Headbanging KUD #2 (2009)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Rok Klemše

Venue: KUD France Prešeren, Ljubljana
Concert date: 24.04.2009
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: €12/€14/€16

Beautiful sunny Saturday weather, with spring finally here, is tailor-made for a family picnic, a day trip, pulling weeds in the flowerbeds, tidying up the little garden… Well, let’s leave that idyllic stuff to the American “white picket fence” dream, because in Trnovo the second Headbanging KUD in a row was waiting for us. That Saturday afternoon Ljubljana was wrapped in a truly idyllic quiet, as if half the city had already run off to the seaside, and in front of KUD that quiet was just the calm before the storm. HBK #2 served up a hefty helping of no fewer than seven local bands, plus a surprise. The surprise came courtesy of Cold Dew, the only death/doom outfit on the local scene, while One Out of Hell were supposed to give our necks a bit of a breather, but sadly they dropped out this time.

First to hit the KUD stage were the Vikings from Brežice, Asgard, who sailed in down the Sava on their longships. The Brežice melodic death metallers have only just started their “rape and pillage” warm-up tour of Slovenian stages, but they were a pretty nice surprise. The guys are already well rehearsed, and confident and energetic onstage. You can tell they’re happy just to have the chance to be up there, and they nail the job too. Every member has a self-assured, punchy approach, frontman Luka Žnideršič does his duty with the banter between songs, while between songs the four-piece aggressively and mercilessly bash away with Thor’s hammer. I don’t know where this obsession with Vikings comes from, and consequently the obligatory performance of the anthem Death in Fire by Sweden’s Amon Amarth, but the guys are still young and will surely shake off the (too) obvious influences. “Go, go Hairy Vikings!”

From Carinthia, a part of Slovenia that has already given birth to a nice number of excellent local metal bands (Xenophobia, Funeral March, Wartune, Thraw, …), the black metallers Dalkhu rolled up next. The band had a lot of lineup trouble for a while, but it has finally settled, and they’re deep into recording their debut, which will be called Imperator. In a good half hour Dalkhu gave us a lesson in “pre-Cambrian” old-school black metal, and if I had to find a comparison I could draw a parallel with, say, Darkthrone. But what sets Dalkhu apart above all is great songs that are dynamic and varied, with structures and arrangements that are often unusual for black metal. Dalkhu are only just building up their live mileage again, and it still shows in their stage show, since the members are mostly static, but luckily they make up for it with excellent tightness, whether it’s evil riffs, machine-gun drumming or wicked vocals. Imperator is coming…

From the eastern end of the country, the Prekmurje porn/grinders Vulvathrone took the stage by force. This time in a new lineup, without the piglets and Ančka. But all the more brutal and aggressive for it. Vulvathrone were the first of the night to properly shake KUD’s foundations and even got the crowd to a small mosh. The triple vocals kill like an S&M orgy, Saša Herman’s guitar keeps buzzing like a merciless swarm of bees, Ozy sodomizes the strings of the mostly inaudible bass with surgical precision, and the drumming remains “domination 101.” Live, the songs are a murderous combination of grindcore ruthlessness and a deranged obsession with everything to do with pornography. Vulvathrone, so we’re waiting for a new porn compilation, and until then: “Bitch’s suck Vulvathrone’s tich’s!”

The growling and chopping was carried on by the Upper Carniola death metal beast Penitenziagite. A no-compromise, energetic, punchy approach! Played in full, their recently recorded demo The New Evolution offers fantastic, epic death metal with crushing drumming, dynamic bass lines, varied and colorful riffs and wild solos. And when Demshy opens his mouth live and out comes a superb growl in the style of the growlers in the vein of Vomitory or Incantation, that’s more than proof that Penitenziagite (even if hardly anyone can say the name without tripping over their tongue) are the real death metal deal and, alongside Mordenom and Scaffold, probably the best death metal band in the country right now. Live, Penitenziagite are epic, crushing and apocalyptic, and I hope we get a lot more gigs from this excellent band in the future. Time for a new evolution!

After a good dose of growling, blast beats, morbid lines and apocalyptic riffs, it was time for something for the gentler metal souls, as the glam rockers Cyclone took the stage. The girl and the guys have been diligently racking up stage mileage lately, and it really shows in their performance. The band is much tighter, and, hand on heart, their weak showings at the last two Metal Manias are now only a faint memory. The original songs sound fresh and kick-ass, just the way glam is supposed to sound, and the energy onstage is clearly noticeable. The solos and riffs are played precisely, the keyboards are a nice addition, and the only thing to hold against them is perhaps a bit of stiffness, which bassist Šujo mostly fixes on his own. The vocalist has made huge progress, and he also did great in a solid rendition of the Iced Earth ballad Watching Over Me. In an excellently played Saxon classic, Princess of the Night, keyboardist Anja joined Anže in a confident duet, and the band then served up the Bon Jovi hit Livin’ on a Prayer as well. Cyclone prove that they’ve learned a lot from their mistakes and have clear goals, and, most importantly, the girl and the guys are getting better!

The night was closed by the Kranj black metallers Morana, who are also still building up their live mileage. Right from the start the stage design looked pretty promising, with the band’s logo and a huge scythe with a skull at the bottom set up by the mic. Unfortunately, from a sound standpoint at least, Morana’s set was a real disaster. The screeching, the whistling, the barely audible guitars and the pretty poorly mixed vocals sadly made Morana the worst performance of the night. A real shame, because the original material is seriously promising, and varied and interesting enough in arrangements and structure. Sadly, the In Flames crusher Episode 666 and a good number of really promising songs also came off badly. But I hope we’ll get the chance to hear Morana in a much better light, which is what good original material deserves. The riffs are dynamic, the rhythm section crushing, the keyboards spice everything up nicely, and the vocals are raw and aggressive; the only thing left to work on is the announcements between songs, which are still (charmingly) confused and shy.

To draw the line, then, the second Headbanging KUD was a real concert marathon. The organizers deserve all the praise for a well-run night, for trying to bring KUD France Prešeren back to life, and last but not least for giving quality local metal bands a big chance to show what they’ve got. Sadly, this time we didn’t see the hall sell out like at Heavy New Year 2, but the glut of gigs lately just takes its toll. See you at Heavy New Year 3 and Headbanging KUD 3!

Photos: Nina Grad