Dodheimsgard, Agnes Vein, Kult of Taurus // Eightball Club, Thessaloniki, Greece // 14.11.2015
Winter kicked off quite warm here in Greece this year, since now that I’m writing these words it’s 17th of November 2015 and the temperature outside just 17 Celsius degrees above zero. So, it happened the day of the show (14.11.2015) as well, even though the darkness was quite more blackened in the 8ball club area because of this black metal gathering.
Due to personal responsibilities, I arrived on venue 2 hours later than the scheduled door opening (22.00), thinking that I had already missed support act Kult of Taurus and hopefully, I would have ran upon Agnes Vein’s show halfway, but to my surprise, I was informed that the doors had been opened after a 2 hour delay and on stage were indeed Kult of Taurus… So, after a wide smile, I entered to see what went on inside the club.
Kult of Taurus , played a small set of songs from their two releases, and performed flawlessly their obscure ritualistic black metal, wearing special designed clothes for their stage performance. Quite a band to catch up on, if they happen to perform near your town. It was a pleasure to actually see a show and not some guys just playing their guts out. They were really good, in what they did and I believe they were one of the best choices I have seen lately, supporting a relevant genre “bigger” band, in this case Dodheimsgard .
After a few minutes of stage reloading, on stage were local sludge –doom ritualists Agnes Vein. Playing a near hour magma of doom, sludge and black metal ritual sounds, these guys really have made their way through, to Thessaloniki’s elite audience. With a massive sound and some new compositions, the trio gave one of their best performances I’ve seen coming from their ranks. Although, they had to keep the audience warming up for something that was not of their genre, I think they did quite an enormous effort and succeeded. This band just needs a synchronized light show and they will be on the next step of professional performance as well!
The clock stroke around midnight when Agnes Vein had already left the stage and on stage were Avant –garde black metal’s crème de la crème, Dodheimsgard from Norway. Although, this was the third time that they would appear on Greek ground, it would be my first chance of experiencing their music live so, I was quite excited and cautious as well of what it would be like, listening to this variety of sounds mixed and performed live. Unfortunately, it took them around half an hour to be ready to perform and the first notes form their latest album, hit the speakers while the clock read 00.30.
DHG managed to perform songs, from their versatile catalogue in a ridiculously beautiful way, mixing their sounds so well like a flowing river. No obstacles, no boundaries. It was quite impressive to, actually ,see their mystical industrial black metal experiment alive. Aldrahn, figured out dancing movements and gestures that followed the music throughout the show. While Vicotnik’ s guitar playing and overall performance was impeccable! As for the rhythm section of Sekaran (drums) and L.E. Måløy (bass) there’s no better word to describe their playing abilities, than masterclass! Clear sound, nice performances and one of the best club shows in terms of atmosphere and performance by all bands.
The only thorn I could and should point out, was the delayed start of the show, which is an issue of professionalism and should be avoided in any way, by all means. May they come once again to the near future and all of you who missed it, never do that mistake again in your lives!