Another stop for MetalPit at Kino Šiška, in the Slovenian capital city, this time for the indestructible Kreator supporting their latest effort “Gods of Violence”. A tour that has been in the works for months, with Decapitated originally on the bill, replaced by fellow Polish Vader after the accusations to the Krosno based band: not bad, considering the substitues played a terrific gig celebrating the 25th anniversary of their debut album. French band Dagoba had the honour to open for such historic bands in the extreme metal scene. Enjoy!
DAGOBA
Tough job for the French combo Dagoba, as the opening act of such an important bill. Their Industrial/Groove Metal succeeds in captivating the scarce audience under the stage (this due also to the earlier than usual start of the evening), but their performance struggles to convince and fix itself into our minds: maybe because of the (too) modern style confronted to the other bands, but most of all because of the mere quality of the music, which wasn’t much. With a trashy (not in a necessarily negative way) attitude, both sonically and visually, the thirty minutes at their disposal flow away rather quickly and without particular highlights.
Setlist:
I, Reptile
The Man You’re Not
Inner Sun
When Winter…
The Sunset Curse
The White Guy (and the Black Ceremony)
VADER
Poland, late 1992: Vader, at the time just beginners (not so much, actually), release their essential debut album, “The Ultimate Incantation“, which stands out as one of the best efforts in the European Death scene. Raw, a bit derivative maybe (who said Slayer?), but surely something to look up to. Today’s Vader, always led by the indestructible Piotr “Peter” Wiwczarek, celebrate 25 years from that pivotal release in the best way possible, playing it in its entirety and nothing else. A greenish, unhealthy atmosphere sets the place for 45 minutes of pure violence without a moment to rest and take a breath, filled with razor-sharp, retro solos (both by Peter and Marek “Spider” Pajak) and neck-breaking stop’n’gos perfectly managed by British drummer James Stewart. With absolute classics as “Dark Age“, the slower “The Crucified Ones“, “Decapitated Saints” up until the closer “Breath of Centuries“, the Polish combo pay their tribute to the album, giving themselves to the audience just as needed, in order not to loosen the tension in the air, and playing an absolutely flawless gig, distancing themselves a lot from the previous act. And, in my honest opinion, winning the entire evening, without taking anything away from the headliners’ perfect show a bit later.
Setlist:
Creation (Intro)
Dark Age
Vicious Circle
The Crucified Ones
The Final Massacre
Testimony
Chaos
One Step to Salvation
Demon’s Wind
Decapitated Saints
Breath of Centuries
KREATOR
Kreator are probably one of the historic Thrash bands, if not the only one, still sailing after more than thirty years putting out consistent releases in terms of quality, even with the more melodic approach in the latest period. Studio albums are obviously subject to critics and someone might like them or not, but the band from Essen surely makes everyone happy in a live context, once again proving themselves a perfectly oiled machine: surgically precise, entertaining, aware of their own capabilities and of their own fans, loyal enough to respond to any request, be it a circle pit or a wall of death in a venue with steps all over the floor, and not so big either. The mixing was not so good at the beginning, cymbals covered by everything else and some other things, but Mille Petrozza and his mates didn’t care much, picking from their thirty-plus years discography, mainly from the two latest albums but also going back in time for a couple classics, including the prehistoric “Flag of Hate“. The singles from “Gods of Violence” are all there, the title-track, “Satan Is Real” or “Totalitarian Terror“, but also present are some songs from their post-2000 catalogue, such as the acclaimed “Hordes of Chaos” and “Enemy of God“. A peculiar choice for the stage setup was the inclusion of six vertical screens, serving different purposes depending on the songs: album covers, official videos, photos of fans taken in the main hall and shown during “Hail to the Hordes” and a really nice tribute to the great fallen musicians from recent and not so recent times on the notes of “Fallen Brothers“, from Martin Eric Ain to Lemmy going back to Bon Scott, not forgetting Prince, Malcolm Young and many others. The biggest classic “Pleasure to Kill” closes the show as expected and the band leaves us with teutonic rigor at 22:30 sharp. A show with two faces, both perfectly working: the sheer fury of ol’ times Thrash and the entertainment deriving from the more melodic and catchy tunes, equally convincing.
Setlist:
Phantom Antichrist
Hail to the Hordes
Army of Storms (Intro)
Enemy of God
Satan Is Real
Civilization Collapse
People of the Lie
Flag of Hate
Phobia
Gods of Violence
Total Death
From Flood into Fire
Hordes of Chaos
Violent Revolution
Totalitarian Terror
Fallen Brothers
Betrayer
Pleasure to Kill
