by Arta Gailuma
— Photojournalist —
When I arrived at the venue, despite the early hours of the day, there was already a long queue stretching along Digbeth’s main street and everyone was excited to see tonight’s performances.
First on the stage was US Olympian black metallers Wolves In The Throne Room. These guys did not waste time with chitchatting between songs or any other distraction. They are masters at creating atmosphere, and no wonder, have become highly regarded in the extreme Metal field. The smell of incense was in the air and the room, sinking into darkness, was filling with brutal, dark guitar riffs, accompanied by sounds of crackling fire and wolf howls. It was easy to close the eyes and nodding head in the rhythm forget all the troubles, lose the sense of self and imagine wondering around the depths of a mossy forest. With a short set of three pieces from band’s latest album Thrice Woven; “Angrboda”, “The Old Ones Are With Us”, “Born From the Serpent’s Eye”- it was over way too soon and we were back to reality.
Now it was time for Swedish quintet At The Gates to take the stage- one of the pioneers of Gothenburg- style Melodic Death Metal. Frontman Tomas Lindberg was tirelessly moving across the stage fist pumping, holding the mic stand high and asking the fans to join in. They, however, did not need any encouragement- the hair was flying, the moshpit was growing and the set consisting of pieces from band’s latest three albums turned into one big sing- along.
A black transparent mesh was pulled in front of the audience for stage turnover. Children’s chants from the intro of “Solve” were filling the room and then they were getting louder until eventually erupting into heavy riffs of “Wolves Ov Siberia”. The curtain fell unveiling the masked men behind elaborate mic stands, a whole row of smoke cannons went off and it was time for the blasphemous Black Metal ritual to begin.
As part of Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica Tour, tonight’s set was focused on band’s latest album, I Loved You At Your Darkest, released in October 2018, however, we also got some older pieces that have shaped Behemoth as a band and created a cult following for them.
With this tour, Behemoth has taken things to a whole new level and put together a spectacular theatrical show with headpieces, costumes, ceremonies, smoke and amazingly beautiful lighting to top up the musical experience. With only a couple more concert dates left, the Poles will be getting ready for a very busy festival season starting already in March, so there is plenty of opportunities to see them in summer.
Concert Photo Gallery
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Band:
Adam “Nergal” Darski- lead vocals, guitar
Tomasz “Orion” Wróblewski- bass, backing vocals
Zbigniew “Inferno” Promiński- drums
Patryk “Seth” Sztyber- guitars, backing vocals
Setlist:
Wolves of Siberia
Daimonos
Ors Pro Nobis Lucifer
Bartzabel
Ov Fire and the Void
God=Dog
Conquer All
Ecclesia Diabolica Catholica
Decade of Therion
Blow Your Trumpets Gabriel
Slaves Shall Serve
Chant for Eschaton 2000
Encore:
Lucifer
We Are the Next 1000 Years
www.behemoth.pl
www.facebook.com/behemoth/
www.atthegates.se
www.facebook.com/AtTheGatesOfficial/
www.wittr.com
www.facebook.com/wolvesinthethroneroom/
