The night that got my blackened soul sing
Venue: Klub Močvara, Zagreb
The concert was organised as a part of a Tour named “Europe Under Black Death Metal Fire II” by The Flaming Arts Agency and hosted by Hangtime Agency. A special thanks must be dedicated to Hangtime Agency, but also the associates for this event: Subsonic Events and Abyssal Booking , as they’ve managed to bring several influential and important bands during the last year to Croatia and we are pleased that all those opportunities were available here and are happy that the numbers of audience members seems to grow in spite of everlasting economic crises consequences in Croatia, that is exceptionally hard for the younger and unemployed. In spite of it all, the concert venue was packed and the concerts was a full success in that regard.
The concert was supposed to be opened by the band GRIMAZE, a groove/death metal band from Sofia. They say for themselves that they spread beautiful brutality and raw life force. Mainly, they are most known by their successful song “Bleeding Earth”, which was promoted on YouTube, which was a very smart move to reach out to new audiences. Unfortunately, their concert was cancelled due to transportation problems.
Unfortunately, the venue wasn’t fully packed for the performance of the first band, although the early start of the concert was announced, but mainly the domestic audience isn’t used to early concerts, so majority of Metalheads started to arrive in larger groups only after 8 PM.
The second performance was given by CARNIFLIATE, a death/deathgrind band from Velenje, Slovenia. They have released one album so far, and soon another will be released. Their youthful and explosive energy was unprecedented and the band sounds promising. A fun coincidence is that the band actually has a song named “Mochvara” and it was nice seeing them in Mocvara last night.
HATE totally dominated the stage from the first moment they’ve stepped their feet on it! I decided that I will not pick out the favourite band of the evening and that this exact night will be the court in which I will make my own personal decision on my favourite band, all depending on the musical skills, performance and the atmosphere the band creates. And…HATE are the winners of the evening in my own personal opinion, as the atmosphere during the gig moved me and I felt uplifted at moments as their masterpieces have the hypnotic power of winning you over to their, dark side. I thought one other band will win me over, but Hate prevailed. The audience responded energetically and especially welcomed their hits “Sovereigh Sanctity” and “Valley of Darkness”, but others also. Hate is jet another example on why we love Polish extreme metal scene. Their current album “Auric Gates of Veles” is their 11th studio album and it sounds great and provides a very interesting mixture of genres and subgenres.
The evening heated up to the point of boil by the explosive performance by the band: SUFFOCATION, the pioneers of death metal founded over 30 years ago and considered as one of the most influential groups in the genre. They played their biggest hits and came to present songs from the new album “… Of the Dark Light”. I must admit I was amazed by the explosive energy band emits and transfers to the audience, as the performance as well as the audience feedback was great, we’ve witnessed one of the greatest mosh pits Mocvara has seen in months! Finally, there was even some stagediving which was welcomed by the band and all that combined led us to the conclusion that their concert was pure energy bomb, the kind that wasn’t seen in this area for some time now!
Finally, the long awaited moment came and the black mass could start as Austrian controversial death/black metal band BELPHEGOR started with their black celebration. Their music is described as rather dark and diabolical, especially is not for the faint-hearted, as sometimes it sounds like a continuous soundtrack for the most brutal horror movie you can imagine! The band performed the legendary “Conjuring the Dead”, which I consider a real masterpiece and a song that even those that are not fans of the genre must respect as masterful example on how to reach greatness and create a lasting impact. The performance was very energetic and the feedback from the audience was extremely warm and it was clear that for the majority of Metalheads Belphegor were the biggest stars they have seen in a while.
“In Blood- Devour This Sancity” sounds unbelievably powerful live and it has brought me to the point of being blissfully happy that I was able to see the band perform it live! The band indeed is a great attraction in live performances and we can’t wait for the premiere of the new album, which is set for the end of 2020.
