Ελληνικά
Last Updated on 03:18 PM by Lilliana Tseka
Last Tuesday I interrupted my regular work week schedule to head over to Bruges, Belgium, for a show of the legendary Agalloch.
But before we get to see the grandmasters we needed something to get in the right mood. A job the Belgian band Drawn Into Descent took upon them. During the first songs this young band delivered pleasant atmospheric black metal. The singer – names of the band members could not be found online – shrieks like we hear in bands like Austere or Totalselfhatred. Very fitting for the melancholic atmosphere. During the slower songs the drummer used his hi-hat a little too monotonous for my personal taste, while he filled other parts nicely with some varied drum progressions. The little issue with the hi-hat is quickly forgotten when Drawn Into Descent sped up the pace in the second part of their set to finish with an intense climax. Keep an eye out for their self-titled album to be released on September 28. The album that will be released through Immortal Frost Productions counts six songs and is limited to 500 copies. You might want to place on order online if you are interested!
Second in line to warm up the crowd is the French CROWN. On their Facebook page they described themselves as ‘industrial sludge doom drone electro psyche progressive music’. And all these elements appear somewhere throughout the show. CROWN consists of three guitar players, with two 8-strings and a 7-string respectively, and a drum computer. While skeptical at first about the live use of machine, CROWN implements it in an entertaining way. Next to the regular hits you would expect from percussion, each strike was amplified with effects. This made their style reminiscent of the martial industrial genre at times. Also the human guitar players eagerly used their effect panels. While one singer also threw his voice through the effects, the other vocalist used clean vocals more often. This way their music had something desperate, threatening at the one hand, while you got drawn into a stumping, apocalyptic atmosphere on the other hand. The band itself did not seem pleased with the sound on stage, but in the venue it troubled me less. A non-everyday band that succeeded to pleasantly surprise me.
Around the hour of 9 it was time for he main act of the evening. Yes, I know, quite early compared to Greek standards. Agalloch had already made a stop in Belgium during their Serpens In Cvlmination Tour earlier this month but that coincided with two other metal festivals which prevented me from going. A luxury problem, obviously. I had not heard anything from the other show so I did not know what to expect tonight. There was no doubt that I would be treated with nothing less than a quality show, though. As always frontman John Haughm took the time to light up some incense on stage so that during the intro tones of ‘(serpens caput)’ a pleasant odor dispersed through the crowd. Definitely something different than the regular smell of human sweat. As could be predicted, the emphasis was strongly on the latest 2014 album The Serpent & The Sphere, with as a personal highlight ‘Dark Matter Gods’. While this album is absolutely top class, some of Agalloch’s older songs succeed in captivating you just that little more. As a consequence the iconic long stretched intro note of Limbs was received with great enthusiasm of the crowd. But things can always be a little older and also ‘The Melancholy Spirit’ from the debut album Pale Folklore was released on the audience. At times songs are played with a slightly different effect or riff, but this only proves that this band is not rusted or just reeling through the setlist. While CROWN had an intense industrial vibe, you have no trouble imagining the nature and spirits Agalloch likes to chant about. With their long epic songs time creeps by very fast. You are always treated with value for you money, though, and the band left the stage under a round of loud applause after playing an almost two hour show. Smoke filled the small venue for a while longer so we could slowly return to everyday reality while enjoying the last fading guitar tones on the background.
Feeling eager to watch CROWN and Agalloch already? Go watch them during the final dates of the tour!
23.08 Athens, Kyttaro
24.08 Thessaloniki, Eightball
