SECRETS OF THE MOON, SOLSTAFIR & ISRATHOUM
LONDON PURPLE TURTLE 20/09/09
Israthoum had impressed with their ‘Monument Of Brimstone’ album released earlier this year by Spinefarm and I was interested in seeing what they were like live. If you had blinked you would have missed the fact that Kvhost from Code and DHG had been in the group on second guitar for like seconds but had left before this show due to travelling distances from the rest of the Dutch band. Not that this impacted on this performance at all as they quickly burst onto the stage riffing away hell for leather and with angry vocals from singer Voxinferi, loud and almost deafening in the mix. There was no need for corpse-paint here and tonight all three bands let the music do the talking, although all had a fine coating of dust on them, perhaps Solstafir had a back stage accident with a bag of flour in tribute to Fields Of The Nephilim. The audience seemed to be enjoying things although the turnout could certainly have been better even at this early stage but London is often affected by the curse of Sunday night syndrome it would seem. Anyone dozing should have been woken up by this full throttled assault and even when the band slowed and sparkled with some shining and grandiose guitar work they captivated. This was however not something they did often preferring to play at 2 speeds, fast and faster and with numbers like ‘Christ Null And Void’ they really hit the mark. Track of the night from them for me was ‘Soul Funeral’ with its rapid stop, start instrumental jangle. The only reason I was glad that they had finished was due to the fact I was looking forward to the other bands so much. (PW)
While I had thoroughly enjoyed the icy brimstone that preceded them, all was forgotten the moment Solstafir took the stage and brought with them a dark aura that had me rather transfixed. I had been looking forward to this band the most, having heard excellent things about their performances abroad and they certainly lived up to my expectations tonight. From the opening bars they took us ’78 Days In The Desert’ and perhaps a full 78 minutes, although their set seemed to be over in a flash and flowed effortlessly taking one on a psychedelic journey. The hypnotic guitars were nothing short of stunning and the rich basslines compliment superbly while the clean vocals of Adalbjorn Tryggvason soar ad infinitum and pours his heart and soul into every lyric and every note on ‘Kold,’ which is quite the opposite with its warmth and its desolate passion; in fact, musically this is as hot as bassist Svavar’s flame red locks which are, to the amusement of some, in pigtails; all he needs is a Viking helmet and he could join Ensiferum! There must be at least a hundred pedals across the stage, and while having no clue what any of them might do it somewhat provides an insight into the otherworldly sounds and tuneful distortion that are emitted through this intense performance. If the outfits aren’t a dead giveaway (flour so I’m told, not a collision with a truck smuggling cocaine) then the jangly Gothic guitars at least give the impression that the Neph are in the building, spiritually, at least. Spotify allowed me the proverbial musical pre-gig handshake but my big regret is not getting to know their repertoire more thoroughly. Having watched them play their hearts out and blow the last band off the stage, the only thing for me to do is stagger over to the merch table, slap a £10 note on it and grab a copy of the album, which has been in heavy rotation ever since. Now, I suggest you do the same. (LH)
The prospect of seeing Secrets of the Moon in London felt a little strange to be honest, as the previous three occasions had included boarding planes to Germany to begin with and then retiring back to a tent or hotel room. I wasn’t going to let this put me off however and by the time the ‘Privilegivm’ introduction had started, was suitably psyched up for what I thought would be an hour of Deutschland’s finest Blackened Metal.
‘Sulphur’ began, and I could kind of tell I wasn’t in the best place, right at the front, if I wanted a vaguely decent sound mix. Ar’s (Arioch ex Negura Bunget) highly crystalline riff of misery, wasn’t so much behind in the sound, but hardly acknowledged and the rhythm sG was carving out with his axe was depleting into the background murk. ‘Ghost’s black piercing rays were more or less lost in the mire of sound, however the finishing flourishes involving Thelemnar’s selective blasting were audible enough to satisfy.
By this point I was becoming vastly more interested in searching for more clarity, and found it to some degree, a little way back from the fore. It was obviously a fateful decision as I was just in time to hear the wonders of ‘Bleakstar’ and its fantastic monolithic slab-like riffing. From this position, vocalist sG’s actions suggested he was in the process of invoking a spirit, forcefully pointing his fingers around and reminiscent of baphomet. I have never hesitated in describing him as one of the most charismatic front-men in Metal, and tonight was no exception, as he appeared in a world of his own.
It felt incredibly early in the set for ‘Lucifer Speaks’, but they were mixing songs around and had had to cut the new ‘Black Halo’ due to time constraints as a result of Solstafir’s ridiculously long ‘hour’ on stage. I may have been more annoyed by this if the sound had improved dramatically, but as it was, even Lucifer’s slow gloomy trail failed to be reproduced in its typical splendour leaving me feeling quite underwhelmed. There are certain bands whose riffs absolutely speak and evoke total emotion in me, but sadly this was an element missing tonight thanks to the wretched murk dripping from the PA. You could hardly hear the magnitude of ‘Seraphim is Dead’, as it stealthily exploded into a carving Black Metal intensity. LSK and Ar joined forces to make this death known loud and (un) clear and I wondered, following my earlier interview, whether LSK was appreciating ‘Queen among Rats’ as much as usual tonight. I certainly wasn’t, but was glad I witnessed it at Summer Breeze the previous month when it had an at least half decent sound. (OC)
Review Oliver Cass, Luci Herbert and Pete Woods
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