Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Venue: MC Jedro / Medvode
Concert date: 28.09.2018
If there’s one good thing about the end of summer, it’s knowing that autumn kicks off the club gig season. And it’s going to be a packed one through to the end of the year, with a whole sea of shows already announced. Last Friday, the traditional Metal med vodami went down at Jedro in Medvode, warming things up with three local bands.
First up, after the obligatory fifteen minutes of academic delay, were SkyEye, the big hope of Slovenian heavy metal, who live up to that hype with every show they play. The space in front of the stage filled up with the very first track. In a relatively short time the band has won over a devoted following, and they cheered the guys on feverishly again this time. SkyEye have been diligently racking up live mileage over the past few months and it really shows. The band is far tighter now, especially in the Stalowsky/Kavčnik guitar duo, where the little slip-ups have all but disappeared, and Kavčnik delivered a string of stunning, masterfully played »Adrian Smith-style« solos. SkyEye unveiled two brand-new tracks, and it was great to hear that they mark a significant departure from the sometimes slightly (too) obvious Iron Maiden influences. Besides the excellent instrumental performance, the devilish frontman Jan, with an even more hellish voice, stole the show again, proving with his take on the Maiden classic Flight of Icarus that he can sing Dickinson with his eyes closed. SkyEye said goodbye to the Medvode crowd with the anthemic In the Name of Sky Eye and invited everyone to the release of their studio debut Digital God, which they’ll celebrate at Orto bar on 9.11.2018.
Compared to the bands before and after them, Eruption are true veterans. Next year they’ll mark a solid fifteen years of existence, yet this was their very first show at Jedro. Even though vocalist Buco is the only one left from the original lineup, the band works as one, and on stage they’re without a doubt among the best the Slovenian metal scene has to offer. The girl and the guys proved it again, spinning Medvode around in a toxic waltz of somewhat more complex thrash metal. And since it was their first time playing Medvode, they seemed even more »horny« to show why they’re right now (and, let’s be honest, have been for a few years) probably the crown jewel of Slovenian thrash. During the storm, made up mostly of crushers from the current Cloaks of Oblivion that are already pretty firmly lodged in the crowd’s brains, a mosh pit broke out in front of the stage, which spurred the band on even more and led to one of their best shows in recent times.
After quite a lengthy stage setup, the headliners of the night finally took the stage: Cowboys From Hell, made up of seasoned veterans: vocalist Igor Zonta (ex-Revolver), bassist Edi »Ejaq« Udovič (ex-Almost Rage), guitarists Miha »Buco« Oman (ex-Lady’s First, Mit) and Vasilij Sušanj (Su-Shine), and drummer Marko »Soki« Soršak (Elvis Jackson). The band took its name from the cult track and album by the legendary Pantera, but its cover repertoire is much broader and includes plenty of other stuff. That was more of a distraction than anything this time, and it was all the more obvious after the excellent sets from SkyEye and Eruption, who build their story on strong original material. Cowboys From Hell, on the other hand, served up a rather schizophrenic mix of covers, ranging from David Bowie through Pantera, Metallica, Machine Head and Slipknot, all the way to Alice in Chains. There’s nothing to fault in the playing, as the guys know their instruments. What won people over most were the faithfully played solos from Sušanj’s fingers and Zonta’s chameleon-like vocal performance, but sadly, leaning on the safe option of playing covers came off as a bit cheap this time.
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