Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: Gala hala, Ljubljana
Concert date: 08.04.2009
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €6/€9
Nietzsche said, “What does not kill me makes me stronger!” and while you can slap that on countless situations, it fits the Kamnik alter metal outfit Corkscrew like a glove. The band got going somewhere around the turn of the millennium, and in those good ten years they’ve had their fair share of ups and downs, from endless lineup changes and a band name switch to several breakups and fresh starts. The dream, of course, was a proper record, and Corkscrew have finally pulled it off. Their debut …Too Be Continued (Best Off) saw the light of day with the April issue of the music monthly RSQ, and the guys gave it its baptism at the album release party on 9.4.2009 at Gala hala in Metelkova.
On a warm Thursday evening a decent crowd had already gathered in Metelkova, and as usual most of them were still boozing outside, enjoying one kind of sage roll or another. The show was announced for ten o’clock, but it got pushed back half an hour, when the scene’s comebackers, Kranj’s God Scard, took the stage in front of an already nicely packed Gala hala. The Kranj outfit broke onto the scene with their debut …And We Could Have it All…, released in 2005 on Chill Pill 99. On the album, God Scard pretty successfully blended thrash metal with influences from the newer, more modern school of metal and added a contagious dose of groove. Live, the guys were a whole different story, mostly because of frontman Nicky, who was usually so hammered that he slurred and mumbled his way through most gigs, not to mention his famous “fuck”, “shit”, “bitch”, “whore” banter between songs. But after a few years of silence, interrupted only by a handful of rare shows, God Scard showed up at Gala in a completely new light. They opened the good half-hour set with the hit To Have it All, whose video got plenty of airtime on TV stations, and Nicky showed off a much improved voice: more intelligible, brutal and sharp in the growl parts, clear and melancholic in the clean ones. The guitar duo of Nicky and Sale trade off a bunch of colorful riffs and catchy grooves, while the rhythm section of Gaps and Andy flattens everything in front of them, not to mention Andy’s constant headbanging. The new songs, which will land on the long-awaited follow-up to the debut, sound extremely promising, and the classic God Scard Depeche Mode cover, this time It’s No Good, turned out fantastic.
After a solid fifteen-minute break, it was go time! The Corkscrewmusic sign lit up on stage, the lights went out and came back on in an ominous blue glow, and the opening track Mortal thundered out of the speakers. Then Corkscrew stormed the stage in a low-crouch assault: Rok “roCKson” Soczka-Mandac (guitar), Žiga “Skinner” Kožar (drums) and Andraž “Stockson” Kožar (bass), plus, last but not least, Jaka Burger (vocals), who came running out in the sexiest getup imaginable, a Roman toga. Within the first few seconds Burger proved that the Slovenian scene doesn’t have a wilder frontman. Next to his stage antics, even the Master of Disaster himself, Gregor Čulk (Interceptor), or the chirping nightingale Murko would hide like scared kittens. Burger is one of those frontmen you either love or hate, there’s no middle ground… and it gets even better when Burger drops the toga and shows off his backside and the rest of the family jewels in all their glory. Yep, either you’re rolling on the floor with stomach cramps from his stage exploits, or his bare ass haunts you in your nightmares, hehe. But Burger is no mere stage provocation, clown or showman, and he proves it with an excellent voice that shines in the melodic, clean parts reminiscent of some “NWOAHM” bands, in inhuman (= animal) screaming and in brutal growling. And the instrumental trio isn’t scared of Burger’s outbursts one bit! The Kožar brothers are right now surely one of the best rhythm sections around, a pure sonic assault on your eardrums and the rest of your ear parts, whether it’s the seriously dynamic, lively drumming full of colorful fills, cymbal work and double kick, or the insane bass playing full of tricks like slapping and tapping, which carries the phenomenal groove. Rok on guitar is a nice counterweight to the crushing power of the rhythm section, and despite the lower-tuned guitar he delivers a good dose of catchy lines and riffs, plus the occasional really nice solo that makes the music even more interesting. The sum of it all is concrete musical chaos that is somehow also orderly, with roughly the same effect as drilling a hole in your head with a corkscrew, pouring a generous amount of alcoholic concoctions into it, giving it a good shake, sticking in a straw (and of course a little umbrella for decoration) and downing the whole thing in one go. A Corkscrew cocktail? Oh, yes! On the album the foursome host a whole range of guests, and a few of them joined the band on stage too. Ejaq (Almost Rage) tore through three songs with Burger, then made room for Murat’s beatboxing, who stepped aside for Sherot’s (Leaf Fat) screaming, and Nicky from God Scard wrapped up the guest spots. And every single one of them got pleasantly abused by none other than Burger.
Corkscrew nailed their album release! The band is tight, precise and interesting, and they proved it despite a few technical hiccups and minor slip-ups. The rhythm section is bombastic, the guitar colorful, the vocals excellent, and the frontman completely wild and off the leash. Even though Corkscrew lean closest to a “nu metal”-ish genre that burned itself out long ago, they bring plenty of fresh ideas and are a brilliant band compared to the garbage the American scene has churned out. Catch them at one of their upcoming shows! Corkscrew, welcome back!
Photos: Nina Grad
Setlist
God Scard: 1.To Have It All 2.Breaking My Heart 3.Q-Mark 4.Modern Democracy 5.It’s No Good 6.Would That I Could 7.Jesus Christ 8.Hard Times Corkscrew: 1.OP 2.Insane 3.Closer 4.Come Into Me 5.Empty 6.One Fit 7.Friendly Fire 8.Immortal 9.Y 10.Will To Live 11.Sakič 12.Zajebani
Photo gallery
