Labyrinthic Metal Evening, a marathon of extreme music

posted by Zamo on October 21, 2010

Labyrinthic Metal Evening turned out to be more than an ordinary concert, it turned out to be a true musical marathon; 8 hours of extreme metal, 6 bands from the underground area; a real outburst of force for both the invited people and the audience.

Donis Art made us get used to the fact that they organize concerts for the ones that know metal, with bands that are less known to the ”large audience”, but which have a gorgeous impact over the underground area and also, a remarkable setup; from the location, sound to the merchandise zones. According to what I’ve previously mentioned, some people can affirm that the price of the ticket was worth it. However, it seems it was a bit restrictive for the people that come from more enhanced distances or whom prefer only one or two bands. Maybe it was because of this that Silver Church seemed to hold a smaller audience, compared to another concert organized this spring. ( I mean Alcest & Agalloch ).

The concert took place at a very short time after the given hour, and the first band that stepped on the scene was Kistvaen. “Labyrinthic Metal Evening” was also the event in which Kistvaen decided to present their new album, “Unbekannte”. They tend to go for a specific idea of depressive black metal, a niche of black metal that doesn’t really make itself heard around here, but which is quite popular in the west. It seemed to tug quite a crowd in Silver Church too, which was to be expected since many people from the audience had heard about Shining and were familiar with what depressive black metal really meant.

The tracks they performed were from their first album, dark, depressive, and with a sort of Shining- influence. (and not only). I suppose it wasn’t coincidental that the best part in the performance Kistvaen offered was the song named “Canitude”, as on the scene Niklas Kvarforth appeared as well.

The following band to step on the scene was Indian Fall, a band that really caught my eye since “Pathfinder”, but a band that lost itself throughout its journey. I had the occasion to hear them in their new formation at Samfest, where they really impressed me. They switched to a different style of black metal, a much more aggressive one, and the new vocals are really suggestive and bring a new atmosphere in the band. However, in this specific metal evening in Bucharest, the sound didn’t really help them and this fact made me imprint their concert in Satu-Mare into my mind more than this one. Anyway, their EP, “Fear: 4 Stages”, which was released in this evening as well is really worth a listening.. the direction towards Indian Fall go must be appreciated, I have a sensation that their upcoming album will be something worth listening to.

I knew relatively little about Vulture Industries, but, for sure, I wasn’t expecting such a performance on the scene. I can say that it was the most surprising moment of the evening, with vocals that knew how to keep the audience hooked. Who would’ve imagined that at some point Bjørnar Erevik Nilsen would tie a rope around his neck? Eh, this really happened. Avant-garde black metal, with certain progressive influences and the little theatrical bits made Vulture Industries convert into the surprise of the evening.

The Vision Bleak is a project that belongs to Ulf Theodor Schwadorf, most people probably know him from his other band, Empyrium. They play some sort of gothic-horror (even though the horror part for me was only the make-up and the moment in which Niklas reappeared on the scene). Sadly, the band didn’t impress me with anything else and I would’ve rather prefered listening to some Empyrium instead of them, but who knows, since Ulf came here, maybe he’ll bring Empyrium too in the near future.

The same thing happened when Nightingale appeared, even if this time the fact that I was tired and the length of the playlist were decisive factors in my lack of interest. A way too long playlist at a quite late hour and Progressive Rock wasn’t really suitable before a band of DSBM (I prefer placing them in the depressive-suicidal black metal sphere). Though, I’m sure that the audience that listened through their whole playlist from top to bottom won’t agree with me. I was surprised by the numbers of people that supported them at such a late hour. Very technical, with an old school progressive metal, Nightingale managed to bring the people that used to cradle in the back, telling stories next to the scene.

After two hours in which Nightingale pleased their fans, it was the turn of the headliner to step on the scene. It was already 3 and something AM and I was a little horrified by the possibility that the people wouldn’t be able to achieve the merits Shining would deserve from the audience.. But.. This is the thing no one can contest.. Shining really know how to make their music heard, how to forward that state of madness, total chaos, depression. Niklas is one of the most controversial vocalists, but, regardless of the situation, he does his job until the very end, and this thing was seen at 4 AM during the Labyrinthic Metal Evening, but in Brasov, as well.
The playlist was composed from tracks from VI – Klagopsalmer, the upcoming album, VII – Fodd Forlorare, but also older tracks like “Claws of Perdition”, “Submit to Self Destruction”.

Everything ended at around 4:30 AM, after about 8 hours since the beginning of the minifestival. It was a marathon of extreme metal in the truest terms, and if we ponder a bit and add these hours to the “Labyrinthic” Metal Evening and the sometimes quite different genres of the bands, we can say that we were really part of a true “underground labyrinth”, with sinuous paths through hard to understand genres, from DSBM to progressive and even gothic metal.

A long, tiring evening after around 12 hours by train and 8 more hours at the concert, but certainly one evening that the fans will not forget soon.
If you get the chance to see Shining and Vulture Industries, don’t miss out on it.

Another great evening brought to the end by Kogaionon/DonisArt, another great evening to follow with Saturnus, Forgotten Tomb and Octomber Tide.