29-05-2011
Willemeen, Arnhem
By Rob
It was a pretty hot Sunday afternoon when I walked through Arnhem to the Willemeen venue.
It’s a good thing that this black metal evening would be held inside a dark venue where the atmosphere’s very good for the music. When I entered the Willemeen it was already more crowded than I had expected.
The first band of the evening is the band Krakow. I never heard of them before so I was curious what the band would sound like. To my big surprise it was really awesome. I would describe it best to be a mix of doom and black metal. Songs with heavy drums and riffs with beautiful guitar sounds throughout the songs. One of the guitar players is just too awesome, he’s really good. Bands that popped up in my mind during their show are bands like Altar Of Plagues and Year Of No Light. And maybe even Solstafir I hear from time to time. And I’m a big fan of those bands. Maybe they don’t fully fit in this evening with their music but their show was really great.
Next up the bill is Vreid. I was never a big fan of their live shows. Somehow they never show what they let us hear on their albums. And tonight that’s the case as well. Somehow it just doesn’t sound very inspired and like they have to do this. Probably not the case but still, it’s how I feel about it. Also the voice of the singer during the show sounded so mediocre. I must say that later on in the show it got a bit better but still not very good. Maybe I should just stick to their albums.
Next up, Secrets Of The Moon. A band I have seen several times, though I somehow managed to forget most of it. But today I get another chance. And I’m happy I saw these guys again. From the first moment until the last song it was one great show. The guitar parts were hypnotizing, really well played and brought the music to life during this show. Not many bands can manage such a sound live but Secrets Of The Moon has done a great job. And it looked like the band has some more fans that enjoyed their show. Together with Krakow my personal highlight of the evening. And even one of the better shows I have seen in 2011 and that are quite a lot.
Headliner of the evening is Kampfar. Since their return 5 years ago they have already released 3 full length albums that includes their recently released album ‘Mare’. An album that’s been well-received. Ofcourse several songs of that album will be played tonight. And I can say that new songs like ‘Huldreland’, ‘Blitzwitch’ and ‘ Altergang’ are real killer songs live. The crowd really enjoys the show with a lot of headbanging and yelling. The sound is good and not too loud for a change. The band is in good shape. Also the touring bass player Endre (Trail Of Tears, Dimension F3H) that fills in for Jon, who couldn’t join Kampfar on tour, does a great job. But also the touring guitar player Ole does a great job on stage. Of course we can expect some classic Kampfar classics like ‘Norse’. But also a more recent song like ‘Ravenheart’ that seems a real live classic among the Kampfar fans. And it is a fantastic song when they play it live. I must say I was surprised how good the voice of the drummer sounded when he sung some parts in songs. It really fits with the the voice of Dolk. Kampfar showed us their power today and it was great.
At the end of the evening everybody could go back home satisfied as it was a fantastic evening of black metal.
Setlist Kampfar
01. Mare
02. Inferno
03. Troll, Dod Og Trolldom
04. Norse
05. Dodens Vee
06. Huldreland
07. Vettekult
08. Altergang
09. Blitzwitch
10. Ravenheart
[GALLERY=215]