AGALLOCH, DORNENREICH & MELY
LONDON UNDERWORLD 26/03/09
The queue stretched right around the corner tonight prior to the doors opening and this show looked as though it was certain to be a sell out. I have to admit that this was a bit of a surprise as although both Agalloch and Dornenreich are excellent and were playing their first ever UK shows (I believe), British audiences are somewhat picky and there were a whole load of good metal and punk shows coming up in the space of a few days. Perhaps I am being unfair and negative on UK audiences though and this was a show that some had travelled to from abroad as well. So pat yourself on the back if you were there, if not you missed a great one.
Openers Fen warmed up those first through the doors playing new numbers from excellent album ‘The Malediction Fields,’ which you have read all about on these very pages. They were certainly well and truly on form and impressed all as they set trees on fire, blazing away like a pine forest aflame. Many turning up after this seemed somewhat surprised and annoyed at missing them and getting Mely instead but it is the touring bands who are always going to be the ones further up the bill. I have to admit I thought Mely were a slightly odd choice and knew they were going to have to work very hard to impress and audience who were probably not going to be very familiar with them. It probably did not help that new album ‘Portrait Of A Porcelain Doll’ had only been officially out for a few days too. Opener ‘Don’t Wake The Sleeping Dog’ had many in the crowd, stroking chins and deciding whether to give them the full 30 minutes or head to the bar and merch tables. The Austrians play what I guess is best described as progressive metal and the new album is a slightly frustrating listen in my opinion having a couple of knock out tracks but on the whole promising that the band have better to offer in the future. This opener was hardly one of the more upbeat crowd pleasers either but luckily dynamic heartfelt vocals on ‘Grown For Doom’ had me shrugging off some of my lethargy. They got a polite reaction from the crowd and finally delivered the goods with one of the better tracks on the album ‘Hell Low’ and if they had opened with that they could have had people eating out their hands. Mely struck as perfect support for the likes of Anathema or Porcupine Tree but here the jury is out?
I was slightly surprised to note that Dornenreich had a 45 minute slot and Agalloch 70 but Eviga and Inve with drummer Moritz Neuner back in the fold for the tour packed such depths of emotion into their set that anymore would have probably been too much to handle. It was by now pretty much rammed in here and I spent the start of the set trying to get some photos from the front (something which was virtually impossible during Agalloch) as well as take in the rich musical feast coming off the stage. Once the sound quickly gelled and the violin flurries really hit, we were transported off on a wild gypsy laden jig emphasised with abrupt guttural vocal barks. Earlier numbers such as ‘Eigenwach’ and ‘Schwarz Schaut Tiefsten Lichterglanz’ from ‘Her von welken Nächten’ married the more riff orientated metal elements of the group together with some of the folk elements that they would later explore more fully on their latest fantastic album ‘In Luft Geritzt.’ I have to admit I really did want to hear some material off this as it has been a firm favourite since I got it. Luckily the passionate ‘Jagd’ hit the spot and had the violin sections sounding like they were playing for the devil himself. This was totally unique and pretty much had me transfixed and got a triumphant reaction from the by now zealous watchers. Proving admirably that black metal and fiddle go together the Austrians finished with ‘Leben lechzend Herzgeflüster’ mixing clean croons and blasts into an evocative and tempestuous frenzy, which was going to make them a very difficult act to follow. (Pete Woods)
By the time Agalloch arrive on stage the main part of the venue is completely rammed, though any usual stench of spilled beer and sweat is initially masked by the sensuous whiff of incense, which all makes sense after a trip to Wikipedia.* From the moment the opening note to ‘Shadows of a Pale Companion’ wail out they have me totally mesmerised. Despite being familiar only with Pale Folklore and their most recent output Ashes… there is nothing tonight that seems unfamiliar, with ‘Limbs’ striking an instant chord; the guitars lingering majestically in the air as their doom laden roots push up through the earth. The band appear to be as entranced as the crowd, feeling their music intensely as the hypnotising melodies and enveloping ambience seem to transcend us collectively to another place; for all 70 minutes I feel as though I have left the Underworld and soared through the forests of Southeast Asia; hot on the trail of the ‘Bloodbirds.’ The raging sounds of ‘I Am The Wooden Doors’ blackens the room with its harsh guitars that seemingly set the forest ablaze turning it to a pile of ash. There’s a certain despondency in the clean vocal delivery on ‘Not Unlike The Waves’ as the rhythm crashes and sways as it gathers intensity. By now I’m torn between what has me more fascinated; the band or my shoes. Don Anderson looks as though he is in another world entirely; he pours his heart and soul into the performance which seeps out of his fingers and reflects off the strings of his guitar. Clearly it is such an intense, emotional experience that come the encore, Haugm is drained of all energy, collapsing to the ground. I’m unsure where those 70 minutes went to, but I was brought back down to the Underworld just in time to wander out in a mellow daze, after a set that literally had me pining for more!!! (Luci Herbert)
*From Wikipedia: Agalloch is derived from Agarwood, the resinous heartwood from a tree native to Southeast Asia, which is used to make incense and perfumes.
Pete Woods & Luci Herbert
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