On the 23rd of August, we knocked off any dirt and debris from our shovels and went to desecrate the hell out of B52, at the Grave Desecrator show, hosted by no others than our favorite maniacs from Romanian Thrash Metal Club. The show was part of the headliner’s “20 Years Of Desecration” Tour.
We get there around 8:30 pm, around the “open doors” moment and, after a couple of smokes and a pretty unsatisfying dry gin (yep, it’s tough for the ones who aren’t into beer), we got inside. After a short delay, Rancorum got on stage as the only band to open for Grave Desecrator.
Rancorum is a local band that approaches death metal in a traditional, old-school way. The show started with enthusiasm, as was to be expected since it was their first. They play a brand of pretty technical mid-paced death metal, so one can assume they wear their Florida DM badges/patches/pins and so forth with pride. The frontman was full of energy and very polite, thanking both the crowd and the promoter between songs. This created a stark contrast with the sunglasses worn inside, which I see as a shorthand for the “asshole rock star” stereotype unless you play Heavy/Doom Metal. However, their show was a blast with cool riffs and growling mixed up with blasting drum beats. Even if as a band they are at the beginning, one could see the guys have some years of experience in playing their instruments, though they need to work on their stage presence (or the lack thereof). Very organized, knew exactly what they want and what their place in the Death Metal slice, playing for almost 40 minutes a good ol’ untainted traditional Death Metal. I’m looking forward to their debut full-length, tentatively called “The Vermin Shrine“.
After a short break, enough to refill some empty glasses and lungs, the stage props were carried onto the stage: two coffins with two (dead, stiff and cold, am I right?), just to announce the main band of the night – Grave Desecrator. Before thinking about cracking open two cold ones not necessary with the boys, those above mentioned “corpses” were just mannequins. Fake smoke covered the stage – and I haven’t seen fake smoke in such a long time that was tempted to say that it was a breath of fresh air, before deciding to be adult about it. Anyway, after the fake smoke and the intro, plus a couple of traditional blasphemies, the massacre began – insane riffs and blast bests bursting forth and spreading to the entire club. The crowd got engaged fast in the atmosphere. They played by the book (by the tapes?), bringing that death/black metal sound at the next maniacal level. After almost 20 minutes of ripping heads, they took a break due to some technical issues. Said break lasted about 10-15 minutes, just enough to chit-chat and (re)discover the club balcony/smoking area in the tunnel between Fabrica and B52.
They managed to solve the problem and came back on the stage (apparently one of the guitarists broke a second string). They entertain a little the crowd with some blasphemies in Portuguese and give it a second start to what was about to be a rally of madness in the best Brazilian death/black metal tradition one could wish for. They kept playing for about another half an hour. They played tracks from their both new and old materials, making it a total blast. The crowd cheered and demanded an encore. They kept the tradition by shaking hands, high-fiving and handing out some “souvenirs” such as drumsticks then went to the after party, which took place in another location. Their shows are something that any fellow death metal fan should have it in their agenda.
One could find some goodies in the official merchandise area well designed near the entrance.
Kudos to Romanian Thrash Metal Club and Etrurian Legion for giving us this. Stay tuned because those beloved bastards have prepared another great gig for us about which I’ll write very soon.
All pics featured in this review were taken by our friend and fellow member Gheorghe Paraschiv. Here you can find more.
