Photo report from the concert (photos by Alan, McAllen)
The Austrian metal scene — many people will stare at you with blank surprise and a silent question: does such a thing even exist? The answer is simple — it does, albeit a small one. Indeed, most Austrian bands are known only within their homeland; those who can claim partnerships with major labels can be counted on the fingers of one hand. Yet let us name them. Without question, the first to come to mind are the black metallers ABIGOR and the closely related project SUMMONING — arguably one of the most celebrated and unusual studio collectives in the world of heavy music. Both work with Napalm Records. Notable also are a series of distinctive projects: ANGIZIA, DAWN OF DREAMS, PAZUZU, ESTATIC FEAR. Now let us move to the most extreme end — the undisputed leaders here are PUNGENT STENCH — veterans of Nuclear Blast; every one of their albums from 1990 onward appeared on that celebrated label, and each album was a major event — first in grindcore, then in brutal death.
In the early 1990s another Austrian project emerged under the name BELPHEGOR — black metal in content at that point. Only unlike their fellow countrymen ABIGOR, these guys categorically rejected symphonic sound, keyboard-derived atmosphere, slow instrumental passages, and the rest, creating in the process one of the most extreme black metal collectives. Their first album appeared in 1994. What followed — the band went the way of Sweden's MARDUK, adding technical complexity with each album; like MARDUK they shifted to black-death, again of a kind having nothing in common with the melodic black-death of EMPEROR or DIMMU BORGIR. Today they have little in common with even MARDUK — the last two albums, Lucifer Incestus and Goatreich — Fleshcult, can in terms of sound be called brutal death with elements of black metal, and those elements are kept to a minimum. Another analogy suggests itself — BEHEMOTH — but let us face reality: BELPHEGOR are far behind their Polish colleagues both musically and lyrically, since the band's lyrics are among the things that have changed little throughout their existence. The subject matter was and remains singular: an extremely aggressive rejection of religion, and above all Christianity. On the other hand, it is precisely this aspect of the band that attracts many listeners — maximal aggression and rage, combined with masterful, virtuosic command of the instruments (for this reason alone one can say they have little in common with black metal).
So this was the collective that performed in moscow on 10 February 2006. The concert took place at the Relax club; by my count approximately 300 people were present — which for a band of this kind, given the vast abundance of foreign concerts in the russian capital, is generally a significant number.
Two bands opened: SINFUL and GROM. I had heard both of these bands many times. What can I say — above all, that for the first time I heard both of these bands with such superb sound. Credit where it is due: that day the Relax had special equipment in place thanks to which the sound was excellent. Moreover, this was the first SINFUL performance of all those I had heard that, to my own considerable surprise, I enjoyed. Perhaps this was because for the first time I could clearly hear the keyboard parts. I can say one thing with certainty — Taus's vocals had improved significantly; that at least is a straightforward fact. They performed for around half an hour, then ceded the stage to GROM — many people had gone to the bar, while those who remained could hear this band too with perfect sound. Overall, their set was far more in keeping with the spirit of the evening's headline act, since the band plays black-death — though not quite as extreme as the heroes of the night.
At a quarter to ten their set ended. Shortly afterward an announcement was made from the stage asking for patience and requesting the audience wait 20–30 minutes while the band tuned up and prepared to begin. The minutes of waiting stretched out; the band appeared on stage shortly and began tuning, with the performance commencing only at about eleven o'clock. To many people's surprise, the band appeared without corpse paint (a discernible trend in recent years, with more and more bands abandoning this element of live performance). Four people: two of them the permanent guitarists and founders Helmuth and Sigurd — the former also the vocalist; bassist Barth and the youngest member of the band, drummer Nefastus — that is the entire lineup. A short intro, a 90-second instrumental, then eleven songs in the main set and two in the encore. Six of the set list songs came from the band's latest album, to which the current tour is dedicated; five more from the previous one. As already noted, both of these albums have little in common with black metal — and in the live sound black metal had vanished completely. Technical, fast brutal-death with full and resonant growling — not guttural, but not high either — a wall of sound from the rhythm section, machine-gun drums, and typical death metal riffs. Of all the songs, perhaps only the slow "Sepulture Of Hypocrisy" and "Festum Asinorum Chapter 2" — with its unexpectedly typical black metal sound — stood out from the rest.
The concert lasted slightly over an hour. What was happening in the hall — honestly, to say the crowd went wild would be inaccurate: a certain number genuinely committed to the slam, but the majority confined themselves to headbanging and nothing more. Of those who came, the band's material was evidently well known to relatively few — I would say around 30 percent. At the same time I rate the concert positively; the musicians also appeared quite satisfied and even played one more song than was on the set list. The concert concluded just before midnight.
Report by Alan
Photo report from the concert (photos by Alan, McAllen)
Special thanks to SPIKA MERCHANDISING for the accreditation provided.
Setlist: Crux Voluptatis Bestia The Cruzifixus — Anus Dei Bleeding Salvation Fukk The Blood Of Christ Diaboli Virtus In Lumbar Est Necrodaemon T-Satan The Goatchrist Sepulture Of Hypocrisy Fornicationimum Et Immundus Swarm Of Rats Lucifer Incestus Demonic Staccato Erection
— encore — Festum Asinorum
- 1 track (not in list)