Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: Trainstation Squot, Kranj
Gig date: 11.11.2011
Attendance: 0
Kranj has always been a refuge and sanctuary for metal gigs that will forever stay in our fond memories. One of the biggest hubs was the legendary Bazen, but since the new city administration wasn’t exactly friendly toward underground and metal activity, it shut its doors way too early. Kranj’s tireless alternative scene refused to be stopped and moved the action across the river to Subart. That one didn’t last long either, but the stubbornness of the Kranj scene proves itself once again in a new gig spot, a squat at the train station. The players of the Kranj alternative scene, thank Satan, didn’t give up and turned the inside of a neglected wooden shack (the former best neighbor) into a cozy hall with a big stage, a bar and everything that goes with it. Trainstation Squat had its metal baptism with the Dancing On Your Grave fest, which featured four bands.
First onto the stage, fashionably late (because it’s metal, who gives a fuck about the clock), came the Ljubljana trio Hellsword, who recently put out a demo born in Hell and sold it out in a few days. Musically, Hellsword walk in the footsteps of speed/black metal pioneers Bathory, Celtic Frost, Venom, Sodom and Destruction, which isn’t necessarily the most original thing ever, but it’s damn nice to have a band in Slovenia that doesn’t overcomplicate things and probably sacrifices a virgin or two before every show. Hellsword are total “old-school worship”, meaning they spew out a demonic mix of black and speed metal: straight-to-the-point oompah-oompah drumming, perversely blasphemous riffs and solos, a metallic, rattling bass (with really colorful and varied lines) and the devilish vocals of Mike Manslaughter. The hellish sword hacked off heads without mercy, and they rolled around under the stage, and the trio was helped by great, just-loud-enough sound. The killer banter between songs and nicely chosen covers (Bathory, Celtic Frost) were just the goat on the pentagram of an excellent performance.
Then we sailed into more “complicated” waters with Nature, a Kranj-Carinthia crew playing excellent technical death metal in the style of genre giants like Death. The guys impressed most of all with a fierce, committed performance full of headbanging, and they can boast even more about really good material, marked by elaborate and complex guitar lines full of excursions up and down the fretboard, varied drumming and even more breathtaking bass lines from Tilen DiHudrap, which should have been mixed even louder. One more plus is the nicely placed “ambient” passages, which don’t break up the songs but tie them together effectively and give them a sense of transcendence. The great performance was backed up by a brilliantly played Death classic, The Philosopher, with 14-year-old guitar wizard Otmar (great to see these guys raising the youth in the spirit of death metal and not recorders and similar crap that dominates among today’s metal kids!). Only Frogi’s vocals didn’t fit the cover as well as they do the original material. Lack of Comprehension with improvised vocals didn’t come off quite as well, but Nature are definitely a band that all of us tech-death fans can count on. We’re waiting for the album!
The Slovenian-Italian crew Slavocracy, risen from the ashes of Entreat, hit us over the head again more directly, with an incredible shot of Swedish-style thrash/death metal, and with a dash of hardcore parts the band came off even more dynamic and varied. The guys are technically superbly equipped, and the rhythm section especially wrecked everything with its colorful, cannon-like drumming. The guitar parts are full of aggression too, reminiscent of the likes of At the Gates, since Slavocracy know nothing of the soft, girly parts of modern-day “death metal” bands. Maybe in places there’s a second guitar missing that could join in on the double passages, but the dynamic bass successfully covers the “gap” left by the second guitar. Vocalist Kado seasoned the whole thing nicely with animalistic growls and charming banter along the lines of “Where are the paws” and “Kranj sweethearts.” Aww, you teddy bear. The guys had just warmed up their necks nicely when the police cut the fun short, supposedly because of a neighbor’s complaint. Apparently the equally loud Balkan party across the street wasn’t bothering anyone… Anyway, while the continuation of the gig was being negotiated, the crowd was entertained by Kranj’s own Marko Brecelj, Slavko, and after a good half hour the gig luckily got going again. Slavocracy wrapped it up in victorious style, and I really don’t know why a band with so much truly quality original material still hasn’t recorded an album!?
The dance on the graves ended with a performance by the Ljubljana black metal band Dekadent, who finally played here again after the release of the album Venera: Trial & Tribulation. Dekadent are returning to live stages after yet another lineup change, and they recently played a gig in Berlin too. Led by the band’s mastermind Artur Felicijan, the guys welcomed us into the world of Dekadent with the first song, the unforgettable Dissident Dream from the debut (after that, Dekadent strung together a nice selection of songs from all three albums), a world ruled by relentless brutality on one side and endless beauty on the other. It surprises me again and again how well Dekadent manage to unite these two seemingly incompatible worlds, but the combination of brutal rhythms, fierce tremolo riffing and blast beats with gorgeous ethereal solos works time and time again. This time the experience was spoiled at the start by bad sound, though it gradually improved, but sadly Artur had big trouble with the epic clean vocals, which were done much better in the past. Maybe the revamped band still lacks some shared mileage, but Dekadent’s gorgeous brutality still draws me in just like it did when I first heard Manifestation of Seasonal Bleeding.
The first Dancing on Your Grave fest was a success in every way. Turnout was great, the crowd’s response matched the quality of the bands, and Trainstation Squat proved itself as a gig space that I hope will host many more dances on graves (and other music events) in the future. Preferably without police nagging.
Photos: Nina Grad
Photo gallery
