Nova Gorica, who this time pulled over in Krško.

A packed Menza pri Koritu witnessed a dazzling show from Muškat Hamburg, who stepped into a new era transformed and further cemented their status as one of Slovenia's best rock'n'roll acts.

An hour and 20 minutes on the road with a blues legend, whose battered form meant it didn't quite deliver those euphoric moments that only live shows can conjure up. Still, meeting a master of musical interpretation, given his reputation…

On the seventh day God finished the work he had done, and on the seventh day Satan got his turf ready. And while God rested, Satan created death metal, and he rested on the seventh day from all the hell-raising he'd done.

With a gig in their hometown of Postojna, Requiem opened a new chapter in their story.

Location: Pordenone / Palasport Forum / ItalyDate: Monday, February 20, 2012 The decision to go to this gig was a no-brainer, light as powder snow. Seeing the champions of technical prog metal again is always a thrill, especially…

Dream Theater are a complexly compact but far from soulless machine, striding confidently into a new decade of musical life. The show on the stage of the Pordenone arena was the perfect proof of that.

After a break of a good month, the members of the MC Krško metal section were putting on a metal gig again. This time the club stage went to local boys Embrace of the violent, with Vigilance from Postojna and Zagreb's Eat your brains…

The Full Of Hate festival metal caravan has been rolling through Europe these past few days. The name bugs the writer of this review quite a bit, since it conjures up all kinds of negative stuff, but luckily the bands hiding behind the…

Author: Rok KlemšePhotos: Aleš Podbrežnik Location: Kranj / Transtation Squat / SloveniaConcert date: 17.02.2012Attendance: 200Ticket price: €4.00 Last Saturday, one of the busiest figures on the Slovenian metal scene, Boštjan…

Author: Aleš PodbrežnikPhotos: Aleš Podbrežnik Venue: Boćarski dom / Zagreb / CroatiaConcert date: 02/15/2012Attendance: 2500Ticket price: 270.00 HRK (standing) / 290.00 HRK (seated) Christopher Anton Rea, known to everyone (in short) as…

Location: Ljubljana / Orto bar / SloveniaConcert date: February 12, 2012Attendance: 40Ticket price: €15.00 (presale) / €18.00 (day of show) Five people outside the venue at the hour the show was supposed to start didn't exactly promise…

Author: Urban Bolta Location: Etnoblog / Trieste / ItalyConcert date: 07.02.2012Attendance: 160Ticket price: 12€ / 15€ Two years have rolled around, which for American hard rockers House Of Lords usually means another turn of the…

Author: Rok Klemše Location: Gala hala, LjubljanaConcert date: 05.02.2012Attendance: 100 The year has turned and a new club concert season is underway. Its metal chapter kicked off at Gala hala with a stop on the Occupy Europe 2012…

Author: Peter PodbrežnikPhotos: Aleš Podbrežnik Location: Vienna / Reigen / AustriaConcert date: 04.02.2012Attendance: 300Ticket price: €29.00 Wisbone Ash, masters of dual guitar harmonies, with a subtle feel for the epic and…

Author: Urban Bolta Location: MC Jedro / MedvodeConcert date: 02/03/2012Attendance: 120Ticket price: 5€ Last Saturday, the Medvode club Jedro came alive again. It hosted the third edition of the Lipstikk N Leathür festival, which has…

Author: Rok KlemšePhotos: Aleš Podbrežnik Venue: Kino Šiška / Ljubljana / SloveniaConcert date: 02.02.2012Attendance: 500Ticket price: €0.00 (free entry!) Dirty Skunks, the most active home-grown concert promoters around, just blew out…

We finally got it! That Sunday, Boston's Dropkick Murphys, one of the leading lights of Irish-style punk rock, kicked off a new boozy battle march with their first show at Zagreb's Tvornica Kulture.