The Italian band's concert was something I had been looking forward to enormously. For one thing, I had never seen an Italian band live before; for another, GRAVEWORM was once the band that first introduced me to symphonic black metal — strictly speaking, they've only recorded two albums in that genre, with the second being particularly outstanding. Since 2001 the band shifted their sound toward melodic death metal: the music became less dark, more technical, driving, and aggressive. The fourth and fifth albums — Engraved In Black and (N)Utopia (2003 and 2005) — proved their most successful: the superb dual vocal work of growling and screaming from vocalist Stefan Fiori, atmospheric keyboards, guitar solos, and heavy riffs in the finest melodic death metal tradition. Plus completely unexpected cover versions. The band tours very actively; in 2005 the musicians gave over 50 concerts, and in 2006 visited the USA for the first time.
On 27 January of this year, the following appeared on the band's official website: "We just finished recording our new album at Stage One Studio with Andy Classen. The album will be out on May 11th on Nuclear Blast. Guests on the album include Maurizio Iacono from KATAKLYSM and Matze from THE SORROW. Two dates in russia have been confirmed — we'll be there for the first time."
SPIKA Concert Agency soon announced the concerts in st. petersburg and moscow. I won't stray further from the concert report itself. Opening that day was the moscow collective ARCANE GRAIL, who fitted the bill very harmoniously, as they play symphonic black with female vocals. They performed a short set and made way for the Italians; it was approximately 20:20 when GRAVEWORM appeared on stage.
Everything began with an intro — Deep Inside from the latest album — during which all the musicians walked out on stage. The last to emerge was a very heavyset individual in a blue Italian national football shirt and shorts. The question "who is that?" occurred to most of those present. To be honest, I personally experienced a moment of shock when it turned out to be the band's vocalist Stefan Fiori — he had gained considerably compared to the photographs on the website. I — The Machine — arguably the strongest song from the latest album — opened the concert. The sound was generally decent, though the vocals and keyboards were pushed a bit too far forward and the overall volume level was somewhat restrained. I must acknowledge, though: I personally heard all the solos perfectly, the bass was no problem, and the drums didn't swamp the sound. Fiori growls less live than on the album — nearly all the vocal parts were screamed — but he commands both techniques brilliantly; it's simply that screaming genuinely suits the band's music better. The programme continued with Legions Unleashed from the previous album, followed by one of that album's strongest pieces — the seven-minute Dreaming Into Reality. The solemn sound and atmospheric keyboards fitted the performance brilliantly. Unhallowed By The Infernal One was one of two songs from the 2001 album Scourge Of Malice — a pity that so little of the band's own material from those years and earlier was played. Then came (N)Utopia — before which Fiori asked the hall what to play and received an answer from the crowd: whether this was coincidence or a slight setlist alteration is hard to say, probably the former. A genuine gift was the fast, charging Awaiting The Shining from the 1998 single that followed the first album — from which, unfortunately, nothing was played that day. Given that the new disc was due out in May, it was entirely logical that Stefan decided to perform a couple of tracks from it: Suicide Code — a decent melodic death composition with an abundance of keyboards, performed with low growling. Then came the day's main gift. Formally a track from the 2001 album, the song in question is a cover version. Only one thing can be said: Fear Of The Dark is one of the most unusual interpretations of the great English band's material — though at the concert the violin passage was omitted for understandable reasons; it opens the original in place of the introductory text, replaced here immediately by drums after the opening chords. Your humble servant was very pleased to find that the work of IRON MAIDEN has not been forgotten by everyone in this world — the overwhelming majority sang along on the chorus, and a considerable portion knew the words completely. At the finale, someone crawled from the floor onto the stage, gesturing for the microphone, and when Stefan handed it to him, began screaming the song's title phrase with a well-developed scream. Stefan then concluded the composition. After such an effective moment came another gift: A Dreaming Beauty from the band's second album — why only one track from such a wonderful, beautiful, and dark record? The answer is obvious enough: the band is concentrating on the period of recent years, when a great deal of death metal had entered the music. Hateful Design closed the main set, which had lasted approximately an hour.
The encore, to be honest, was not particularly exciting — everything best was performed at the end of the main set. Touch of Hate from the new album, Never Enough from the latest, and Abhorrence from the previous one were performed.
The overall impression: good, but too brief. Nothing supernatural happened — a very decent concert, but no more than that. In terms of duration, the set was quite short; they could have played at least an hour and a half. No complaints about the musicians — Stefan Fiori himself cut a particularly comical figure, charging around the small Tochka stage at some speed despite his considerable dimensions. He reacted very calmly to stage divers, and the latter behaved quite decently — not overdoing things, as sometimes happens. All in all, a good concert. And despite the concert boom, the attendance was quite decent — roughly six hundred people at a rough estimate.
Report by Alan
Special thanks to Spika Concert Agency for the accreditation provided
Setlist: Intro: Deep Inside I — The Machine Legions Unleashed Dreaming Into Reality Unhallowed By The Infernal One (N)Utopia Awaiting The Shining Suicide Code Fear Of The Dark A Dreaming Beauty Hateful Design —Encore— Touch of Hate Never Enough Abhorrence
Photo report (photos by McAllen)
GRAVEWORM
Support: ARCANE GRAIL
Special thanks to SPIKA MERCHANDISING for the accreditation provided