The second day of our metal trip to Poland started at half past 3 in the afternoon. The concert took place in the Studio TVP Krzemionki, Kraków. (After several beers we had to climb up to the TV tower
). Surprisingly there was no beer or any other type of alcohol available but due to the fact we were in a TV studio, I could understand this reasoning. Despite this drawback, we were compensated by a perfect lights and sound show.
The night kicked off with the Polish Asgaard. I've heard their name before but this was the first time I listened to their music. They are some kind of a gothic rock band with black metal influences where normally keyboards have an important role. But fortunately they didn't put too much weight on the keyboards - that usually makes this kind of music a bit boring and clichéd for me. They have a good singer, who used shrieking and low-tuned deep vocals too. The music got a bit heavier in the second part of their show and I really liked that. Seemed everybody knew them but they couldn't really impress the audience, although I did see a hardcore Asgaard fan that was wearing make up like the singer had. I think most of the audience was waiting for the foreign bands.
Anyway they played for more than 1 hour and in short, I found them just fine in their style. They are a bit above average, but they lack originality. Let's wait and see .
Asgaard
And the time had arrived, the living legends of Viking metal came on stage! Enslaved started to play as the second act of the night. Their music spoke for itself. With the wings of their great black-ish Viking metal we travelled back in time and could feel the Viking warrior spirit in ourselves. The sound was perfect and with their lights they impressed us even more. Cold lights, white and blue dominated through their show, providing a special atmosphere. Sometimes I felt like I was moving in thick fog. I was simply amazed. Let me mention {Dirge Rep} their fantastic drummer, who is an infernal musician and through long lapses of the show I simply had my eyes glued on him, just to fully enjoy his work.
They played from all their albums, satisfying every fans' wishes. In the beginning there were 'Frost` and `The Voices`. Then came `As Fire Swept Clean The Earth` when the crowd went really crazy and a real mosh pit started to form. The set moved on with `Heimdallr` and a new song from their upcoming album. Sorry, Im not sure about its title, but if I recall this song I can hear Grutle`s evil laugh in my ears again During `Queen of the Night` the whole stage was swamped by blue light. They played an instrumental song from Monumension and soon it was time for mighty `Wotan`. From this fast song the elemental energy of pagan ages poured down on us again. This is one of my favourite Enslaved pieces. They also played a cover song, `Retribution for the Dead` from Autopsy and I can tell you that they did a good job in covering it (just to note, one of the band members even wore an Autopsy t-shirt before their gig started). They also played `Jotunblod`, `Convoys To Nothingness`, and several other songs but most of the times I let the music take control over me and didnt concentrate on writing the titles down. But I remember clearly that they played `Slaget I Skogen Bortenfor` (released on their split cd with Emperor), a monumental black metal song with an evil atmosphere. - Another favourite from Enslaved. - Even the changing of the white and yellow lights gave some kind of weird vibration to the scene.
The band had a great time on the stage; many times head banging along with their fans. It was a pleasure to see them live.
Their concert has also got the chance to become the best show in 2002 for me, together with the `Thrash `em All Festival`.
Enslaved
I was also excited about Rotting Christ, one of the best known black metal band from Greece. Their atmospheric music has lot of fans all over the world and their latest record Genesis became a favourite album of mine after the first listen. I knew they were going to record the concert for a DVD so I expected something like a `best of` show without any problems but reality differs from our wishes.
The intro started and they came on stage. The first songs were `In Domine Satani`, `You Are I` and `Quintessence` that was interrupted due to some technical problem. Sakis apologized and after a short break they started from the beginning again.
Actually I was happy to hear them again because during the first songs I normally try to take pictures so I couldnt head bang and sing along to the music with them (I think the band members would have been very, very surprised). So, they started again and everything seemed to work fine. But after `Quintessence' and `Lex Tallion` we had a short break again before they could go on with `King of Stellar`, `Archon`, `The Sign Of Evil Existence` and it was time for the next. It was sad to see as fans left the hall from to time, losing their patience. At the other hand I can understand them. Just like me who had expected a fantastic show we got a stiff, sterile performance. I think RC wanted to record a perfect show - and I understand that too they wanted to do their best - but it turned out their fans became pissed off and without fans it`s not possible. They had to re-record the start of the show for the third time and we were listening to `In Domine Sathana` again. They played a few more songs during the show like `After Dark I Feel`, `Shadows Follow`, etc before closing with `Under The Name Of The Legion`.
I think this concert was a lasting lesson for everybody who was there.
Rotting Christ
The live (concert) feeling I missed during the RC show was returned by Dark Tranquillity whose energy reflected back on their fans. Mikael Stanne, as usual, lived together with the music, he was in motion the whole time, dominating the stage, you could feel his presence everywhere, and fans appreciated it. Everybody had a great time. Fortunately they didn't have any technical problems and everybody in the hall could fully enjoy their performance. I don't know what else to say about them, it was a perfect concert without mistakes. Let the pictures we took speak for themselves.
Here is a set list, thanks to Grzybik for that (Dziekuje!): The Wonders at your Feet, Punish my Heaven, Not Built to Last, Zodijackyl Light, Final Resistance, Haven, Format C: for Cortex, Insanity's Crescendo, The Treason Wall, UnDo Control, Damage Done, Lethe, Monochromatic Stains, The Sun Fired Blanks, Hedon, Indifferent Suns, Hours Passed in Exile, White Noise/Black Silence.
The patient fans even got a little 'present' from the band. They finished and everybody was leaving except for a bunch of their hardcore fans who stayed there waiting. It was well worth the time because the band came back and played some more songs. We were already at the entrance taking up our jackets when we heard their music so we rushed back and they were back on the stage! Thank you Dark Tranquillity! You topped that night showing how much you care with your fans; even only 20 or 30 of them were there.
Dark Tranquillity
Pictures taken at the concert can be viewed here
The night kicked off with the Polish Asgaard. I've heard their name before but this was the first time I listened to their music. They are some kind of a gothic rock band with black metal influences where normally keyboards have an important role. But fortunately they didn't put too much weight on the keyboards - that usually makes this kind of music a bit boring and clichéd for me. They have a good singer, who used shrieking and low-tuned deep vocals too. The music got a bit heavier in the second part of their show and I really liked that. Seemed everybody knew them but they couldn't really impress the audience, although I did see a hardcore Asgaard fan that was wearing make up like the singer had. I think most of the audience was waiting for the foreign bands.
Anyway they played for more than 1 hour and in short, I found them just fine in their style. They are a bit above average, but they lack originality. Let's wait and see .
Asgaard
And the time had arrived, the living legends of Viking metal came on stage! Enslaved started to play as the second act of the night. Their music spoke for itself. With the wings of their great black-ish Viking metal we travelled back in time and could feel the Viking warrior spirit in ourselves. The sound was perfect and with their lights they impressed us even more. Cold lights, white and blue dominated through their show, providing a special atmosphere. Sometimes I felt like I was moving in thick fog. I was simply amazed. Let me mention {Dirge Rep} their fantastic drummer, who is an infernal musician and through long lapses of the show I simply had my eyes glued on him, just to fully enjoy his work.
They played from all their albums, satisfying every fans' wishes. In the beginning there were 'Frost` and `The Voices`. Then came `As Fire Swept Clean The Earth` when the crowd went really crazy and a real mosh pit started to form. The set moved on with `Heimdallr` and a new song from their upcoming album. Sorry, Im not sure about its title, but if I recall this song I can hear Grutle`s evil laugh in my ears again During `Queen of the Night` the whole stage was swamped by blue light. They played an instrumental song from Monumension and soon it was time for mighty `Wotan`. From this fast song the elemental energy of pagan ages poured down on us again. This is one of my favourite Enslaved pieces. They also played a cover song, `Retribution for the Dead` from Autopsy and I can tell you that they did a good job in covering it (just to note, one of the band members even wore an Autopsy t-shirt before their gig started). They also played `Jotunblod`, `Convoys To Nothingness`, and several other songs but most of the times I let the music take control over me and didnt concentrate on writing the titles down. But I remember clearly that they played `Slaget I Skogen Bortenfor` (released on their split cd with Emperor), a monumental black metal song with an evil atmosphere. - Another favourite from Enslaved. - Even the changing of the white and yellow lights gave some kind of weird vibration to the scene.
The band had a great time on the stage; many times head banging along with their fans. It was a pleasure to see them live.
Their concert has also got the chance to become the best show in 2002 for me, together with the `Thrash `em All Festival`.
Enslaved
I was also excited about Rotting Christ, one of the best known black metal band from Greece. Their atmospheric music has lot of fans all over the world and their latest record Genesis became a favourite album of mine after the first listen. I knew they were going to record the concert for a DVD so I expected something like a `best of` show without any problems but reality differs from our wishes.
The intro started and they came on stage. The first songs were `In Domine Satani`, `You Are I` and `Quintessence` that was interrupted due to some technical problem. Sakis apologized and after a short break they started from the beginning again.
Actually I was happy to hear them again because during the first songs I normally try to take pictures so I couldnt head bang and sing along to the music with them (I think the band members would have been very, very surprised). So, they started again and everything seemed to work fine. But after `Quintessence' and `Lex Tallion` we had a short break again before they could go on with `King of Stellar`, `Archon`, `The Sign Of Evil Existence` and it was time for the next. It was sad to see as fans left the hall from to time, losing their patience. At the other hand I can understand them. Just like me who had expected a fantastic show we got a stiff, sterile performance. I think RC wanted to record a perfect show - and I understand that too they wanted to do their best - but it turned out their fans became pissed off and without fans it`s not possible. They had to re-record the start of the show for the third time and we were listening to `In Domine Sathana` again. They played a few more songs during the show like `After Dark I Feel`, `Shadows Follow`, etc before closing with `Under The Name Of The Legion`.
I think this concert was a lasting lesson for everybody who was there.
Rotting Christ
The live (concert) feeling I missed during the RC show was returned by Dark Tranquillity whose energy reflected back on their fans. Mikael Stanne, as usual, lived together with the music, he was in motion the whole time, dominating the stage, you could feel his presence everywhere, and fans appreciated it. Everybody had a great time. Fortunately they didn't have any technical problems and everybody in the hall could fully enjoy their performance. I don't know what else to say about them, it was a perfect concert without mistakes. Let the pictures we took speak for themselves.
Here is a set list, thanks to Grzybik for that (Dziekuje!): The Wonders at your Feet, Punish my Heaven, Not Built to Last, Zodijackyl Light, Final Resistance, Haven, Format C: for Cortex, Insanity's Crescendo, The Treason Wall, UnDo Control, Damage Done, Lethe, Monochromatic Stains, The Sun Fired Blanks, Hedon, Indifferent Suns, Hours Passed in Exile, White Noise/Black Silence.
The patient fans even got a little 'present' from the band. They finished and everybody was leaving except for a bunch of their hardcore fans who stayed there waiting. It was well worth the time because the band came back and played some more songs. We were already at the entrance taking up our jackets when we heard their music so we rushed back and they were back on the stage! Thank you Dark Tranquillity! You topped that night showing how much you care with your fans; even only 20 or 30 of them were there.
Dark Tranquillity
Pictures taken at the concert can be viewed here
