Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Jerneja Jerak
Venue: Gala Hala
Concert date: 12.09.2012
Summer and its festivals are over, but luckily the fall flings the doors of the clubs wide open, and bands hit the road for longer tours. One of the earliest this time was the Swedish black metallers Marduk teaming up with American death metal giants Immolation for the Serpent Sermon 2012 tour. The lineup was as international as an airport waiting lounge, with every single band coming from a different country. The Gala hala stage was taken over by the French, Czechs, Spanish, Americans and Swedes.
At half past six, in front of the sound guy, the merch seller and a “crowd” you could count on one hand, the French band Forsaken World took the stage, playing more or less just for themselves. Even if the guys had played later, the numbers wouldn’t have improved much, because Forsaken World are suffering from a serious identity crisis. They play a kind of generic blend of melody-tinged death metal, enriched with moronic breakdowns, squeaky vocals, boring drumming and a guitarist who desperately wants to sound like Petrucci. And the worst is yet to come, because on top of all that, the guys are decked out in corpse paint, the point of which is totally lost on me. Forsaken World are neither evil, nor necro, nor grim, so they probably just wanted to cover up their squeezed pimples. Oh yeah, they played tracks from their debut As Time Reflects Our End.
Things improved as soon as Forsaken World were done posing through their half hour, and between sets the PA was finally spinning a great selection (admittedly of a slightly gentler, prog-leaning soul) of tracks by Control Denied, Fates Warning and even Rush. Czech band Heaving Earth then put the evening back on the right track, and after the Czech musical abominations at this year’s Brutal Assault, I never thought I’d be praising a Czech metal band. The guys served up a hefty chunk of proper death metal, inspired mostly by veterans Morbid Angel (the Czechs took their name from one of their songs), and some parts sounded like a flat-out homage to Immolation themselves. The standouts were the guitarist, who pulled off some technically stunning solos and strung together a colorful pile of riffs, and the vocalist with a deep, “he sings like a monster” growl. Heaving Earth know how to play death metal the way it should be played, but their stage banter needs serious work, since it was practically nonexistent.
There was one more bone to swallow before things got going for real, and that bone was called Noctem, a Spanish black/death metal outfit. In a good half hour they presented their boring mix of black and death metal, which doesn’t sound like two styles fused into one, but like oil and water. It’s painfully obvious that Noctem want to sound like Behemoth, but they fail across the board. Unoriginal, boring riffs, pointless drumming and a quasi-evil frontman who, with his stage presence, gestures and little robe, is an obvious copy of Hoest (Taake) made for the perfect recipe for yawning and checking your watch to see when this torture ends. And the idiotic cherry on top was Hoest, oops, Beleth, drinking blood tomato juice.
Then the real owners of the Gala hala throne finally took their place, the rulers of death metal, New York’s Immolation. A band with almost a quarter century of history is no stranger to our stages, having last played here in November 2012, but it’s an honor to welcome this institution every single time, since they’re considered one of the most tireless and consistent death metal acts ever. The gods of blasphemous death metal opened the gates of hell with the eight-minute fiery suite Close to A World Below and showed within the first moments how death metal should be served. When it comes to old-school death metal quality, Immolation can right now only be measured against their neighbors Suffocation, and the legendary Yonkers crew can also brag about not having a single bad moment in their discography! This time even the sound got scared of Immolation and behaved like a teacher’s pet who brings the teacher a fresh apple every morning. The Americans drummed like the Eastern Front in 1942, were as ominous as Damien from The Omen and as brutal as King’s Carrie. Ross Dolan shredded the hall’s walls with his bass lines, and with his brutal yet clear vocals he made you think he’s been gargling battery acid for two decades. The architect of godless riffs Robert “Bob” Vigna proved once again that he has no equal in death metal; not only can he still serve up unique, original and dynamic riffs after twenty years, but his performance, in which he’s fused with his guitar, looks like a painter creating a masterpiece on canvas. Immolation crowned this epic performance, which Dolan tied together phenomenally, with an excellent setlist ruled by classics like Swarm of Terror, Into Everlasting Fire, Unholy Cult, the fantastic No Jesus, No Beast and a surprise with the cult Dawn of Posession to close! In between there was also What They Bring from the current EP Providence, proving that Immolation are still a death metal institution without equal. What Wagner is to the symphony, Immolation is to death metal!
As far as I’m concerned, the show could’ve calmly ended after Immolation, because with all due respect, Marduk just can’t match the Americans’ perfection. The Swedes were presenting their current record Serpent Sermon on the tour, and even before they started they set the atmosphere with a choral black mass. Marduk kicked off their set with the new record’s title track, but, as for the rest of the set, every bit of sonic clarity got lost in endless volleys of blast beats and constant abuse of the double bass pedal. With tank-like force, Marduk under the lead of the demonic Mortuus carried on with an hour-long bombardment that came off as merely solid and, after such really good predecessors, faded into nothing. Marduk thus came across as more and more monotonous and repetitive, even with a handful of classics like Black Tormentor of Satan and Wolves. This time around, Marduk got immolated!
Setlist
IMMOLATION:
1. Close to a World Below
2. Swarm of Terror
3. Majesty And Decay
4. Father, You’re Not a Father
5. What They Bring
6. Into Everlasting Fire
7. A Glorious Epoch
8. Under the Supreme
9. Unholy Cult
10. No Jesus, No Beast
11. Dawn of Possession
MARDUK:
1. Serpent Sermon
2. Nowhere, No-One, Nothing
3. The Levelling Dust
4. The Black Tormentor of Satan
5. On Darkened Wings
6. Slay the Nazarene
7. Temple od Decay
8. Throne of Rats
9. Deme Quaden Thyrane
10. Within the Abyss
11. Baptism By Fire
12. Panzer Division Marduk
13. Souls For Belial
14. With Satan and Victorious Weapons
15. Wolves
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