The good people of Cult of Parthenope, the guys behind Cosmic Void, decided to do a fest a bit more eclectic, and not so as much focused on Black Metal as the aforementioned, but much in the same vein (venue and system wise) as Cosmic Void system has been functioning very well.
My first impression was of a very good line-up with quite a
far range of bands hitting London, but maybe we are too eclectic because the
only down note of the weekend was the lack of public, especially noticed in
the Electric Ballroom. But that’s something, that not us, or the organizer, can
control, so let’s move on!!!
First day was on the Islington Academy and as usual, due to
work duties, we lost the first band. Vehement, from the UK, was its name
and unfortunately, we can’t say nothing about it!! So, for us, the first band
was the Romanian horde Dordeduh, and they were a nice surprise. Formed
by Sol Fau and Hupogrammos after they left Negura Bunget in 2009, Dordeduh
delivers a sound close to what they were creating with Negura around the time
of the mighty “Om”. They released a very good album in 2012 but then waited almost
a decade to deliver their second effort. “Har” is its name, and not
surprisingly was the main focus on their show. Great melodies, a lot of
atmospheric ambiance, varied vocals, folkish elements, all were unleashed by
the four guys on stage with a very precise and calm performance. They gained
for sure more fans after this excellent show, yours here included!!
Next was Ereb Altor, which we only saw a decade ago,
when they played in Portugal. Their show was good, maybe not as captivating as
I was expecting, but it was good. If you are a fan of Bathory (“Hammerheart or
“Blood Fire Death” age) you will probably like them as their music is much
inspired by Quorthon’s creation. Again here, atmosphere is the main word, as
their music is built with plenty of it. They have a new album out called
“Vargtimman”, and it was with its opener “I Have the Sky”, that they started
their show. Epic riffs, great presence, thick bass lines, the Swedes have it
all, and caught the attention of the crowd with their songs. I think they
closed (if they didn’t, I’m sure they played it) with “With Fire In My Heart”
which is one of my favourite songs from them. Fists in the air and sing “With
fire in my heart and blood on my hands, Blood and Fire”!!!
To close the night, we had Primordial, a band I was
lucky enough to see quite a few times!! And I must say, this was one of the
best I’ve seen from the Irish horde!! Tight as ever but with the more
enthusiastic Alan that I’ve ever seen, the man was all over the place, seemed
happy, and even traded a bit of friendly banter with the audience. The veteran
band (amazing that 30 years have passed since their inception) brought the new
offer “How It Ends” (which I bought in the merch table in double CD for a tenner,
crazy innit?) to London, and like I already said, it was amazing!! They opened
with “As Rome Burns” and closed with “Empire Falls” and in the between they
left a trail of corpses, riffs, songs, and a freaking excellent show. They also
had time, of course, for the new album, a couple of songs, if I’m not mistaken,
including the title track, but went through most of their career, which
nowadays encompasses ten albums. It’s cathartic to see Primordial, you feel
like you want to scream when Alan is screaming, to headbang when Ciaran
delivers some nasty riff, to stomp alongside the drums!! What a fucking
beginning of a festival!!!
After that, we were looking for something to eat (great Greek
place close to the O2, Holy Pitta), then lost ourselves a bit in the area, found the pub
where some of our friends were, the queue was big and so we said, fuck it, let’s go home as the long
weekend was just starting!!!!
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