Tonight was the night when the record company Season of Mist celebrated themselves. The French Rock and Metal label came to the Rockefeller in Oslo to show off four of their biggest bands, Norwegian-based Tsjuder, Red Harvest, and Arcturus, and all the way from the USA, Confessor, finally reunited again.
Starting the evening off was Tsjuder. At this year’s Inferno Festival, Tsjuder impressed and were considered to be one of the “headliners” at the smaller venue (John Dee), but this was not the case at Rockefeller. Managing to fill Rockefeller was not as easy, but they did show that they have a place in the Black Metal scene in Norway, and managed to get the roaring crowd going by the middle of the set.
Especially being a three man band, Nag on vocals and bass, Draugluin on backing and guitars, and Anti-Christian on the hard hitting drums, filling the stage wasn’t an easy job. But due to the smoke, lighting, and horrifying costumes, they managed pretty well. Anti- Christian looked like a mean bulldog behind his drum kit, rising to shout and clap in-between songs. The two front men took turns singing, and not to mention, looked like something very angry you just washed your floors with, and played their instruments like they should be on fire and their fingers should bleed.
For the audience that mainly came to see Confessor or Arcturus, the music might have sounded a bit too noisy and the vocals somewhat too blurry, but this truly was a spectacle for lovers of the Black Metal facial painted genre.
Unfortunately, Metal Express missed Red Harvest on stage, but this seemed to be the highlight for many in the crowd as the floor quickly was half empty and the bars got fuller as Confessor hit the stage.
Confessor, on the other hand, definitely had the best sound this evening. Not the typical Season of Mist band, and not a favorite amongst the audience. Confessor made their mark in the late 1980’s, and had not played together in like 10 years or so, so the concert was supposed to be somewhat historical, but alas …
For the females in the audience, luckily singer Scott Jeffreys was a handsome son of a gun, and he looked a lot like Norwegian singer Oeyvind Osa from the band El Caco. Unfortunately, Jeffreys was the main reason the music didn’t sound like music to everyone’s ears. Even though he had a great voice, and if you closed your eyes you’d think Perry Farrell of Jane’s Addiction was in the house, it was just wrong with the rest of the music. You got the feeling he was the outcast on stage, but it was pleasant and nice and they did a fair job, although maybe they would have done better with another arrangement or with another singer.
Then, after a long wait, the main band, Arcturus, came on stage. After a real freak show at this years Inferno Festival, and a steaming hot album to release, there was no doubt the audience had high expectations for the headliners tonight. Releasing their album Sideshow Symponies at this first ever Season of Mist festival sure was a big honor, and they really took it all the way.
As theatrical as ever, with all kinds of dancers and circus characters on stage, there was always something going on. Mind you, not to forget about the music. Arcturus has something for everyone … they varied from Metal to Symphonies, from hard to soft, from horrifying to simply beautiful. Playing both new and old songs and giving both guitarists, Tore Moren and Knut Magne Valle, the opportunity to show off with screaming guitar solos.
Unfortunately, they did struggle somewhat with the sound, and singer Simen Hestnaes (a.k.a. Vortex) did sound like he was crushing his nuts at times, but all in all a very successful evening for both the band and the audience.
For those who missed out on this Season of Mist celebration, you can still catch the show on Legio Media’s (Obsidian C of Satyrion and Keep of Kalessin’s company)
See more pictures from the festival under the Metal Express “Pictures” site.
Tsjuder Setlist: Sodomizing the Lambs/ Helvete/ I 10/ Unholy Paragon/ Lord of Terror/ Ghoul/ Mouth of Madness/ Sacrificie/ Prime Evil Fear/ Beyond the Grave/ Malignant Coronation/ Eriphion Epistates
Arcturus setlist: Ad Absurdum/ Nightmare Heaven/ Shipwrecked Frontier Pioneer/ (Sverd Keyboard Solo) Alone/ Deception Genesis/ The Chaos Path/ (Tore Moren Guitar solo) Daemonpainter/ Nocturnal Vision Revisited/ Painting My Horror/ Master Of Disguise/ (Knut Walle Guitar solo)/ White Noise Monster/ Reflections/ Raudt Og Svart
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