Venue: Orto bar / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 12/15/2010
Attendance: 50
Ticket price: €4.00
Let’s all go to Thrashfest at Mediapark! Ah, no chance. Way too expensive. Let’s hit Orto bar for some more modern sounds instead. Why? To show some love for the Slovenian scene and to party one last time with Jocot, now the former guitarist of the metalcore band The Language Of Thought Hypothesis, plus the boys from Prekmurje, Before The Murder.
The show kicked off pretty early and a nasty cold was raging outside, so we were forced to ditch the extra baggage (the good stuff to drink) and head inside. Soon after we walked into the hall you could already hear the intro, and the guys from Lendava slowly took the stage. The start of the show was totally uninventive. The jumping around, or rather running on the spot, was pretty much lifted from Canada’s Despised Icon and plenty of other bands. But we can’t hold that against them. They’re young and they put a lot into their performance and the whole look. You could even say it’s fascinating to watch. Who else in Slovenia, to put it bluntly, would have the balls to do something like that? Nobody! Everyone just criticizes and nobody actually does anything. Anyway…respect to these guys. What’s even more interesting than the jumping and sprinting around the stage is the voice of their vocalist, who is barely 15. Little Gregor, who isn’t so little anymore, gave it everything. His scream drills deep into your ears and pierces your eardrums, and you could hear it all the way at the bottom of the Orto bar stairs. The growl wasn’t quite as convincing, but it was warmly received anyway. We’d guess his musical idol is Scott Lewis, vocalist of the American deathcore outfit Carnifex. Then again, we could be wrong. The point is that he did really well and showed himself in a good light. The other members shouldn’t be overlooked either, since they also gave all they could. Sven and Andi created some nice sounds on guitars, though maybe they weren’t heard at their best. But that’s the problem with the acoustics at Orto. Nothing’s perfect. Jure is a beast on bass, just like on the mic in Vulvathrone. Hats off to him! Benjamin isn’t exactly the best drummer, but he’s not the worst either. And since he’s still young, he has plenty of time ahead of him, and plenty of practice too. Anyway…the guys played all or most of their material, and as has become the custom, they closed the show with a cover of The Bad Touch by the American alternative band Bloodhound Gang. Guys! Keep It Brutal!
During the break we treated ourselves to a beer or two to recharge our batteries for the next band, which was also the last one. That was, of course, LOTH.
Time flew, and just as quickly the LOTH guys were up on stage. Being one song late is no big sin. As we stepped into the musical epicenter of the evening, we could hear the melodic guitar riffs of Jocot and Corey. As mentioned before, this was Jocot’s last show with LOTH, and a lot of extra effort was needed to make sure the gig went according to plan. The one and only Dejan, or Nixon as some know him, was the most noticeable presence at the show. Then again, he’s kind of hard to miss. The man is almost 2 meters tall, or maybe even without the “almost.” What’s wrong with that? Nothing. What matters is that he gave a lot and the crowd had a good time. The jokes between songs and during breaks maybe didn’t get everyone laughing, but intent and performance are what count. So that Dejan wouldn’t walk away with all the glory, there was always-hyperactive Corey, who along with the glory also collected most of the women’s glances. After all, he looks like a modern, metalcore Mick Mars, guitarist of the legendary glam rockers Mötley Crüe. But no matter how charming Corey is, this night didn’t belong to him, it belonged to Jocot. As is only right, somewhere in the middle of the show he got a gift that will bring back all the good memories. But the show must go on!, as people say. And so it did. The guys played the rest of the set tight and hard-hitting. Worthy of praise. Just like BTM have their custom, so do LOTH. Like every show so far, they closed with G-Unit Crew For Life.
And so both sets came to an end. Well worth showing up for. Since the Slovenian core scene isn’t exactly thriving, we can say that individual bands are putting in the effort, and it would only be right to give them all the support we’ve got. Let’s keep it metal, let’s keep it core!
photos: Naja Zorko
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