Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Location: Orto Bar
Concert date: 31.03.2016
Ticket price: 4 €
On the last day of March, Orto Bar hosted a gig with local melodic death metallers Morana and heavy metallers Edge of Sins. The night was part of the Kadilnica of Death Slovenian metal evenings, which by now are probably well known to everyone.
Edge of Sins from Cerklje, who have been around since 2012, finally got their debut show after plenty of lineup changes. Quite a crowd squeezed in below the stage, mostly friends of the bands, and they were by far the most hyped about bassist Anže Javoršk, chanting his nickname »Sati« again and again. The band, rounded out by vocalist Matic Pavlin, guitarists Jure Flander and Blaž Hadalin, and his brother Nejc on drums, pulled off their first gig with real confidence. Sure, a small slip-up or two happened, but you can’t hold that against a young band that’s only just started racking up stage mileage. It would have been nice to see (or rather hear) a more dynamic song too, though I trust one will find its place on the debut album My Escape, which they’re already preparing with care. All in all, a solid show from a new young band whose progress we’ll definitely be following.
After them, old acquaintances of the Slovenian metal scene took the stage – Morana. The band is marking ten years this year and debuted with their new »session« drummer, Robi Buh (Moshead). For a crowd that was a little thin at the start, they played most of the songs from their debut Too Bad for Heavens (2012), two Arch Enemy covers that got people moving and moshing, and one new song – Slaying the Devil. Tomaž scared everyone present half to death with his brutally raw vocals, Davorin did his job on bass flawlessly as always, and the guitar duo of Jurij and Edi sounded incredibly tight, with the songs sounding way better with two guitars. Tjaša was at times too quiet, as the keyboards got a bit lost in a very dense sound. Here and there you could hear a minor slip, but I’m convinced the new lineup will iron those out smoothly once they’ve played together a bit more. Between songs, some of the breaks dragged on a little, which Robi used for a drum solo. The last song, War of the Gods by Sweden’s Amon Amarth, was played by a mixed crew from both bands. Jurij Čendak, head of the Metal Rock Academy, together with his students Blaž and Anže, plus Robi and Tomo, wrapped up the gig in a symbolic show of unity, and the camaraderie between the musicians was obvious even at a glance, with both sides wearing one band’s shirts or the other’s.
After the gig, there was a draw for a ticket to this year’s Metaldays festival, where Morana play again, on Monday night on the second stage. And on 16 April, Edge of Sins play at Swenak in Idrija, where they’ll be joined by Zaria.
text: David Bordon
