Venue: Orto Bar / Ljubljana / Slovenia
Concert date: 09.09.2008
Attendance: 60
Ticket price: 16,00€
It was about time the metal crowd got a breather from the festival fever that hits every summer, with the gig scene heading back indoors to the local clubs and associations. Dirty Skunks kicked off the metal autumn nicely, putting together an extremely interesting and wildly multinational package that drew a more or less Black metal crowd, which, as you could tell, is losing its edge, at least when it comes to keeping up with gigs and actually showing up to them.
A little after nine in the evening, the first blasphemous notes came from the Italian Black metallers Nefarium, who can boast a drummer who’s one of our own. We’re talking, of course, about Dani, the drummer of Mrtva goska. Nefarium’s set came across as somewhat reserved, and there was no real response to be felt, either from the band or from the audience. Still, despite the static performance, we got to hear some pretty polished Old School Black metal riffs, which, with an extremely raw and hard sound, somehow managed to coax at least a little reaction out of the crowd. I think their biggest strength was precisely that very violent, cutting sound, which you hear from only a few bands. Unfortunately, the more melodic parts of the songs didn’t come through because of the very muddy sound that marked the whole evening. Despite a good set, Nefarium didn’t earn big applause, maybe because of the high expectations for Spearhead.
Next up on stage were England’s Spearhead, who got the best crowd response of the night. The Black/Death metal quartet stood out from the pack a bit, since the Death metal influence was by far the strongest with them. The band surprised with their technical chops and a powerful, convincing performance in the style of Behemoth themselves. Plenty of people were thrilled by the technically flawless guitar solos, which kept coming from song to song. There would undoubtedly have been even more guitar work had the second guitarist been there, but he missed this gig because of health problems. The only things that spoiled their set were the bad sound, a somewhat confusing and unpredictable exit from the stage, and a lack of communication between the band and the audience. So after a good half hour, Spearhead left the stage and handed the floor over to the Singaporeans.
As for Impiety, you have to say they’re a very listenable band live too. At the start of their set they played a few songs from their latest E.P. Dominator, then served up some slightly older stuff as well. During their set the extremely bored crowd warmed up a little, but never got past swaying along to the rhythm. Impiety obviously noticed that too, and maybe that’s why they left the stage in a fairly short time. Unfortunately, there was feedback throughout their whole set that just wouldn’t quit. At times it felt like there was no sound engineer in the hall at all. The cherry on top was trouble with the monitors, which pushed the band far enough that they left the stage a little early.
Still, in about 40 minutes they showed excellent form and delivered a first-class show that probably didn’t disappoint a single person there. They had a strong, unmistakable sound with brilliantly delivered vocals and solid backing from a rhythm section that stayed tight the whole set. Live, Impiety are an even bigger war machine, grinding and pounding everything in their path, than they are in the studio. It’s good to know there are still bands out there for whom touring isn’t just a source of income, but a tool for spreading their music.
text: Matevž Ftičar
photos: Aleš Podbrežnik
Setlist
NEFARIUM: 1. Intro 2. Lucifer’s Betrayal 3. The Damned Descent 4. Cumshot On The Holy Cunt 5. 136 Bastard Priests m. 6. To Nowhere 7. Doctrina Haereticorum 8. An Old Black Cage
Photo Gallery
