Ugh, last night saw BACKYARD BABIES at the Mean Fiddler, probably the last show for me this Winter, since most of the tours are finished. It might be good to take some time to breathe again...we went to this aftershow party in a place called SIN. This joint was SO pr0n!
At least now I know that even at 4:30 a.m. you still can get good asian food for a couple of pounds in China Town.

Yay, Jan was in town.
And what do you do with friends in Camden Town on a sunday night?
Exactly, take'em to a NAPALM DEATH show.
So Jan, Lianna and I went and...were blasted. What else...

Uuuuhyea, I spent my Saturday night in Kingston-Upon-Thames where the supreme ABGOTT were giving their first first live impression of their amazing new album "Artefact of Madness", which has been released in the UK only on HELVETE&HATE.
And mandness it was, we missed most of the support bands, but let's be honest: another Black Metal act...am I bovered? The answer is no, I believe...
Eitherway, a slight grin happens to flash over my face everytime I see a band I personally know on stage wearing corpse paint. Maybe it just belongs togehter with this music.

Musically this was a raving experience, four brilliant individual musicians who collectively sound just displacing and yet massive. It's quite sad that most of the bands in the BM scene seem to rank attitude higher than talent. But here we do have quite an exception, where musical craftsmanship and creativity go hand in hand with old school BM spirit. Refreshing!
I just hope nobody really believes that they were able to play 21/11 rhythms, this is an idea wrong to it's very core and based upon a simple misunderstanding it was actually written by a magazine.

At the end of the day it has been quite a while since a BM band was able to impress me at all.
Here it IS clearly the case. And to make it perfect, they are utter gentlemen also...
Chapeaux! I'm looking forward to the German Dinner with these ItaloAnglian loonatics, next weekend(ed.: postponed to december ).




ps.: Yet it's a bit annoying when friends hugging you leave their corpse paint on your leather wear...well...



pps: If you're into creative Black Metal infused with Thrash and Jazz, check out their new album "Artefact of Madness"

If you've come to England to NOT make friends, this is how it works.
Just mention that this day in Germany is no commemoration day, but the beginning of the carnival season.



Wollemersereilasse...

Alright, this needs a few more words than I normally lose on this blog...
Last night OPETH ("from Stockholm, Sweden") played the ROUNDHOUSE in Camden Town and apparently filmed the show for an upcoming DVD release. The venue itself is as beautiful as it is legendary, homestead to THE DOORS's only ever London show in 1969.





Quote of the Day
Mikael Åkerfeldt: "I'm gonna take the role of Jim Morrison now and say something obscene: COCK!"

Special Guests were PARADISE LOST, that's to begin with.
Dear, that's what I call a blast from the past. Long lost scenes of my past life reoccurred before my eyes when they played songs like Hallowed Land, Embers Fire, Shadowkings, Eternal and of course As I Die. A quick fix of teenage angst.
Shivers? Certainly!



Enter OPETH

Expectations were high, as ever with this quintett.
The big silver screen replacing the usual backdrop looked quite promising.
Eventually someone made OPETH's stage appearance look like what they sound like:
An amalgam of late 60's Psycedelic Prog / flowing colours and shapes like in the Beat Club on one side, and Death Metal with all its skulls, shadows and blurred visions on the other.

The setlist was a bit of a surprise, for the better, since it only featured one song contained on the LAMENTATIONS DVD. Actually it was quite refreshing to hear something different than the everblasting THE DRAPERY FALLS, DELIVERANCE or THE LEPER AFFINITY...



WHEN
Once inside I heard whispers in the parlour.
The gilded faces grin, aware of my final demise
...
When is the new beginning,
the end of this sad madrigal.



GHOST OF PERDITION
If one cut the source of the flow
And everything would change
Would conviction fall
In the shadow of the righteous
The phantasm of your mind
Might be calling you to go
Defying the forgotten morals
Where the victim is the prey



UNDER THE WEEPING MOON
I am the watcher in the skies
Nor the emeralds know my mark
Glisten to mark their presence
Set the enigma ablaze
Searching...
Finding...

Mikael: "The lyrics are typical Black Metal nonsense."
Well...



BLEAK
Devious movements in your eyes
Moved me from relief
Breath comes out white clouds with your lies
And filters through me
You're close to the final word
You're staring right past me in dismay
A liquid seeps from your chest
And drains me away
Mist ripples round your thin white neck
And draws me a line
Cold fingers mark this dying wreck
This moment is mine



FACE OF MELINDA
Words would falter to atone
Failure had passed the stepping stone
She had sworn her vows to another
This is when no-one will bother
And conceded pain in crumbling mirth
A harlot of God upon the earth
Found where she sacrificed her ways
That hollow love in her face



THE NIGHT AND SILENT WATER
And so you left us
Jaded and gaunt, some September
Wilted with the seasons
But hidden inside the delusion
I saw you eyes, somewhere




WINDOWPANE
There is deep prejudice in me
Outshines all reason inside
Given dreams all ridden with pain
And projected unto the last




BLACKWARTER PARK
We have all lost it now
Catching the flakes of dismay
Born the travesty of man
Regular pulse midst pandemonium
You're plucked to the mass
Parched with thirst for the wicked
Sick liaisons raised this monumental mark
The sun sets forever over Blackwater park
_____________________________
Encore/ NO QUARTER

Mikael: "This is porn music, isn't it?! What do you reckon, is this the oral scene or the anal scene?"



DEMON OF THE FALL

And you saw nothing.
False love turned to pure hate.
The wind cried a lamentation
before merging with the grey.

So that was it.
The fabulous end of a Tour lasting more than one and a half years.
To be painfully honest, it's a really good thing they're taking a break now to recharge batteries, avoid some of the recent hype around them and maybe look after Melinda's ear infection...

Just one thing really scares me.
What the fuck are all these nerds, emo kiddies and hoodie-wearing, monkey-dancing indie-weirdoz doing at an OPETH show?!?

Maybe that's the price to pay for the deserved success, methinks.

One more night, my dear children, and the incredible OPETH from Stockholm, Sweden will fold their branches around Camden's Roundhouse. Let's find out whether Mikael has learnt some new German words during the last tour cycle...MEIN HUND IST DUNKELBLAU

Oh, it most definitly should be mentioned that the legendary PARADISE LOST are also gonna be there to play...ÄÄÄÄÄÄS AIIIIIII DAAAAAAAAIIIIIII......

...it could be 1994 again. Time travel is not accordable with common logic you say?
Fair enough... but DISMEMBER, GRAVE, UNLEASHED and ENTOMBED at the Carling Academy last night would have made you think twice.

And, YES, that's meant as a compliment

OLDSKOOL SVENSK ELKØD METALLEN

Still very very impressed with the fabulous THE HAUNTED at Camden Town's Underworld on Wednesday night. Peter Dolving is clearly a charismatic frontman, hellyes!