Written by:	Abattoir
Published:	April 19, 2019

Round 13 : Rotten Sound, Implore (26.03.2019 - Zagreb/Croatia) --> Venue: Klub Mocvara

CONCERT REVIEW:

Off to my apparently "second home" (at least up to now) on this run, Klub Mocvara. On this occasion, a grindcore package - Rotten Sound and Implore - stopped in Zagreb on its march through Europe. Yeah, it was time for some uncompromising ripping, crushing, and smashing of every barrier in the club. I did, however, expect some more fans at this gig; the venue was just a little less than half full. Not much. It didn't bother me at all, though. I like the comfy space of movement around my fragile body.




It's commonly known that live performances of grindcore bands are anything but being hesitant or within the speed limits. From the initial burst of striking beats, the adrenaline kicks through your body instantly, like a dose of heroin, shot directly into your neck vein (with more awareness of course). Explosive, insanely loud, 95% extremely fast-paced tempo, etc. At some point you would think that every fucking grindcore band gives you almost the same impression or feedback. And Germans Implore, who were hitting the stage first, did not stand out any differently in this aspect. Sure, when comparing bands, the exploration and creation of the music in this certain subgenre is far from being similar - but, of course, you must include lots of other factors. Implore presented themselves in a crazy-ass-shit manner, the way it was meant to be and was expected from my point of view. As usual (for grindcore performers), the set went by quickly, taking around 35 minutes in total.




Finland's experienced gang Rotten Sound came up next as the headliners of the night and the whole tour. As far as the level of intensity and aggression is concerned, Rotten Sound continued where their predecessors had finished, adding a step or two in this way for sure. One thing I noticed almost immediately was the sound and the overall volume of it, which was significantly improved and higher. More noise is always welcome. It's true that I was standing very close to the stage (more on the side), actually a meter from the speakers. My body was trembling as if I were suffering from Parkinson's disease for 45 minutes (not making fun of it). Crazy feeling. Rotten Sound, as "cold" fellas from the north, know how to serve and heat up the atmosphere in the room to the fullest. As a hardcore atheist, I'll simply say: BLESS GRINDCORE!

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Round 14 : Jungle Rot, Ultra-Violence (05.04.2019 - Velenje/Slovenia) --> Venue: eMCe Klub

CONCERT REVIEW:

Round 14, also the one to conclude the first-quarter cycle, led me to another small, "undiscovered" Slovenian city, Velenje. A place called eMCe Klub hosted US death metal masters Jungle Rot and Italian thrashers Ultra-Violence. While this gig was booked months ago, it was almost canceled in the end. Fortunately it wasn't. The organizers were able to postpone it for one-and-a-half-to-two hours after it was planned initially. The reason was some other music event happening in the bigger (sports) hall that is actually the main building of the whole complex. That event ended around 11 pm, which was the main condition that had to be met before our "night ritual" could begin after all.

Italian quartet Ultra-Violence had finally started their thrash metal engines. Performing on this tour as a support band, the band began with a very hardcore-driven approach (not pointing to the genre hardcore), holding the high pace with fast, dynamic riffs all over. As their set was moving towards the end, that approach kind of faded gradually to my senses. It's not that they didn't have the grip of a live performance, it's just the music, as the main factor, did not move my interest to be something more than just average. Additionally, the sound of drums was (again) very bland and flat, which bothered me a lot. Also, generally it could have been too loud for my taste. Not only during Ultra-Violence appearance, but during Jungle Rot as well. I guess the Rotten Sound noise effect was still strongly present in my head and senses.




Tensions and appetites before the next one had grown. It was already close to 00:30 when Jungle Rot's attack began. The band was heading out on this route in support of their latest full-length effort, simply titled Jungle Rot, their tenth to date. In 25 years on the scene, they've created a significant dose of consistent, solid death metal music, building a very decent career so far. Fronted by founder and vocalist/guitarist Dave Matrise, [band]Jungle Rot[/and] as expected attracted much more of a crowd at the front of the stage. Even though the gig was held in a very small club (max. cap. around 80-100), it wasn't full, nor close to that. Nevertheless, with their "old-school-sounding" death metal and sovereign approach, the band brought more ruggedness and intensity to the table, putting out a decent show in the end and satisfying the majority of the present metalheads.

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Round 15 : Hans Zimmer (13.04.2019 - Graz/Asutria) --> Venue: Stadthalle

CONCERT PREFACE:

Up for some film soundtrack music, performed live by a symphony orchestra? Sure, why not? For those who may not be familiar with him, Hans Zimmer is a famous German composer of film music in Hollywood. He has written and composed music for movies such as The Dark Knight, Inception, Interstellar, The Da Vinci Code, Pearl Harbor, Pirates Of The Caribbean, The Lion King, Dunkirk, and many more (more than 150 in total). Concerning this European tour and his live performances, Hans Zimmer will present some music from the aforementioned movies with a full symphony orchestra on board and some extremely talented solo musicians and vocalists.

Entrance fee: 130? (including travel costs)



Round 16 : Sleep (18.04.2019 - Ljubljana/Slovenia) --> Venue: Kino Siska

CONCERT PREFACE:

California-based astronaut stoner doom heavyweight trio Sleep is coming to town. What a pleasure. One of my most-anticipated bands to see live will surely be a striking attraction. They will be touring in support of their recent comeback record, The Sciences, their first one in many (long) years. While you never know when Sleep will go to 'sleep mode' in the future, this certainly is a must-see opportunity.

Entrance fee: 24?

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FIRST QUARTER SUMMARY:

With these two events (14 in total), and three full months of regular concert attending, the first "quarter" of my one-year-long project is concluded. In the very beginning, I struggled with some issues regarding the search for events for January; in general terms, there isn't lots of touring in this particular month. This is also one of the reasons that most of the bands I saw in that time were not so attractive and intriguing to me as live performers, being selected as the sole options (the first three). Nevertheless, the continuation was much more uplifting, with more choices on hand. This first period did not offer many long trips, with Salzburg and Padua being the longest ones, or any grandiose, big gigs/festivals for that matter. Consequentially, the full costs (ticket + travel costs) did not reach high numbers. This will change drastically, however, in the next period of three months on the road, when i'll be chasing some bigger and also some less-expected nonmetal concerts and festivals. Just to mention a few: Hans Zimmer (Graz), Sleep (Ljubljana), Mono (Zagreb), Metallica (Milan), Vienna Metal Meeting, BTS (!) (London), etc. I've also revealed some basic details and statistic info regarding this first quarter of the whole project. An interesting fact from this period is also that all the bands I've seen live so far I was seeing for the first time.

Statistics:

Distance travelled : 3610 km (540 km with organized travel)

Countries, where the shows had been held : Slovenia (7x), Croatia (5x), Italy (1x), Austria (1x)

How many different venues visited : 10

Total costs (tickets + travelling costs) : 220? + 280? = 500?

Number of bands seen live : 29

From how many countries all of seen bands come : 10

Best month performances: LIGHTNING BOLT (January), MESSA (February), ROTTEN SOUND (March)