Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Location: Gala Hala, Ljubljana
Concert date: 23.05.2018
If Pomaranča marks the beginning of heavy metal on Slovenian soil, then Noctiferia undoubtedly marks the beginning of extreme metal in Slovenia. Noctiferia, who started out under the name Emetica, returned to the scene of the crime where it all began after twenty-one years (that’s how long it’s been since their first gig this April). The debut Baptism At Savica Fall also kicked off Slovenian black metal, and we got a one-of-a-kind look back at the roots of Slovenian extreme black metal, since Noctiferia played the album in full with the original lineup. The gig was originally supposed to go down a good week earlier, but it got postponed because of illness, which didn’t show one bit: Gala hala was packed to the last corner, and the crowd was hungry for a baptism, Noctiferia style.
A kind of consolation prize for the rescheduled date was one more opening act, and that honor went to Snøgg from Velenje. Officially the band has just two members, Ulv on guitar and vocals and Mørke behind the drums, but live the lineup is rounded out by a session bassist and a member who handles the electronic side of the sound. Snøgg hit the stage after the customary academic fifteen-minute delay, shrouded in thick fog and hidden under hoods, and in a bit under three quarters of an hour laid out their musical vision, which is pretty hard to pin down given how experimental it is. You can definitely hear the influence of old-school (Norwegian) black metal, to which Snøgg add a strong dose of avant-garde and experimentation, not all that far from the likes of Ulver. With the non-traditional approach, relatively long songs, high volume and total stillness, Snøgg were a tough one to chew this time, but judging by what I heard, they’re definitely a band worth checking out on one of their three EPs released so far.
A bit more traditionalist are the coastal trio Ater Era, though within the fairly narrow confines of classic black metal they’re still pretty unconventional at times. That comes through loud and clear on their third studio album Clades, released toward the end of last year, which the trio focused on exclusively this time. Ater Era can be a somewhat demanding listen too: their songs are seriously long, and they reach for unusual structures and approaches that could earn them the label avant-garde and/or psychedelic. Still, the band is firmly rooted in black metal that’s raw and merciless, with variety and dynamics coming mainly from calmer passages and guitar work you don’t exactly hear in black metal every day. Ater Era once again proved that Clades holds a high spot in Slovenian black metal, and live they delivered a show that won over an already nearly full Gala hala.
The impatience grew like crazy as the stage started getting set up for the guests of honor, with a slight delay. Contrary to expectations, the stage wasn’t decked out with props, which would have been perfectly reasonable to expect given how exclusive the event was. Instead it was reserved strictly for the musicians, which gave this historical look back at the roots of Slovenian extreme metal an even more primal feel. The songs from the cult debut Baptism At Savica Fall hadn’t been heard live in at least five years, and even then at Cvetličarna only as a taste, so it was a treat to hear them in full for the first time, from A to Z. Even though the original lineup of Igor Nardin, Uroš Lipovec, David Kiselič and Robert Steblovnik hadn’t shared a stage in years, any fear of them being rusty was crushed on the spot, because the four of them were in top form, both vocally and instrumentally, from Robi’s earth-shaking drumming to the outstanding solos from under Nardin’s fingers. The cherry on top was the live-played pipes and recitals from Prešeren’s Krst pri Savici, plus the ancient Matricide and This Is My Art, which first appeared on the demo Gods of Počka, and the unforgettable pagan first part wrapped up to the sounds of Sons of Fame. David then handed his spot to the band’s other frontman, Artur Felicijan (today Dekadent), who joined his former bandmates to pay tribute to the band that probably had the biggest influence on Noctiferia’s early work, so the excellently played Dissection classic Where Dead Angels Lie was hardly a surprise. With Artur on vocals, Noctiferia used Grief to Master, Err to Hell and Aught Against Thee to recall the band’s most famous album, the legendary Per Aspera, and with another cover, Samael’s Baphomet’s Throne, the band that had the dominant influence on the group’s second era. After almost two hours, Noctiferia said goodbye to the hellishly hot Gala hala with their biggest hit, Fond of Lies, whose video sat at the top of the then-Videospotnica chart for weeks a good ten years ago and drew a wider audience’s attention to Slovenian extreme metal. With the Baptism At Savica Fall anniversary, Noctiferia reminded everyone that, genre changes or not, they’re simply one of the biggest and most important names in Slovenian metal, one that left its mark beyond our country’s borders too.
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