Author: Rok Klemše
Venue: Gala hala, Ljubljana
Concert date: March 19, 2009
Attendance: 150
Ticket price: €10
Metal has always been an incredibly tight-knit scene. The music itself matters, but so does the hanging out down by the stage, the camaraderie, the friendships, the wholehearted support for bands and sometimes borderline fanatical fandom. Last but not least, the solidarity between the bands matters too. That goes double for a “smaller” scene like the Slovenian one (though small can be pretty damn big!). The Metal United festival was organized in exactly that spirit, with four bands and a panty-dropping billing: Beauties of Slovenia Present… That’s especially true if you look at the poster, where the model-handsome Milan Krušič (Lene Kosti), Easy Mucy (Sarcasm) and Gregor “Master of Disaster” Čulk Jr. (Interceptor) were gleaming back at you. The prettier, or rather, not-so-“ugly” side was represented by the shock troops of Slovenian heavy metal, Metalsteel. Lene kosti couldn’t make the festival, so they were replaced by the champions of Slovenian progressive metal, Chaosstar.
Right on schedule, at quarter past nine, the veterans of Slovenian thrash metal Sarcasm took the stage. They started thrashing back in 1987, so they’re probably even the first representatives of the genre on our soil. Led by Mucy in his obligatory headgear, Sarcasm confidently marched into a three-quarter-hour set, which they filled quite successfully with tracks from all four records. Unfortunately, apart from the relatively charismatic frontman Mucy and the legendary guitarist Aleš Blaznik, who visibly enjoys himself up there, the guys are pretty static on stage. Much like the crowd is for the newer stuff… The guys play it clean, and with new drummer Dime, who nailed his job without breaking a sweat, they’re also extremely tight. But they just don’t quite manage to conjure up that old-school thrash energy and atmosphere. If songs like Litr na mizo, Žena, Terrorist or Fastest Man Alive don’t quite catch fire, the classics Crematory, Thrash Tonight or Dej mi/Sarcasm still cut to the bone live.
After a quick fifteen minutes, the standard-bearers of Slovenian heavy metal, Metalsteel, were already up there. When they released their first record Usoda as little “snot-nosed kids,” nobody believed they’d last, much less that they’d turn into excellent musicians who put out quality records. Today, ten years in, Metalsteel are one of the most respected and most active bands around. The girl and the guys have crisscrossed Slovenian stages over those years, and it really shows: on stage they’re totally tight, confident and uncompromising. Beny is a good frontman who, besides a solid Kai Hansen-style voice, has the banter and flirting with the crowd down too, and his fingers fly across the strings. With Rok, an incredibly energetic guitarist, he forms a fantastic duo that trades effective riffs and supersonic solos back and forth. Front and center is also, without a doubt, the charismatic Matej “Ace of Bass” Sušnik, who commands all five strings of his bass with excellent, dynamic, varied and groovy bass lines, while Daša pounds the skins without mercy. With anthemic classics like Novi svet and Heavy Metal is Our Religion, plus tracks from the current record Bad in Bed like White Circle and Heavy Metal Girls, Metalsteel easily create a genuine connection with the crowd and a proper energetic heavy metal atmosphere.
Another fifteen minutes later, after an ominous intro, the cult local metallers, graveyard metal outfit Interceptor, stormed the stage. No mercy, the slaughter kicked off right away with the cult Fade. The guys were in great form, but the few months away from the stage showed, with some sloppiness, some uncertainty and a few minor flubs. Still, Interceptor live are like a land mine. The moment they step on stage, they explode in every direction! That goes especially for the unmistakable and unforgettable Čule, who reeled off one properly growled track after another: Mors Victrix, Blato, Puške namesto kruha, a cover of the cult Epidemic Zone, Zadnja žrtev and the Sepultura classic Inner Self. A minor minus goes to the predictable setlist, which Interceptor have played more or less unchanged ever since the reunion. The rarely heard Pedofil was a nice change of pace, though it wouldn’t have hurt to hear a few more songs off The Beginning and Fade. Unfortunately, each band got 45 minutes, so Čule had to recite the closing surprise, the Pomaranča classic Goba zla, only halfway.
At quarter past midnight, Chaosstar closed out Gala hala as the last band to take the stage. They earned the replacement slot for Lene kosti with their recently released, outstanding debut Lifetime. Once again the album was played almost in full, and the guys really show the effects of tireless gigging over the last few months. They’re getting tighter and tighter, and this may even have been their best performance yet. Vasja’s and Jure’s guitar lines shine live beyond compare, and the Dare/Primož rhythm tandem is crushing and precise in execution. The album’s tracks Devil’s Whisper, Hurricanes of Madness and On My Way are bombastic, pompous and precisely played live. The cherry on top is undoubtedly the unforgettable, otherworldly, fourteen-minute epic Lifetime, which surely stands among the best moments in the history of Slovenian metal. For three quarters of an hour, Chaosstar spiced things up with the Judas Priest crusher Painkiller and, in light of AC/DC’s current shows, the classic You Shook Me All Night Long.
Gigs like this prove just how well the Slovenian metal scene lives up to the name “United.” And how could I wrap up better than with the words of Rob Halford: “United, united, united we stand!”
Photos: Miha Mally
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