It’s actually pretty rare to see a black-metal concert with only worth checking stuff.
Usually there’s always some crappy cheap symphonic act between two bands or even sometimes no good band at all but just a bunch of goofy metalheads muppets wearing bad corpsepaint and playing some kind of fuzzy high-pitched Iron Maiden with synth.
Tonight though, it’s a different story…
I’d suggest you to browse the Metal-Archives to have a better clue about the black-metal hall of fame who were on stage that night but let’s just say that these guys are hugely responsible, through their various musical projects, in the worldwide very known fact that french BM kicks some serious ass (sometimes).
Ok, Aosoth didn’t really impressed me but their show was a decent starter for the evening. Some good tunes but too similar from one to the other. Not totally bad but not really good either…
I was quite curious to see Blacklodge live as their industrial black-metal fueled on narcotics (Mysticum anyone?) is quite the shit on record. Good stage presence, all dressed in the same uniform, and awesome vocals (that reminded me of Master’s Hammer for some reason) but unfortunately too messy to really catch the brilliantness of their music. Some parts were totally insane, and totally appropriate to put you in a trance-like state, as some others were drown in the echoes of a fainting drum machine. Enough highlights though to enjoy the performance enhanced by Shantidas (from Aluk Todolo/Diamatregon/Obscure) visuals, mixed live on some good old cathodic screens. A better live sound would have certainly helped them out.
Then Hell Militia, leaded by the mighty Willy (also known as Meyhna’ch) took over the stage and literally torch the place with their merciless black assault. Nothing but very conservative black-metal at its best empowered by a very charismatic leader. The man got some consistence for sure. Very good response from the crowd (not too big by the way, a little bit over a hundred) as well, some moshpit here and there, and a pretty good conclusion with a GG Allin cover (I might be wrong here by the way). Badass as fuck!
In conclusion, this was probably the best black-metal concert I’ve seen in ages. Hands down to Blacklodge for the originality of their music and Hell Militia for a merciless show.
Alcest was playing the very next day, I’m glad I’d fixed my mind on that one instead.
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(pictures by Cooking with Satan, do not use without authorization)
HELL MILITIA
BLACKLODGE
AOSOTH
