Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad
Location: Trainstation Squat, Kranj, Slovenia
Concert date: 29.11.2013
Ticket price: €5
Ever since humans and civilization have existed, winter has stood for the end of an era, a fall into darkness and gloom, death. Countless peoples knew deities who personified winter – the Greeks worshipped Boreas, the Scandinavians Hoder, and the Slavs Morana, goddess of death, winter and darkness. But none of them comes even close to the gods of nothingness and the cosmic horror of Lovecraft’s creations. So it’s only fitting to pay tribute to these cosmic forces with a sonic ritual too, and as »Unaussprechlichen Kulten« we flocked to Kranj’s Trainstation Squat for an unholy trinity: Ljubljana doom metal band Mist, Tolmin obscurities Mothermound and Postojna Devil worshippers Vigilance.
The first candle was ritually lit by Ljubljana doomers Mist, who are slowly but surely conquering the local metal scene and have already left their mark on it with their first demo (review HERE). The all-female crew had one flaw this time – a male guitarist, hehe. Nina Grizonič is currently being replaced by Beny Kic (Metalsteel), who also handled the production of the demo and this time brought more energy and confidence to the band’s performance. Beny’s gig mileage definitely shows, but the live form of the other members is also improving slowly but surely. Mist delivered an already solid repertoire of crushing doom anthems, led by Phobia and The Living Dead, which are slowly seeping into the pores of the band’s growing fan base. The rhythm section once again proved reliable and roaring, as did Ema’s massive riffs, which nicely underpinned the fast-fingered moves of the guest guitarist. Nina’s ominous vocals once again conjured just the right gloomy atmosphere, and Ema’s backing vocals came off fantastically, whispering and echoing and tickling the soles of our feet like Cthulhu’s tentacles. A newly played track proved that Mist are heading in the right direction as songwriters too, and the Candlemass and Pentagram classics were the cherry on top of a gig by a band that is steadily shedding its “woodenness” and stiffness and showing obvious, constant and considerable progress.
Second on the bill, Tolmin’s Mothermound returned to Kranj after a long time, proving that Tolmin isn’t metal only because of the festival. The four-piece, known years ago as Expulsion, who released the excellent debut In These Glorious Epitaphs under that name, came back together under the new name in 2009, and just a week before the Kranj gig released their debut as Mothermound, The Burden of Tomorrow. On it they successfully blended doom, death and progressive metal with rock (and even grunge) touches, proving they’re one of the most unique metal bands in the country. And that’s exactly what they delivered on stage too. Even though the crowd thinned out quite a bit during their set (which can be put down mostly to the band’s genuine »love-it-or-hate-it« quirkiness), Mothermound played by far the most energetic and confident, and probably the most convincing, set of the night. It was easy to sink into a wonderful and at the same time morbid world of interwoven fat riffs, melodic noodling, greasy bass, crushing drums and screwed-up vocals. Janez’s vocals are exactly the kind that can draw you in and repel you at once, but those truly specific vocal lines can only reward the listener. The Burden of Tomorrow is definitely a record that deserves spins in every Slovenian metal home.
The ungodly head of Friday’s trinity was Postojna speed/heavy metal maniacs Vigilance, whose dabbling in occult themes, for which they probably sold their souls to the Devil blues-style at some Postojna crossroads, is also the result of the band’s lightning-fast progress. Their debut Queen of the Midnight is a top-notch release, one of the best local metal albums this year. For their intro, Vigilance picked just the right creepy »soundtrack«: the ominous Tristram Village from the legendary Diablo led us into their set. And true enough, during their show Vigilance slowly let us sink deeper and deeper through the nine circles of Hell. Their reading (read: playing) from the Necronomicon was borderline spectacular this time: Jakob and Gilian cut through riffs and solos like surgeons, Anže rattled the bass like Steve Harris himself, Tine pounded the drums like Nyarlathotep beating his innocent subjects, and Jakob topped it all off with excellent vocals and outstanding stage banter, proving he’s growing into one of the better metal frontmen around. I could describe Vigilance’s set with just one word: bullseye! And precisely because of that it went by too fast. They could have caressed us with at least Four Crowns of Hell and SpeedWave too, but a great band-aid on the stigmata was still the classic Come to the Sabbath!, played with great respect for the King!
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