22nd of November was not an average cold and rainy autumn night in Budapest. For those carrying the black flame it was more than that, as 3 of the best underground bands from Central Europe unleashed their unholy energies in a night of passion and true dedication under the banner of darkness.
The event was organized by the young horde Boszorkányszög and featured 3 bands from the heart of the black metal underground: Lidérc (HU), Triumphal Vengeance (CHI/AT) and Zmyrna (CZ/SK). I love it when an organizer really knows what he’s doing and thinks of a line-up which consists of bands that fit perfectly together, both musically and ideologically. This was the case with this particular show, as the 3 bands, while each with its own personality, had many things in common.
LIDÉRC
I haven’t seen Lidérc at work for quite a while so this was the best oportunity to watch them again and see how and if they have developed. When I arrived to the venue, the small room was already packed and the band had already started their assault with “Az elkárhozottak“, one of my favorite tracks from their debut album “Profán Mysterium“. As it usually happens in Riff, the sound was perfect and that helped the band a lot, since the 2 guitars need a clear sound to create the same (happy?) riffs as on the record. The band was on fire and delivered their tracks with unrelenting intensity, each one of them hitting me right in the heart with their fury. Lidérc have definitely improved since I last saw them, the musicians are much more confident and their playing is flawless. Comes Listhius was relentless and possessed during the whole set, and his vocal range reached a new level of wickedness. The 2 guitarists complemented each other perfectly and it was clear for everybody how well they “felt” and communicated together. Once again K Kazimir showed why he’s one of the best drummers in the Hungarian black metal scene and it was a real pleasure watching him pound the drums as if it were the easyiest thing in the world.
To my surprise, Lidérc‘s set list contained only 3 songs from the debut album, while the other 5 were new ones (at least for me). This is good news and this means the band has more material ready and a new album will hopefully be realeased in the near future. The short but energetic show ended with “Caprineus“, leaving the crowd hungry for more. But unfortunately it did not happen, as it was time for the next band to come up on the small stage.
TRIUMPHAL VENGEANCE
I always wanted to see how Triumphal Vengeance‘s songs would sound live, so when I found out they will come to Budapest I was super excited. I absolutely loved the 2 demos they released so far and their first full length, “Spears of Conquest”, has been a regular listen since it came out last month. I was hoping they will bring some of their releases for this show, so I was very happy after I bought the new album (released by Death Revelations on a luxurious tape format) and the 2 demo compilation “Siege Campaigns (MMXXII – MMXXIV)“, released by the Australian label Charnel Sanctum earlier this year.
On the recordings Nebel handles all the instruments, creating a raw and uncompromising style of black metal, while infusing it with some clear heavy metal elemements. Will he and the session musicians be able to recreate this sound in a live setting too? After seeing them last night, the answer is yes, they can. And they do it actually pretty well, in an old school and quite traditional style too. Once the short change over/sound check was done, the band attacked us with a blast of mid 90s black metal, raw, uncompromising yet melodic. The cold riffs reminded me of some tracks Lidérc played earlier (remember what I said about the source?), making Triumphal Vengeance the perfect follow up for the night.
The band included in their set list only 3 songs off the new album, while the other 5 were taken from the 2 demos, “Atavistic Darkness” and “Crossing the Rubicon“. I love how they manage to bring their medieval themed black metal to the live setting, if you close your eyes and just focus on the music, you’ll be completely detached from this material world. Once again the sound helped very much, making everything audible in perfect details. Nebel did not communicate with the public at all, but this is the best approach when you’re at a black metal show. The music needs to speak for itself instead and an atmosphere has to be created during the set. And that is exactly what happened during Triumphal Vengeance‘s performance and you could see that on the faces of the 4 musicians, as they were also feeling every moment of the show with sheer passion and intensity. This is why I love this kind of underground and intimate shows, where you’re standing right in the front of the stage and you can feel the sweat and possession of the musicians. This is the moment you see their true dedication and that’s when my soul vibrates the most. Once the last song of the set list ended (A Vision! Across the Battlefield) and the outro poured from from the speakers, the 4 musicians stepped down from the stage, leaving the place for the last band of the night, Zmyrna.
ZMYRNA
Their sound check took a bit more than expected, so their show started with a delay of almost 30 minutes. I have to admit that while I came across the band’s name multiple times over the years, Zmyrna’s music was unknown to me at that point. I only knew they play some sort of medieval themed/inspired black metal, so I was very curious to see and hear what their performance will be like in Riff.
Compared to the previous two bands, the audience was fewer in number at Zmyrna, but that did not prevent the band to create a haunting atmosphere, taking advantage of the abundant quantity of smoke that came out from the special machine. The small concert room was literally filled with this thick damn smoke, while the repetitive and mid paced tempo songs created the perfect soundtrack for a voyage back to the dark ages.
The vocal duties are shared between the bass player and the guitarist, and as they switch between clean vocals and screams, they infuse the music with a certain feeling of religious mysticism. Some of the songs were quite long and had a slow, ritualistic like tempo which created a suffocating atmosphere in which I happily immersed myself. I really enjoyed Zmyrna‘s performance and now I understand why their name is highly revered in the underground, without even releasing a full length yet. They are dedicated musicians who definitley know their trade and how to walk on their own path. And I totally respect that in a band!
Drawing a line after such an evening, I want to highlight once again the effort of the Boszorkányszög team and thank them, as well as the bands, for putting up such an event. The scene needs more shows like this one, with dedicated bands who come from (or share) the same source.
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