Sixteen Bittersweet Years of Sweet Sorrow! (2012)

Arhiv Arhiv Last updated 11 June 2026

Author: Rok Klemše
Photos: Nina Grad

Venue: Gala hala, Ljubljana
Concert date: 09.06.2012
Attendance: 100
Ticket price: 5€/7€

Ljubljana’s Sweet Sorrow are one of the longest continuously active metal bands on Slovenian soil. In sixteen years they’ve released four full-lengths, (co-)organized the biggest Slovenian metal tour, Negligent Sorrow, with local thrash champions Negligence, and despite a truly staggering number of lineup changes (which, according to legend, were all eaten by former bassist Ragnar Belial Us) they’ve managed to stay alive and kicking. Three years ago Sweet Sorrow put out their current album 1000th Millennium, which admittedly leaned a bit too hard on Amon Amarth at times, not least because of the worn-out Viking themes, but was also the band’s most ambitious and brilliantly executed project to date… Right up to Saturday’s gig, where Sweet Sorrow, joined by a whole bunch of guests (and sadly too small a crowd), marked 16 years of existence with a two-and-a-half-hour marathon flight through their discography.

With such an ambitiously planned project, there’s of course that much more room for unexpected hiccups, and this time they crawled right out of Nifelheim. First, the April-style June weather played a nasty trick on Sweet Sorrow, and thanks to heavy rain the guys were forced to move the show from the outdoor courtyard to the inside of Gala hala. The original plan was further messed up by the cancellation of original vocalist Sebastjan Pregelj due to illness, but it seemed like these few annoying little things only fired the guys up even more. Sweet Sorrow, in their current, firmly settled lineup of Marko Košmrlj (vocals, guitar), Peter »Rope« Gale (drums), Peter Carič (guitar) and Miha »Obleey« Oblišar, stormed the stage with the crushing Metamorphosis from the latest album. And when I say stormed, I mean stormed – this time the sound in Gala hala was truly how a metal show should sound – mighty, crushing, distinct, clear and above all loud! Mare has transformed from awkward, shy beginnings (Metamorphosis, heh) into a confident and excellent frontman with a deep growl, and on top of that he holds down the solid rhythm guitar foundation too. Without Peter Carič’s melodic riffs Sweet Sorrow wouldn’t be what they are, and neither would they be without the cannon salvos from behind Rope’s kit and the deep bass lines of stage windmill Obleey. The first (expected) surprise came after the trio of songs from 1000th Millennium, when Valentin »Bufo« Bufolin came roaring onto the stage. He fronted Sweet Sorrow between 2003 and 2006 and recorded the album Northland with them. Valentin was summoned onstage by loud chanting of »Bufo, Bufo!«, and Mare greeted his arrival by saying he’s still slightly crazy. And indeed, after years away Bufo proved he still owns the stage and the crowd, and he showed excellent vocal form and stamina too, growling through more than half of the set with Sweet Sorrow. Besides the Northland tracks, he also took over Sebastjan’s role and led us through On Life and Death, and with the classic The Solitary Reaper, all the way back to the debut Breaking the Silence. It’s a shame the guys didn’t dig into the debut for a few more songs, but you can’t possibly blame the band for a weak setlist! The haul from two and a half hours of aggressive yet melodic death metal was this: 31 songs played, both 1000th Millennium and Northland performed in full, a rich pick from On Life and Death, a classic from the debut, the single I Am Pain, plus the songs Do pekla (recorded for the first Slovenian metal compilation, Slovenian Metal Vol. 1) and Apparition (which, if I’m not mistaken, has never been officially released). On top of all that, you have to add the fantastic performances of all the band’s guest friends, who in Sweet Sorrow’s sixteen years have been part of the story one way or another. Bufo kept the crowd in his grip with brutal vocals, confidently delivered clean vocal lines and the charisma of a true frontman, and the instrumental warriors did no worse – Blaž »Ramious« Lončar (guitar; recorded 1000th Millennium with the band), Luka »Lux« Žnideršič (guitar; Brezno, Sagaris), Aljoša »Vrolok« Hrastar (guitar; Necrotic), Jan »Jey« Švigelj (guitar; Negligence), Rok Marolt (it was nice to hear him in a more brutal setting again, since in Broken Arrow he usually strums romantic and gentler guitar lines) and Gorazd Maček (bass; Scaffold). Alex Škofljanec added the cherry on top with an excellent vocal performance, and the sickest moment of the night was probably delivered by drummer Rope himself, who growled his way through I Am Pain like an animal. Even within today’s foursome, the Sweet Sorrow guys swapped instruments several times and proved they’re capable multi-instrumentalists too – Rope traded his drumsticks for guitar strings a few times, while Mare smoothly slid onto his stool. The best moments this time were of course the trips to the album On Life and Death, from which absolutely nothing had been heard at Sweet Sorrow shows in the last few years. It was wonderful to get a proper neck workout during classics like On the Death of Anne Bronte, and especially during the anthems Ko bom mrtev and Sanjam, where, thanks to the uncompromisingly professional performance, a few people in the crowd felt a genuine wave of nostalgia.

In a show lasting almost three hours the band didn’t show a hint of fatigue or flagging motivation, the delivery of both new and classic material was top-notch the whole time, and the many guests, who did their jobs flawlessly, showed the band a really lovely gesture. Sadly, the same can’t be said for the crowd, which was showing more fatigue than the band sweating it out on stage for us by the halfway point of the set. It’s a real shame that a band didn’t earn at least a solid hundred-headed crowd for such a well-executed project, three months in the making, one that would’ve given Sweet Sorrow an honest, heartfelt round of applause for sixteen years of hard graft. Luckily, that didn’t stop Sweet Sorrow, and after thirty songs they gathered all the guests onstage for the finale (the stage nearly buckled under the weight of twelve representatives of the Slovenian metal scene!) and wrapped up the celebration with a message-driven take on the U2 classic Sunday Bloody Sunday. With smooth organization (which included, for example, a tasting of homemade booze at the Sweet Sorrow merch stand!), excellent sound, a friendly vibe among everyone on stage and a marathon setlist, Sweet Sorrow proved they’re not one of the most visible representatives of the local metal scene for nothing. Sweet Sorrow: all the best, and see you at 32!?