Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Venue: KUD France Prešeren, Ljubljana
Concert date: December 25, 2009
Attendance: 200
The year has turned, which means it’s time for a merry December and with it the third Heavy New Year in a row! This time seven bands tore through KUD France Prešeren, and what they served up is revealed in the lines below.
Thanks to the December feasting, we sadly missed the newcomers on the local metal scene, Perforated, but judging by the very positive words from Heavy New Year regulars about their first gig, they’re a must-catch on stage in the future. After Perforated, the stage went to the devilish cats, Hellcats, the only all-female heavy metal/hard rock band in Slovenia. The band, led by sisters Saša and Sonja, has been through umpteen lineup changes in its career, but the girls are persistent and are confidently carrying on along their chosen path. On the KUD stage we got a rejuvenated, refreshed lineup, with Katja on guitar and Valentina on vocals. The girls played songs from their upcoming record and a few covers. Hellcats definitely deserve praise for their perseverance. Even “regular” all-male metal bands here have trouble finding new members, and finding women is probably that much harder. But since we’re on the subject of emancipation: it would be better for Hellcats to lock themselves in the garage for a while longer and polish their playing to perfection. The rhythm section is totally confident on stage, but the drum fills and bass lines are thoroughly average and hard-rock-simple to the point where they get monotonous and boring after a while. Katja on guitar is the strongest instrumental part, surprising with nicely played solos and confident riffing, but unfortunately Hellcats’ weakest side lies precisely in the vocals. Despite all the energy and crowd interaction Valentina brings, the vocal performance is, to put it mildly, dreadful. It shows most in the covers, especially the badly butchered Warlock classic I Rule the Ruins, and the originals aren’t exactly dazzling either. Hellcats are definitely on the right track, but for a better feel they’ll need some more gig mileage and, above all, a lot of work on the vocals.
Then we swam into rougher waters with the metalheads from Rečšica, The Scourge. Well, actually we got thrown into the wild rapids of dynamic, varied death/thrash metal. The guys stepped on the gas without mercy and took us through the crushers from the excellent demo From the Ashes. Tight and confident, they spun KUD into the first moshing of the night, and it was nice to rest your eyes and ears on the incredible guitar wizardry of the Matjaž/Primož duo, before a stormy burst of faster, more dynamic parts forces you into a proper neck workout. Matjaž and Jernej keep doing a great job on vocals, bringing two quite different approaches that add even more variety to the songs. The Scourge are without a doubt better at every gig, and it was great to see and hear them again after a longer break.
The camel lovers Gonoba carried on in a similar style of angry death/thrash metal. The guys are still presenting their fantastic debut Chains of Ignorance, and you can tell they’re more active live again. On stage they’re a breathtakingly tight unit, whether it’s the inventive riffs and spectacular soloing of the Mitja/Grega duo, the thoughtful drumming full of colorful fills and the destructive power of a minor earthquake, or the fantastic bass playing of Brane “DiGiorgio” Tkalec, which has you picking your jaw up off the floor. Even though this was only Grega Kamenšek’s second gig with the band, he proved he’s without a doubt one of Slovenia’s best guitarists, playing the demanding guitar lines with pinpoint accuracy. After all, he already showed his mastery in Crossbreed, and I hope his playing comes through even more on future recordings, once he adds his own treasure trove of ideas. Hopsy, luckily, didn’t go for the drunken frontman approach this time, and did a much better job on vocals because of it. He gets better and better at the growling parts, staying clear and understandable despite the aggression, and he often spices the songs up further with an evil, angry thrash vocal that fits them like a glove. With unbeatable stage energy, Gonoba proved that Chains of Ignorance sounds even better live, and put the cherry on top with a fantastically executed take on the Exodus crusher War is My Shepherd. “Worship the Camel!”
The stage was then taken over by the old tomcats of the Slovenian metal scene, Interceptor, who greeted us right off the bat with a song that suggests the new, still-in-the-making record might even top their older work, Homo Stupidus. The classics Puške namesto kruha, Blato and others later on were obviously unavoidable, as was the obligatory Sepultura classic Inner Self. It comes off great every time, but if they have to play covers despite their rich body of original work, I’d still love for Interceptor to surprise us with a new cover in the future. If memory serves, Čuli promised Angel of Death somewhere around the reunion tour… For the second time in a row the guys introduced another new song, Religija, which sounds pleasantly old-school with a dash of German thrash aggression and, like Homo Stupidus, raises high expectations for the new record. There was no escaping the stage antics of the Master of Destruction this time either, and this time a pillar of KUD took the hit. Yum! Fearing the rest of the band might get it too, they chased Čulko off the stage and, under the vocal lead of guitarist Simon Cukjati, closed the gig with the Anthrax (Joe Jackson) classic Got the Time.
Next up on stage were the first and only foreign band, Austria’s Bloodfeast. The guys delivered three quarters of an hour of solid black/death metal that strongly recalls the Polish giants Behemoth, though there was also some elaborate and at times original riffing. They disappointed a bit with a look that suspiciously resembled none other than Behemoth again, from the make-up to the leather pants and skirts. And of course a Behemoth cover followed, Conquer All. Bloodfeast did their job solidly, but they remind you far too much of Behemoth.
After the Austrian Behemoth clone, the stage went back to a homegrown metal force, the eagerly awaited Aeonic. This was supposed to be their last show with drummer Garghuf (ex-Gorgoroth, Dekadent, Enthroned), but sadly things apparently didn’t go to plan, and Aeonic played with a drum machine. Kudos to them for not canceling and for having the guts to play without a live drummer. A computer, or rather fake drums, can cause big problems, and while it didn’t exactly conspire against the band and shut them down HAL-style (2001: A Space Odyssey), it caused the guys visible trouble. There were quite a few misses and some fumbling, but luckily the band pulled themselves together a bit toward the end and got through it reasonably confidently. The long-awaited Aeonic show sadly ended up with a slightly bitter aftertaste. The band visibly didn’t feel good on stage, and that’s probably also why the performance was rather static and without real energy. I hope Aeonic find the right drummer soon and show themselves in a better light live too. The songs, despite the weaker delivery, promise a lot and tear it up!
Heavy New Year III was closed out by Keller with a whirlwind of German-flavored thrash metal. With their upcoming album in mind, they uncompromisingly and mercilessly dropped KUD into the middle of a minefield, deliberately stepped on one of the mines and set off a chain reaction of a thousand riffs, crazy solos and a killer rhythm section. Even though Keller have played a ton lately, maybe almost too much for the small Slovenian metal crowd, the moment they step on stage you forget you may have seen them a day or two before. The songs from the demo still crack your skull for fun, and the new songs herald one of the better Slovenian metal records. Keller command!
Heavy New Year has become, and remains, a pleasant metal Christmas and New Year tradition. There’s probably no gig for miles around that treats metalheads so nicely with its atmosphere, food, excellent organization and good bands. This time there may have been just a smidge too many bands, since listening attentively to seven bands in one night is quite a mouthful. And to finish, of course: see you at Heavy New Year IV!
Photos: Nina Grad
Setlist
GONOBA: 1. Violent Solutions 2. Constucting Deconstruction 3. The Fall of Mankind 4. Procreation 5. War is My Shepherd 6. Chains of Ignorance 7. In Vain INTERCEPTOR: 1. Homo Stupidus 2. Puške namesto kruha 3. Blato 4. Inner Self 5. Religija 6. Revive 7. Blame 8. Fade 9. Zadnja žrtev 10. Got the Time BLOODFEAST: 1. Ransom? 2. Diagnosis: Insane 3. March Into the Twilight 4. Shit-zophrenic 5. Stop to Rot 6. Infernal Kingdom 7. Conquer All 8. Jason 9. Souvenirs AEONIC: 1. Daemonion 2. Dehumanized 3. Synthesis 4. Hephaestus 5. Blasphemy & Gulit
Photo Gallery
