On a cold November Friday, Budapest’s Blue Hell club was the host of a true underground concert, an event for all the true die-hards out there. Xalpen, the Chilean black metal band co-fronted by Alvaro Lillo from Watain was doing a couple of shows in the region and eventually, to my delight, they made it to Budapest as well.
On the same bill were Ljuska, a Serbian band I knew nothing about before this show, and local black metal band Lidérc, a group I already talked about in these pages but which I never saw live on any of the shows they performed so far. This was the band’s first Budapest show, so this was the best opportunity to check them from the 1st row.
The night was opened by Ljuska, and as I already mentioned, their music was a complete stranger to me. To my surprise, during the soundcheck it was revealed that they’ll play as a duo, with HpT on bass and Sifr Shraddha on vocals and guitars. Later, towards the end of their performance, they explained that some unforeseen circumstances which occurred a couple of days before the event prevented the other members of coming to Budapest. In order not to cancel the show, the rest of the band decided to go ahead with the plan and perform in this format, with a recorded drum machine as back up. I really admired their stance and appreciated this attitude and I wish more bands act the way the Serbians did.
Despite the line up problems, the remaining guys did their job on stage quite well, considering this was also the band’s first performance outside Serbia. Their black/death metal was not something I haven’t heard before, but I really appreciated the dedication and the stubbornness to go on despite the awkward situation. Their whole performance was accompanied by the strong smell of an incense that was burning from a chalice near the monitors, so the small concert hall was “soaked” in a sweet, stingy smell which persisted long after their show was over.
Ljuska Live in Budapest:
After the Serbian squad, next on the bill were Lidérc and I was really excited to witness their debut in Budapest. I like their first release very much but since they are also preparing for a full length, they have other songs as well, so that built even more to my enthusiasm for the evening.
After a short change over the band took the stage and Ágost gave the OK to the sound technician to play the intro. Those familiar with this band know that their style is fast and raw, but on the 2 songs from the demo there are also some devilish, catchy riffs and solos which build up the atmosphere. Well, unfortunately for those witnessing Lidérc last night, the sound was not the best, especially on the lead guitar and that made the songs somehow unrecognizable. But overall the performance was really great, I am very happy I saw them and had the chance to listen to the new songs which will make it on the soon to be released first full length album. Another detail worth mentioning here is the outfit some musicians used, which fits perfectly the whole concept Lidérc is about. I am already looking forward to their new album and I am sure that their next show in Budapest, during the Inner Awakening Festival next March, will be even better than this one. Till then, enjoy the opening track of last night’s show:
Next and last on the list were the Chilean shamans from Xalpen, who made an unexpected stop in Budapest for a last minute show. While I was no stranger to Xalpen‘s music I did not pay too much attention to their early works, but I really enjoyed their latest album, “The Curse of Kwányep” when it came out earlier this year. I still think this is one of the best records of 2023, with solid compositions and musicianship. Alvaro displays different talents than the ones he’s used us with in Watain and the whole line-up on this album emanates a very strong chemistry.
After the last mandatory change over, the band came up on stage drenched in blood and covered up in corpse paint, ready to deliver us some pure Chilean madness. To my big surprise the band had as session guitarist a girl, none other than Gia, the guitarist from Hetroertzen. During the show I was fascinated by her guitar playing and the confidence she displayed the whole time, not giving a fuck about anything besides the music. Her facial expression was priceless, from grimace to clenched teeth, a perfect attitude for a black metal girl. Cheers to you, Gia!
Those who have listened to Xalpen before know that Alvaro shares the vocal duties with JP, the other guy on guitars in the band. Their way of sharing vocals imbues the music with more malevolence and gives it that “something” which makes it highly enjoyable. The same happened last night, each one of them spewed forth their vocal poison with the passion of the possessed. Alvaro is a beast on stage, a pure maniac who lives and breathes for underground metal and he shows it with every move. There are no gimmicks in his attitude, what you see is what you get and that is highly motivating. To put the cherry on top, I have to mention Claudio, the beast of a drummer who destroyed his kit during last night’s performance. Despite his size behind the small kit, the guy nailed it perfectly and his furious blast beats still pounded in my head hours after the show was over.
The band’s setlist focused the more on the latest album, as no less than 6 songs from this record were performed in front of an enthusiastic audience. Their reaction was sincere, from timid shouts at the beginning to loud cheers and applauses towards the end, recognizing the passion and dedication of the maniacs on the stage in front of them. Xalpen kicked serious ass and I hope I will see them live again someday.
Check out below some footage from their show:
Despite the minor sound issues I mentioned above, I am very happy that I had the opportunity to witness a fantastic show with 3 different bands and 3 different types of black metal, but with the same common denominator: UNDERGROUND. As long as shows and bands like these still exist, there is hope. Hail Satan!
LIDÉRC Set List:
1 Az Elkárhozottak
2 Ekpyrosis
3. X
4. Tövisliget
5 Caprineus
6 VII
7 Bacchanalia
XALPEN Set List:
1 Intro
2 Kòlpèwsh
3 Tres Chamanes
4 A Cold Rain Under the Cloudless Sky
5 Chenke
6 Devurer of Light
7 K´yewé (Intro 2)
8 The Curse of Kwányep
9 The Beast From the East
10 Kash Wayèwèn Qèr
11 Outro
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