Author: Urban Bolta
Location: Rock Cafe / Prague / Czech Republic
Concert date: 15.04.2011
Attendance: 0
Ticket price: 19€
Two death metal icons from opposite ends of the world joined forces to show us their own take on death. Before them, California death/grinders Pathology took on the job of warming up the crowd. At first the early start time was noticeable, but the sound, which was top-notch, pulled the crowd into the front rows. The songs, sadly, were as alike as two peas in a pod.
Grave, a band we last caught at Gala Hala this past November, brought the sound of old-school Swedish death metal from their latest record “Burial Ground”, plus a proper stage entrance, and played an excellent batch of songs. That included classics from the first two albums like Extremely Rotten Flesh, Day of Mourning and You’ll Never See, which woke up everyone in the hall. Lindgren’s relaxed vibe clicked with the crowd, and drummer Bergerståhl, on top of a great performance, threw in some nice fills. Bassist Tobias Christiansson and guest guitarist Mika Lagrén locked in nicely, swapping spots on stage and getting the first few rows (and a few more behind them) properly headbanging. The new songs, like Liberation, really brought out the contrast between the faster and slower passages live, and the cherry on top was Into the Grave, which wrapped up a fantastic show from a relatively short set.
The evening’s headliners Obituary age like wine and get better year after year. Their set was so packed with energy that it literally ripped the strings off Terry Butler’s bass and knocked out a guitar. We loved the slower grooves of Dying, then On the Floor and List of Dead cranked the tempo back up. John and Donald Tardy are in their element every minute of the show and stay connected with the crowd the whole time. Donald sat behind the drums, from which a hellish rhythm poured out, yet still so tight and inventive, which is his trademark style. John melted into one with the audience, and his death metal screams drowned out every voice in the crowd. To close, they served up Give Blood, Threatening Skies, By the Light, Chopped in Half and Evil Ways. Right before the end, Obituary even had to stop the show because of Peres’s guitar trouble. Luckily Ralph Santolla took the initiative and kept the crowd busy with solos, then Donald stepped in with an incredible drum solo, but sadly the technical problems with the guitar couldn’t be fixed in the meantime. In the middle of the last track, Slowly We Rot, Peres’s guitar went completely dead, but that didn’t change the fact that the gig was perfect.
The Prague show was phenomenal in every way. The bands’ professionalism really shone through, and the guitar tech did their part too.
Photos: Tina Gačnik
Setlist
OBITUARY: 1. Internal Bleeding 2. On the Floor 3. Chopped/Turned 4. Dying 5. The End Complete 6. Threatening Skies 7. Forces Realign 8. List of Dead 9. Blood to Give 10. Contrast the Dead ————— 11. Redneck 12. Slow Death 13. Evil Ways 14. Slowly We Rot
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