UNLEASHED, MARDUK & VREID
3 black metal gigs by fairly hi-profile bands hit London in just over the space of a week, must be something in the air, maybe they were waiting till winter made the UK all grim and frostbitten. 1st up tonight were Vreid a band who have been criminally underrated as as far as reports of the incredibly low attendance of their most recent headline show at this very venue are concerned (guilty myself for not going). Having risen from the depths of Windir following singer Valfar’s death they have forged a path with their vitriolic brand of Norske black metal with folk laden overtones and again I was kicking myself for not actually having any of their albums as they launched into ‘I Krig.’ Ghastly rasps ransacked the venue courtesy of singer Sture and immediately they had people worshipping down the front, certainly making up for things last show.
Not sure how you can be ‘Raped By Light’ but they attempted such a feat, presenting a track that rattled out like a wild sleigh ride over icebound plateaus. The only way this one was going to culminate is by hitting a snow topped mountain at high velocity. Each and every number here had the stench of victory about them this was illustrated by plenty of fists pummelling the air. I think a good way of describing them musically is simply use of the word “driving” but there was a bit of a progressive flair to numbers such as ‘Svarte.’ Only complaint really was that the vocals were lost in the mix around this point, apart from that this was jubilant.
A few people were caught on the hop due to the fact that Marduk were next on. They had been rotating with Unleashed during the tour but both had an hour long set. I got to admit that this was a virtually impossible gig to photograph, it seemed like everyone in the audience was intent on throwing devils horns in the air and taking photos on mobiles and even recording the show! Anyone seen The Burning? I am seriously thinking about taking a pair of garden shears along to the next black metal gig!
That aside the second they blasted into things beer was flying all over the shop. Still Fucking Dead” were the words cadaverously delivered by the necrotic Mortuus and nobody was disagreeing. When Marduk are on form they are a devastating proposition and tonight was no exception. I have to admit to enjoying them with the more recent singer over the last 2 albums more than at virtually any other stage of their long despicably distinguished career. Not that they were just sticking to this era as numbers like ‘With Satan And Victorious Weapons’ and ‘Beast Of Prey’ proved. This struck as being one of the most evil performances that I have seen in some time. Not that I could really enjoy it as so much time was spent in attempting to get a few clean shots (and ending up wearing several pints of beer in the process). Highlight was the excellent ‘Hangman Of Prague’ and as the last track of the set proved ‘Panzer Division Marduk’ had flattened us in its wake.
At least many of the posturing artisan fan-boys pissed off after this, so there was a bit more room to enjoy the battleship that is Unleashed. Again this is an underrated band over here as those that left proved. Well they missed out as the Swedes had a formidable 17 years worth of songs to barrage us with. It was tales of olde such as ‘Never Ending Hate’ thrashing away with gnarly finesse that got the audience pumped up and diving from the stage. Captain Johnny Hedlund commanded this charge of the dark brigade, snarling away to this gauntlet fisting swathe of barbaric death thrash. I winced as a stage diver missed all but the floor but he quickly got to their feet.
The fetid ‘Don’t Want To Be Born’ wrapped itself placenta-like around us, death grunts and all. There were plenty of people arriving on stage and the group’s crew had work cut out flinging them back into the crowd. ‘The Immortals’ just seemed to get the drunken hordes even more riled up. As the night started, thus it ended with glorious victory, this was an evening where everyone was a warrior and the horn of Valhalla had been drunk deeply from. I was going to worry about the hangover in the morning.
Pete Woods
LONDON UNDERWORLD 28/11/07