Event:	Club Daos: 6th Anniversary Show
Written by:	RaduP
Published:	07.05.2016

Considering all the hype around the release of Mozaic last year, I don't think there's any need of introduction for Sunset In The 12th House. It even got 3rd place in the post-metal category of the 2015 Metal Storm awards, and that's a lot for a debut album.

Having already seen Dordeduh live once, and Transceatla twice (once while under the Makrothumia name) it was about time I saw the last of Karban's projects (as I sadly can't experience Negură Bunget with him and Popescu anymore, although I've seen them touring for Tău).

The band has been playing concerts since about 2010, but only rarely, and therefore any of their concerts is quite a special event. However this wasn't just any concert, as the venue had a little celebration going on, reaching six years of activity. Club Daos is your go-to metal venue in Timişoara, a place where I've experienced concerts by Dordeduh, Bucovina, Methadone Skies, Korpiklaani, Arkona, Behemoth, Finntroll, Bølzer, Decapitated, Hate, and Samsara Blues Experiment, and may it forever bring us great bands to see live. The sound guys you see at every concert here make this anniversary even more special as you may recognize them as Karban and Popescu among others.

Most of my friends in the city were at another concert, so I arrived alone, expecting to only see familiar faces but no one exactly cordial. Luck was on my side, as another one of my friends from my hometown showed up with some friends as he was celebrating his birthday when he was not ranting about how he could have been at the Steven Wilson show in Budapest instead. It being his birthday I also got free drinks, but the Sunset In The 12th House T-shirt I had to buy myself.

The concert was opened by a metalcore band, named The Dignity Complex, who played quite a long set for such an unknown band with only one recorded song. I also noticed that much of the lineup had changed since I last saw them, but they were still able to put on a good show, although you could tell that, besides a few folks, the majority of the crowd was not into it and you can't really blame them considering how different post-rock and metalcore are.

After a break, Sunset In The 12th House showed up on stage and began tuning their instruments. I noticed two things: a lot of guitars and guitar-like instruments that were sure to create a perfect soundscape, and that Sergio Ponti was not on drums. Seems like I haven't been as active on social media and I missed the band looking for another drummer and having settled on Andrei Jumugă (who also plays with Edmond in Transceatla, and in other bands like Ordinul Negru and Syn Ze Sase Tri).

The atmosphere was a very private and pleasant one, especially considering how Edmond talked to the crowd, opening with a "Good evening". This was a night celebrating six years among friends. This ambiance continued even as the music started playing, melting with the ethereal and the transcendental (which might be words I overuse when describing music of this kind, but no other words can describe the way this music makes me feel). The band played Mozaic in its entirety, albeit not in exact order. One of the most noteworthy moments was the performance of "Desert's Eschaton" when Edmond swapped his guitar for a mandola (as seen in the photos), to perfectly capture the oriental feel of the song in question. Despite being mainly instrumental, he also provided vocals for "Ethereal Consonance" and "Rejuvenation," the latter featuring harsher vocals, although they are further away from the blacker ones in Dordeduh and closer to the stonerish ones some of you might have heart in his guest performance on Methadone Skies's "Dichotomic Equity".

The show was over with "Rejuvenation" and the crowd expected an encore they didn't get sadly, but the night was not over even so, as the band came out of the backstage as soon as the gear was gathered from the stage. It was far from the first time I talked with Edmond, this time taking the time to talk about the future of his projects, especially Transceatla, which will release their debut around autumn. After sitting around with old friends who I was also surprised to see at the show (they came for The Dignity Complex instead), I bought my T-shirt and went home.