Sathanas in Gloriam IV: Occult Lunar Incantations (2.10.2010-3.10.2010, Baroeg, Rotterdam)

During this past weekend a Sathanas in Gloriam Productions fest took place in Baroeg, Rotterdam. Due to schedule limitations on my part it was watch the first shows on each day. Nevertheless, it was still possible to watch all the main attractions and the result was one of a good festival, well organized, with a overall good sound on most shows and only a few minor delays. The bill had sufficient variety (considering it was supposed to be only black metal bands) and undeniable quality.

As for the first day, I still managed to watch the end of Kjeld (a Dutch band) which seemed (and I stress that this is only the impression I got from a few songs) to be more form than substance.

Therefore, the first show for me was Acherontas, a Greek band that was one of the finest surprises of the weekend. The songs varied enough from fast-paced and ferocious blast beat supported riffs (which, fortunately were not that many, since they consisted the more generic parts) to some more atmospheric and mid-tempo passages, with good melodies and a nice voice to top it up. What really surprised me was that, while using pretty much standard black metal elements, the atmospheres and melodies were done in a quite personal way. Songs like Conjuration of The Five Negatives and Pestilence of Mortality were some of the highlights of a performance that was unfortunately cut short due to a problem in the drum-set. After them, the first two-man band of the night and one of the best shows of the weekend.


I am talking about The One (there is no official myspace as far as I know). The first thing that comes about in their show is the huge wall of sound that is coming from that guitar. Putting that with a very eerie and atmospheric sound, a stage filled with smoke and some cleaner and distant voices and you can get an idea of what it was - intense and loud. By the time they finished, at the silencing of the amplifier and the vanishing of the smoke, you had the idea of waking up from some dark slumber.

Before the main point of interest of the night, that being Urfaust, Throne of Katarsis played. I have to say I don't really get why they got so many people to watch them. It was plain and generic black metal with a scenery (as in corpse paint, fake or true blood and some ridiculous chants) that instead of creating something impressive just made it look like a circus.

In contrast, the stage seemed completely naked for Urfaust. No corpse paint, no blast beats, no big fuss. The music is as simple as it gets, the drumming is usually slow paced and distant and the vocals are some of the most unique and excellent I've ever found in black metal. The surprising thing was that what you get on an album is perfectly transposed to a live setting. My best expectations on IX's voice were immediately proved to be enormous understatements as I was constantly creeped out and having goosebumps, such was the haunting effect of it. Overall, it shows that you don't need a circus (and I am repeating the word on purpose) if you have enough feeling and songs which are good enough to get your audience hypnotized. Visual issues apart, for those who that have a special thing for their latest EP, Einsiedler, they did play the second song from it - Verderber (also a couple of excellent tracks from Geist ist Teufel).
They proved to be the perfect ending for the day and this show alone would made it worthwhile. When you also get the two Greek acts (Acherontas and The One) on top of it, it makes for a great day.



On the second day, I started with Mortifera.



Sound-wise, it was awesome and the atmosphere was all there. When it comes to the visual part, there were high and low points. When the lightning was properly set up (as in coming almost exclusively behind the band) and the necessary amount of smoke was filling the stage it was perfect, had it been the whole show like this and it would have been the been the best concert of the fest with Urfaust. However, there were lots of times where the lightning and smoke just didn't adjust to the sounds and the fact that Noktu is not a stage animal also helped. That fact became irrelevant when he was either singing (such feeling) or when the lightning was right, but otherwise became a bit odd. In terms of set list, we got A Last Breath Before Extinction and that is all that I need to say.



The following was Ondskapt who had (as far as the bands I saw are concerned) by far the worst sound of the festival. On purpose or not, their riffs are too good to be that loud and at some points it was just a big mess. Sound problems apart, it was complete devastation from beginning to the end, with songs from every release of the band (EP included).



I would personally do without some of the visual circus on stage but I guess that's just a personal view. At least the music kind of matched the intensity of the disguises which makes it a bit more coherent. We can judge the performance of Sargeist along more or less the same lines: less brutal and more melodic (and with a very good sound) but with the same devastating and face-paced attitude and visual effects, so to speak. The set also included a song - empire of suffering - from the upcoming album, Let the Devil In, which promises more of the same: good furious black metal - not a big revolution but well done stuff.

Summing up the second day, while not being as good as the first one (but then again, it would have been almost impossible for any of this bands to top up Urfaust's performance on the previous day), was quite balanced and the sequence starting with the atmospheric black of Mortifera and ending with the ferocity of Ondskapt and Sargeist mas good enough to send everyone home satisfied.



The photos were taken by Chérie and John to Metal Photo and posted here with their due consent.

Note: in their respective order, the pictures are concerning the acts of The One, Urfaust, Mortifera, Mortifera, Ondskapt and Ondskapt again.