Dark Funeral / Carach Angren

What a combination! What a promising lineup! When I saw this one advertised, I was ready to go crazy. I had been impatiently waiting for Carach Angren anyway, and since I saw Grá live, I knew that Heljarmadr is a great frontman.

But first up was Carach Angren. The place Kyttaro was super full and it was great to see that many fans actually came mostly for the Dutch band and not the following Swedes. Carach Angren did an awesome job. They played songs from all their albums and even one demo, they got a massive death of wall going and people went nuts. They played my favourite song "Spectral Infantry Battalion" too, and that had me headbanging massively, haha!

Up next was Dark Funeral. They recently got quite some press because of the new album and Justin Bieber twittering about liking the new album, which prompted Heljarmadr to invite the youngster to their next show.. as sacrifice!! HAHA! well, if that does not make Heljarmadr your hero, then I don't know what would!! :D I don't know their songs really, but they also had enough slower passages for me to headbang and enjoy it. I loved every minute of this. A great evening came thus to an end, a true celebration of black metal and its diversity. 

There will be more shows, soon. I might go to see Belphegor end of January and already got my ticket for Mayhem (YES YES, the true mayhem!! playing the entire de mysteriis dom sathanas! i will die!!) in April, as well as Ghost end of March (not really black metal.. not musically, but in image, haha!) and Apocalyptica, playing their whole first album. So yea.. more crazy stuff coming up.

Daedin
- This ... is the sound of death!
Death! a military haunting!
Death! Battle formations!
Death! still marching ahead!
Death! Battle formations! DEATH DEATH DEATH!

Archgoat

Finally back for more shows! :) It was about time! This time there was a real gem on the agenda. Finnish black metal legend Archgoat. There were also two other bands playing that night, but I did not see them and just arrived in time for Archgoat.

I read about this band recently in Pirunkehto, the recently published history of Finnish black metal. It was a great coincidence now that I would see them live, too.

Archgoat play a enough fast black metal style, but to my delight there are enough passages that drop the speed and give me room to headbang, which I did quite a lot that evening! They have a ritualistic, obscure mood about them and this is exactly what will get me excited.

The show was at MODU and I had seen that place rather empty last time, so it was also a true joy to see that this time the place was packed. This band really deserves the recognition. It was not easy, because the very next day Dark Funeral and Carach Angren were on the bill, about this one later.. But this made me even more content, to see that despite the big gig the next day, Archgoat filled the place. And our black hearts with blasphemous thoughts..

It's good to see these pioneers, who might have been black and no longer thrash/death even before the Norwegians, to still go strong!

Daedin
- Spread the flame, crush christianity

Inquisition

and yet another black metal ritual going on in Athens!! of course there was no way I would not go to this one.

Arriving after work I managed to still glimpse Diablery. I did like their style very much, this kind of ritualistic occult black metal is what I love.

Next up was Nadiwrath but I was not too impressed. They are too thrash for me and I was never a huge fan of that.

Finally Inquisition was up. They are only a two piece with Dagon singing and playing guitar and Incubus taking on drum duties. You might think that this is not enough, but hell it is. They were fantastic and although there are enough people who think that a bass or even a melodic guitar is simply a must, Inquisition easily prove them wrong. The sound was awesome.

They also played my favourite Desolate Funeral Chant and I was mesmerised. They combine enough fast parts also with slow ones and this is exactly what I like. I need a bit of doom and funeral shit somewhere, so I can headbang in style, haha, and feel the music roll slowly through my bones. Inquisition know exactly how to do this and still keep a very fast pace.

Dagon's vocals are icy, haunting, very enchanting! A great evening then with lots of great vibes to take home. (last pic is my own from the show)

Winds chant songs of death, graves deep, open wide

- Daedin

Oranssi Pazuzu, The Dead Creed

So finally some more black metal shows! It's Oranssi Pazuzu's second time in Athens and I of course had to go see them again. Also because last time I left early and did not yet know them well. Now this time I knew their two latest albums quite well, also the show was in a much bigger venue, moving from An Club to Gagarin 205! wow! :D

So I arrived early and I'm so happy I did, because this was the reason why I saw The Dead Creed and this blew me away! Fantastic guy.

This guy uses only his voice and an acoustic guitar and creates the acoustic equivalent to Batushka. He uses only orthodox monasterial chants and his guitar to create a very atmospheric, but still heavy sound. This is black metal underground at its finest. Awesome stuff, I right away bought his songs at bandcamp :D

Next was mock the mankind and Finnish Hexvessel, but I will not lose any words to them. I did not like either and Hexvessel seemed out of place. Mock the mankind had no vocals and sadly bored me a lot.

But now on to Oranssi Pazuzu. This was stunning, absolutely mesmerising, hypnotic, deep, heavy, pressuring and alluring music. So so good, but also so assaulting to all senses, like a thunderstorm of sounds, crashing into you.. Fantastic. And boy, these guys are so Finnish.. I think they did not say a single word to the audience and still they had us in their power. What an experience!

Daedin
- Tämä on hymni kaiken päätteeksi,
verta veitseen ja käännä krusifiksi

Mortiis in Dublin

so as I told earlier, I saw Mortiis in 2004 in Jyväskylä. There have been periods when he was not really active and I might have had the chance to see him somewhere still, but I missed those chances and now 12 years have passed. In these 12 years a lot has changed, for me and for him of course, too.

I'm now a member of the street team and we talk occasionally on facebook. So in May Mortiis toured the UK, but I had just been two times to the UK April and May and I simply could not go yet another times. So I had to pass that opportunity and wait for the next. which presented itself now in October. Mortiis was going to come to three gigs in Pilsen, Erfurt and Dublin, so I chose Dublin :D It was perfect since I also combined that with a trip to Wales by boat.

I flew in the day of the concert, just checked into the hostel and ate something before heading to the place, Voodoo Lounge. And it was all just mind blowing. I finally met Håvard, he gave me more street team stuff and yes, selfies did happen :D

The show was fantastic. Mortiis played one song from Smell of Rain,  three from the Grudge, one from Perfectly Defect and the rest was from the Great Deceiver.

This man, a legend in extreme music, be it as black metal musician and lyricist in Emperor, be it as one of the originators of dark dungeon music, be it as a current industrial music enthusiast in a tiny underground movement, away from the eye of the mainstream press.. he is my hero. And besides that he just is a great person, very kind, polite, but also honest, outspoken, free-spirited.. yep, i love him :)

Daedin
Cause you are just really one step closer to the end,
we are really just one step closer to the end

New Corpsepaint sessions

well, I need to share some pics here, too! until now i´ve been alone in doing corpsepaint, but i found a sister in crime this time, my colleague! it was one session to be remembered.. :P

the last one is while wiping off the paint. quite something. too..

Daedin

find me, take me, to the void, to the crooked nest, to nekrohaven.

Grá - Serpent Noir

Another great black metal evening. I didn't expect that much, but actually it was one of the best shows this year!

When I arrived at Kyttaro the greek band "Serpent Noir" were playing. They play very enjoyable black metal with occult touches. This was a promising start into the night.

After a little delay, finally Grá came on stage, sporting a complete white make up. So not the usual black metal corpsepaint with black highlights, just pure white. Very impressive on a dark stage when their faces are lit up now and then. The greek audience needed only one song to get into the mood and start being really active. What a joy to see!

There could have been just a little bit more people tonight and I was afraid that there would be a lack of enthusiasm, but this fear was swiped away immediately. Grá features on vocals Heljarmaðr who also sings for Dark Funeral. Of course his main band will attract people, but Grá definitely deserves it.

(following two pics from Facebook friends, the last is my own)

Grá are doom influenced black metal with a lot of references to death but also occultism. The show was spiced up with a satanic (?) bible that Heljarmaðr showed us pages of, later ripping them out and handing them to the people. The show also featured some nooses, that were used for dramatic effect and also were handed to the people afterwards! Very cool scenes there..

I want to also point out that their mini tour with some 7 or 8 shows around Hungary, Bulgaria and Greece was printed on an extra shirt and shirts were only 5 euro. woah nice! ok, maybe they didn't want to carry them home to Sweden, understandable, but still! I got their CD and the tour shirt and was overwhelmed with joy, haha!

A great evening thus, with a band that I had only once listened to previously, deemed it good and then got surprised so much! Also Grá named the tour "A coin for Charon" and I loved it how he pointed out that finally Charon is coming back to where he belongs to, to this ancient country we are fortunate to live in. 

Jag står nu mitt i elden, med ett leende, medan världen runt omkring mig tystnar. 

- Daedin

Батюшка - Batushka

Finally more shows after the summer break! So it was time for Batushka. The concept is crazily good. Polish Black Metal with orthodox liturgy, kind of the black metal pendant to Ghost, masking their faces and staying anonymous. And it works so well for both bands.



The stage features an icon of Maria and baby Jesus, with wiped off faces, liturgical candles and a three piece choir for the liturgical chants. Let the blasphemy begin then!



The band, as far as I got it, played their whole debut album, so some 45 minutes of music, and that was it. Some might say this was too short, but hey, going to church would be about the same, haha!



It was fascinating how well the chants work with the singers black metal screams. The music was driving, energetic, very enjoyable indeed! It's thrilling to see some bands with a completely new idea how to work with black metal. And how come no one thought of this earlier, since it works so well in a beautifully blasphemic way! Well done Batushka and thank you for the mass!



Come together, together as one
Come together, together for Lucifer's son

Daedin

Corpsepaint

Corpsepaint has a big role in black metal. I'm a very visual person and I personal enjoy it a lot if some black metal bands still use corpse paint and haven't dropped it like so many did. Bands like 1349, Abbath, Carach Angren, Behemoth, Gorgoroth etc. have very distinct corpsepaint styles and it's somehow unthinkable that they would stop doing it.

Of course I had to try it, too, haha :D My first tries at corpsepaint were a Crow-style paint for carnival in my hometown, later in Finland I would get a Misfits-corpsepaint for a Misfits cover band. That was fantastic, by the way.

Now recently I of course turned more towards black metal. I tried a few styles, the first got inspiration from Carach Angren, the second is rather dirty corpsepaint in the style of Deadspace, the third reminds me a bit of corpsepaint some members of Gorgoroth have been previously wearing.

Corpsepaint gets you into the right mood, into the right feeling. It's like dressing up for the morbidity in black metal. Once you wear corpse paint and go into public it feels like you have bonded with the satanic spirit and you are untouchable. It's definitely something you are not doing every day. It's something that should be celebrated. 

And every night I am the flame

and every night there is a fire

- Daedin

Tuska

Now let's talk about Tuska festival in Finland, the biggest metal festival of Scandinavia. As far as I remember I have been there the years 2003, 2005 and 2006 for sure, I remember the shows very clearly. I might have been 2004 as well, but looking at the acts I'm not 100% sure and to be honest those were alcohol filled years and I just cannot tell anymore, haha. I would have to check my notes on this, if I made any somewhere, as well as photographic evidence I might have in photo albums.

But for now this is not so important. In 2003, 2005 and 2006 there were some bands I went to see and was very excited for. In 2003 this was Type O Negative. I also of course saw Sentenced, Amorphis, Trio Niskalaukaus. I somehow remember the 69 eyes and Lordi, too. There was also Finntroll, Barathrum, Moonsorrow, Horna.. I cannot say anymore if I saw something of them, haha. At that point I was not keen on seeing black metal. Too bad, dammit! :P

In 2005 I was most excited about Lake of Tears. I also remember Sentenced and Apocalyptica. I guess we also checked Dimmu Borgir a little, but I have no recollection. xD

Now in 2006 the big acts I was going for were Anathema, Sisters of Mercy, Opeth, Amorphis, Swallow the Sun. I see now that I might have seen Venom or Impaled Nazarene. But once again I lack recollection if I did, haha. Would have loved to see all those bands now, actively, remembering it :P

Anyway, why am I telling all of this? Because there is one band that I did see in 2006 and that made a big impression on me and that was Celtic Frost. I remember staying far from the stage, but watching the show, and then this one awesome, doomy song comes on and I'm absolutely hooked. There are a few songs that could be it, but I'm not sure. But yea, that was remarkable and even though I was impressed, I did not check Celtic Frost more, I did not get into black metal. It was not the right time back then, I understand that now. But still, I sometimes want to bite my ass for it, hahaha :D

I am a dying god, coming into human flesh.

- Daedin

Mortiis

ok ok, I know. Mortiis is not really black metal anymore. Actually not at all xD But I need to go back now, time travelling to the year 2004.

That was the year he came to Jyväskylä and I went with some friends of mine to see him. Black metal fans surely know who he is, he was a member of Emperor, their main lyricist and bassist. He wrote all lyrics for their first EP. He departed from the band before they would go on their first small tour around Britain (and before shit hit the fan with Samoth and Faust). He started his own project, dark dungeon music.

I still think that he actually has bigger balls than many people in the scene, just because he gave no single shit about trends and did his own thing. Respect! After many albums in synth dominated dungeon music he turned towards industrial music and nowadays is again active.

So yea, I was at a friends place and she was playing Mortiis and I asked who that is and she told me to check out Mortiis albums The Grudge and Smell of Rain. I was totally in love. I regret that I didn't listen to his older stuff back then! But alas, I didn't.

She also told me about the upcoming concert and I went there and it was one of the best shows I've been to :D I remember being in front and having a really great time.

Those pics are actually from that show, I took them with an old crappy camera :D Good times at Lutakko! Finally now in 2016 I got the Mortiis tattoo I always wanted. Mortiis will forever be my most beloved Norwegian musician and nothing can change that.

Everyone leaves. In the end. Everything dies. In the end.
- Daedin