I could not believe my eyes when Planetnoir Industries announced on social media the concert 666 Festival “The Rebirth”will be held in Budapest in March, on Friday the 13th. Fucking MORBID will play in Budapest?? With TORMENTOR?? What did I do to witness such “a violent show of power overthrown”, to quote the masters of thrash metal?
Imagine this…One one hand, Morbid, the band who dared to take Bathory‘s early incarnation of black metal farther away, transforming into something really scary and dangerous for its time. Dead‘s mysterious persona, his lyrics and attitude, together with the musical teenage genius of his other band mates built a legacy and a legend which both live to this day, maybe even stronger than in the past. On the other hand, Tormentor, who emerged at the same as Morbid but in a different part of the continent, still under communist rule, and who created two of the most notorious and influential demos in the early black metal, 7th Day of Doom and Anno Domini. Now both bands on the same stage, for the 1st time ever, in the same night.
OWLS WOODS GRAVES
But enough with the introduction and let’s get to the point. The special guest to open the evening was Owls Woods Graves, the Polish band created by the talented musician The Fall, better known for his collabs with MGLA, Clandestine Blaze and Armagedda, having performed as session drummer on their fantastic album, “Svindeldjup ättestup“. I was not too familiar with his band, having only listened to some random tracks over the years, so I was extremely curious about their performance, as I did not know what to expect.
I arrived at the location several minutes before the band started their show, so after I exchanged the ticket for the access bracelet I went straight to the main hall and watched the show. The first thing that struck me was the sound, which was very good. Usually the opening bands suffer a bit when it comes to the sound, but it was not the case here. The second thing was the music. The quarted unleashed on the audience a violent and catchy mixture of punk and black metal and the public reacted instantly. Seazing the moment, they created a big mosh pit in the middle of the hall, which engulfed all those in the area in a chaotic yet controlled malestrom of pushing, shoving, punching and smashing. This transfer of raw energy worked perfectly for both the band and the audience, culminating on “Anti Christian Hooligan“, a song I was hoping they will play. Everyone around me was either banging the head, stomping the ground, or just moving the hands along with the infectious rhythms and chorus that came from the stage. The 3rd thing that struck me was the musical skills of the 4 guys, each and every one them owning their instruments. The guitarist looked as if he could do anything with hs instrument, his fingers running on the fret with the speed of light, the drummer was as precise as a machine, switching from classic punk d-beat tempos to ferocious blast beats in a second, the bass player was bad ass to the core while The Fall‘s vocals and charisma provided the fuel that could set a church on fire. This was the band’s first show in Hungary, but I truly hope they will come back at some point, as I really enjoyed their performance, it’s definitely a must see.
During the change over, I tried to check out the merch stand but it was super crowded as everyone wanted to buy something to remind them of this special evening. I was finally able to buy something after Morbid‘s performance, so mission accomplished. By the way, the merch stand was full of interesting items, like cd’s, LP’s, TShirts with several designs, flags, posters and other accessories (patches, backpatches, metal pins, beanies etc). Considering how expensive things are everywhere in the world, 25 Eur for a Tshirt seems quite a decent price these days.
MORBID
I wanted to see Morbid ever since they announced their reunion, so I went right to the front to better experience their show. It’s not every day you get to see Erik Danielsson (aka Rötan ) playing drums or Uffe Cederlund (aka Napoleon Pukes) wearing the tricorne only a couple of meters in front of you. Not to mention Dead‘s famous torn jeans, worn now by his younger brother Necrobird, the charismatic singer that carries his more famous brother’s torch with pride.
Once everything was set up and the band was ready to enter the stage, the lights went black and an eerie music poured from the speakers. Everybody was turning their heads around, not sure were or if the coffin carrying Necrobird to the stage will appear. Eventually a light was spotted moving slowly from the back towards the stage. Holding the lantern and singing in a weird tongue, Attila Csihar opened the way for the sinister funeral procession. Once the pallbearers placed the open, smoking casket on the stage, Attila commanded Necrobird to rise from his coffin and left the stage. Only then could the show begin properly, and the first chords of “My Dark Subconscious” filled my ears. I was amazed how accurate the riffs were, so similar to the original ones recorded almost 40 years ago. The crowd went nuts, singing along with the band and the show promised to be a fuckin old school blast.
For me it was unbelievable to be there and watch these musicians on stage only a few away from where I was standing. Napoleon Pukes, Gehenna and Dr Schitz played and recorded the fucking December Moon demo and now they were there, in the flesh, playing those songs again, with the same passion and pleasure. Not to mention the other half, with TG, Rötan and Necrobird, who integrated the band so well, as if they’ve always been there. The 3 guitars add more heaviness and depth to the songs, and they sound “full” and more cohesive. Necrobird is not Dead and that’s exactly why I like him. Besides sharing the Ohlin name and wearing Dead‘s jeans, he plays his own role in the band. His vocals and frontman skills are amazing, perfect for a band like Morbid.
He headbanged the whole show, went down into the photo pit and sang from the front row right in the face of an extactic audience, brought a huge inverted cross on stage and had quite a good communication with the public in between songs. Besides the classic old tracks, Morbid also played 3 new songs, “Stormbells Chime“, “Transylvanian Death” and “Grave 17“. I am not sure if these tracks have already been recorded or if the band plans a studio release, but they sure sound as good as the old ones, having the same old school vibe. And this is what sets Morbid apart from the other bands who have reunited for selected shows only, playing their old songs without any intention of releasing any new material whatsoever.
Right before “Disgusting Semla“, Dr Schitz ceremoniously received and carried a cake which he of course threw into the audience, who savagely tore it to pieces in a matter of seconds. The show ended (too soon, if you ask me) with “Deathexecution” and the band left the stage while the crowd cheered its name. I was hoping for an encore, but unfotunately it did not happen this time. Who knows, maybe they’ll visit us again in the near future for another lesson of Swedish darkness.
TORMENTOR
And now we finally get to the last band of the night, that is Tormentor. I last saw them almost 8 years ago, when they reunited for the 1st time after more than 30 years of absence. That show on the A38 ship still is to this day one of the best black metal shows I ever attended and I will never forget it. The place was packed, sweaty and when the band entered the stage, the crowd went completely nuts. At that very moment I thought the ship will sink, this is how badly it started to swing from one side to the other. The band was on fire and played with a pleasure and hunger which fuelled the audience even more. At that time they still played with Tamás Buday on guitars and that guy knew his business very well.
This is how it was back then, this track still gives me chills
With these thoughts in mind, I had very big expectations about their show last night, expectations which would be shattered very soon, right after the two opening tracks, Tormentor I and Branded by Satan. To my surprise, the band played as a quartet, with only one guitar (Attila Szigeti) and in my opinion that impacted their perfomance. When he was doing the solos, it felt as if he was out of tune (ex. on Beyond or Elizabeth Bathory), mainly because the rhythm guitarist was not there to support him. This time they did not have keyboards at all, which also contributed to the lack of that specific atmosphere. And the cherry on top, they played 2 (long) songs from that horror of an album called Recipe Ferrum, the title track and Iron County. Of course, this is a just a matter of subjective taste, because I have never liked that album, it has been gathering dust somewhere in my cd collection ever since I bought it.
I tried very hard but unfortunately I could not get into the atmosphere Tormentor was trying to create, even though Attila and Co did their best on stage. He still is one of the most gifted musicians the metal undeground has ever offered, no one can deny that, just look at his performance at the start of the Morbid show, it was exceptional. His chameleonic way of always changing and improvising is commendable, but last night I felt it was a bit too much, too forced and unfortunately it didn’t work for me the way I had expected it to. Maybe I was still under the spell of Morbid? Who knows. But what I know is that after the awful begining of Elizabeth Bathory (I couldn’t even recognize the song for the first few minutes), I decided to leave the place. Once outside in the cold March night, my memories from the Morbid show, still fresh in my mind, came back to me. What a great performance!
Morbid Setlist:
- My Dark Subconscious
- Wings of Funeral
- Stormbells Chime
- Transylvanian Death
- Necrodead
- Grave 17
- Citythrasher
- From the Dark
- Tragic Dream
- Disgusting Semla
- Deathexecution
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