Written by:	Abattoir
Published:	May 22, 2019

Round 17 : Mono, Årabrot, Jo Quail (25.04.2019 - Zagreb/Croatia) --> Venue: Klub Mocvara

CONCERT REVIEW:

This round brought me to see three artists: cello-playing expert from London Jo Quail, Norwegian noise rock (mainly I guess) quartet Årabrot, and Japanese post-rock bringers Mono on a headlining spot. And Mono were the ones for me, of course. Not only at this gig, not only in this month, but one of the most expected bands to see live out of all this year.

Solo cellist Jo Quail came on stage first. She expressed herself with a very unique performance, presenting her music with a more avant-garde, noise-based approach. The first thing to mention is that she kicked the shit out of her cello. So many different sounds were coming out, overlapping one another, that I was barely able to follow her experimenting with classic sounds, dark, deep noisy ones; then again, she was hitting the strings pretty damn hard, to create some sort of a 'beat sound' in the background. Extraordinary, crazy shit, without a doubt. Jo Quail really is the master of her cello and bow and I would definitely loved to have seen much more of her performance, then only 30 minutes, but that's the sacrifice of the "openers".




"Folkish-looking" Norwegians Årabrot, who were next on the schedule, were one of those groups that did not get much attention from me prior the show and, as it turned out, neither during their performance. It's simply a type of music that doesn't fit to my taste and senses in a way that I could have enjoyed it or at least tried to absorb anything positive from of it.

I'd been talking and thinking about this next performer a lot prior to their show. Event though I'd only seen Mono once before (3 years ago), I was expecting to be blown away and nothing less, to share an honest comment. They're one of those rare bands that personally can express and unveil such a captivating atmosphere and at the same time create such an enormous wall of noise through their sound output that at some point it seems just too much to consume. This simplified explanation is the core that evokes various types of emotions during their tunes. Mono presented themselves as a masters of seductiveness and abusers of aural senses. It's such a pleasure looking at them onstage, being humble, ostensibly out-of-place, yet dedicated entirely to what they are able to produce. As expected, the selection of the songs was concentrated mainly on their latest album, Nowhere, Now Here (5 out of 10). I didn't mind that at all, because it's a very enjoyable one, though not their best in my books. The song "Halycon (Beautiful Days)" also featured cellist Jo Quail as a guest performer, which turned out to be a nice addition. As a part of such an exquisite, outstanding show, the time flew by too fast for me, of course, even though they'd pulled out a +100-minute set, which positively surprised me in the end. Mono are and always will be welcome to get my attention while on the road anywhere close. For me, it's simply a show worthy of every damn cent and second of time.

---

Round 18 : Suffocation, Belphegor, God Dethroned, Nordjevel (28.04.2019 - Graz/Austria) --> Venue: Explosiv Club

CONCERT REVIEW:

A cloudy Sunday afternoon was in sight and I was heading to Austria, just a stretch over the border, for the following gig on my menu list. I'd returned to Graz just two weeks later after the Hans Zimmer movie music experience with the orchestra. This time, it was an all-metal line-up with five bands on the bill (four for me) in the club called Explosiv: DarkRise, Nordjevel, God Dethroned, Belphegor, and Suffocation as the main performer.

I skipped (actually missed) the opening band DarkRise, so I'll just head on to Nordjevel, who followed them. The Norwegian antichrist purveyors were up for a 40-minute pure black metal set, where the main focus was on their latest, sophomore album, Necrogenesis, released in March. The performance itself was okay; however, their music simply did not justify something more than being unsatisfactory in my eyes and ears through the whole show (with the fact that I was listening to it for the very first time). I really didn't dig it. Plain, uninspired stuff, to be honest. I did stay till the end of their set, though I certainly didn't feel like it.

Dutch quartet God Dethroned, led by frontman Henri Sattler, appeared on next. God Dethroned were actually the one, besides Suffocation, I was most looking forward to seeing from this line-up. The band unleashed a fair dose of music from throughout their discography, and on this night, they presented a well-balanced mixture of their repertoire of songs. Their strong, compact death-thrash metal sound was echoing through the hall, with a respectful and dynamic attitude from the guys, which also brought more people in front of the stage. I can't say I sensed any crazy shit excitement - but from my point of view, this performance was definitely an improvement over Nordjevel's.

"Locals" and co-headliners of this tour Belphegor were ready to make a rampage. This other worshiper of the "dark lord" had an hour-long set to show us how to make a mess with their true beliefs and blackened death metal tunes. Belphegor's music does not share my interest to mention in the first place - never did and never will. For my taste, it's pumped with a lack of originality in the last few years. Luckily, their performance was pretty intense, having its uplifting moments with frontman Helmuth encouraging the crowd to cooperate along with their set. I can confirm that Belphegor raised the level a little higher with their appearance, but still, this wasn't what I was excited to see the most this night. The best was yet to come.




Finally, the grand finale. A death metal institution from New York, Suffocation, was taking the spot to demolish and slash everything their predecessors had built and created. And?.(pause)?.they did. Superior to all other acts. Even though the mighty Frank Mullen departed last year after 30 years, the band sounded no less brutal and ferocious on the stage. Ricky Myers, who is actually a drummer in another brutal death metal unit, Disgorge, has taken over the duties of live vocalist. Nothing new for him, since he has already stepped in in the past, performing several live shows with the band. So, yeah, a familiar environment, which was sensed throughout their show, functioning as a well-oiled machine. Myers is a "big man" and he has shown that he is able to ensure additional viciousness with his massive, deepened-sounding growls. Lead guitarist Terrance Hobbs, the only original member of the band, served us with an exploding portion, a mixture of riffs and solos, looking very relaxed and chilled, yet surgically accurate in his execution. Suffocation's relentless death metal was surging all over the place, tasting and being served just the way I like it. Any time, Suffocation, any time.

---

---

Round 19 : Metallica, Ghost (08.05.2019 - Milan/Italy) --> Venue: Snai Ippodromo San Siro

CONCERT PREFACE:

And so the season of open air concerts and festivals (slowly) begins. And what a start will that be for me. I'll be heading to Milan to see Metallica on their massive Worldwired World Tour, which has now lasted for quite some time (this is the third year, if I'm not mistaken). This will my third time seeing them live; the last time was back in 2011. Of course, when you attend a Metallica gig in the open-air grounds, there aren't thousands of people attending, but tens of thousands of them. And since I'll be in Italy, where fans are traditionally very active during the shows and possess a lot of temperament, I do expect some kind of a spectacle from this aspect. Aside from this fact, in this case it will also depend a lot on their setlist. Ghost will also perform as main support.

Entrance fee:195? (ticket + travel costs)




Round 20 : Vienna Metal Meeting 2019 (11.05.2019 - Vienna/Austria) --> Venue: Arena

CONCERT PREFACE:

Vienna Metal Meeting is the first festival I will be witnessing on this year-long run. It's a one-day indoor/outdoor festival, featuring 18 bands on two stages. It will be headlined by Swedish masters Opeth, with many other intriguing acts on board, coming from different genres and subgenres, such as Unleashed, Rotting Christ, Necrophobic, Sólstafir, Amenra, Benighted, and so on. Needless to say, a lot will be going on from a musical perspective. That's why Vienna Metal Meeting was the easy choice on my "bucket list". It will be also the furthest trip for me, driving by myself. With this one I'll also be rounding up a mini neighbour-countries tour: Zagreb - Graz - Milan - Vienna.

Entrance fee: 150? (ticket + travel costs)