Quantic pub was once again the host of this amazing night. Most concerts from Bucharest take place in this pub. The concert area is specially designed for live music. The past months this club has been a meeting point for the metal community, a lot of small concerts and bigger ones have made us join weekend after weekend in the same place. The event started early, 19.30> Access, especially for a Friday night.
Rancorum: I will always have a big respect for the first band of the night. The first act always has the struggle and the responsibility to help the public escape from the problems at work, home. They must set the mood, make people escape in the beauty of metal music and forget for a couple of hours about the busy aspect of life. Rancorum is a Romanian death metal band, formed in 2014 in Bucharest, a “local band” at its finest. I must say the attitude of the band was matching an old death metal band, that being the main goal, the band members said on multiple occasions that they are forever charmed by the 90’s Death Metal period. I have no clue whose idea was to put a death metal band before two black metal bands, but it worked. The public was slowly taken over by the powerful guitar riffs. The band made it their mission to get people moving, from inviting them to start a circle pit to always communicating with the public. The aggressive drumming was only matched by the intense deep growling vocals, the band had all the elements of a good Death metal band. The chromatic chord progressions were at its place, making our pulse follow every note. I could go on about the technical details but I myself am not a big Death metal fan, it will not be my place to do so. The thing that impressed me the most about the live performance was the overall show, they made a show. Sadly, a lot of Romanian bands neglect this aspect. When it comes to a concert the showmanship and interaction between band members and public is vital, especially If we are talking about a band that is trying to revive a certain period from the Death metal history.
Eternal Fire: The second band of the night, one of the black metal ones. Melodic black-metal, to be more exact. Unlike the previews band, Eternal Fire added symphonic elements to subgenre. They made sure to blend beautiful every instrument in the band. They kept a melodic vibe and added even more decay with lovely crying keyboards. The sound is very vivid and in the same time slowly takes you away to pagan battle. The bands overall vibe is resembling the soundtrack in a war movie, at the end, when death has taking over the land. It is soft and melancholic but you can still feel the taste of the horrific horror that has just past. The agony of every song makes your heart go from biting very fast and then it stops. The songs are describing the murder of an innocent soul, It’s a struggle and a tragedy. I have already complained above about the lack of showmanship in the Romanian metal industry, well Eternal Fire is the band that can teach everyone how to make lovely experience. They manage to express on stage exactly what the lyrics are all about. Andreea, on keyboards, has a very expressive face that walks you through every single, soft note that she plays.
I was drowned to her since her face is in perfect contrast with the voided and absent eyes of the singer, Vali.
The vocalists manage to express in a powerful way the deep decomposition of the human soul. I’ve always found this band more enjoyable live than on record, which is not a bad thing.
Kistvaen: In contrast with the two bands before them, Kistvaen is a group that will make you not pay too much attention to what is going on the stage. You will feel the need to let the music take over your body and mind. Your eyes are going to stay closed or you will headbang until your neck cracks open. The concert was a celebration of the band’s long existence in the metal industries, ten years to be more exact.
Doing a little bit of math, we get that the band formed in 2008, they are known for being the first Romanian band to embrace the Depressive suicidal black metal subgenre. Although, the band’s success didn’t come very fast, they did manage to build a big and devoted fan base. The bands members changed in the years that have past, this concert got on stage the old and the new artists that make this great project possible. At this moment the vocalist of the band is Stege, his voice manages to capture the exact elements that people enjoy in Black metal. The high-pitched features of his voices integrate perfectly the desolation and unpleasantly of existence. Live the band has yet to fail to impress the public, and the Friday concert was no exception. Stege chose to not wear his mask this time and just got on and started singing. The concert started with the song The Deepest Cut, the second track from the 2014 album, Desolate Ways. From the same album we were blessed to hear Ecstasy, Of flesh and A Journey in Cold Blood, only to let the older songs from the first album last. That’s when the old band members got on stage, the change was made slowly with a member at a time and then Stefan Zaharescu, the previews vocalist of the band took the microphone. Departure and Void were next. Departure was performed by Stefan in a chilling and disturbing way.
The song has a soft doom-ish section, Stefan’s clean voice makes your skin crawl only to hit you with an intense and cataclysmic ending. The guitars in this section seam to imitate the slow and smooth vibe of a piano.
FUN FACT: The band has always listed as Influences the band Shining. Canitude is a song recorded with the vocalist of that band, Niklas Kvarforth. For this song Stege and Stefan, both played the song.
As the end of the event was coming the first Romanian Black metal band ended the night with a cover of the amazing song Freezing Moon, original song by Mayhem. The perfect ending for the 10th anniversary of a Black metal band.
Photo: Enedina Enache
