I’d been looking forward to this one for ages: one of my favorite black metal acts of all time, Dark Funeral, co-headlining alongside symphonic death metal legends Septicflesh with Thy Antichrist providing support. The show went down in front of a sold-out crowd at The Masquerade’s Purgatory stage on a Wednesday night.
The crowd poured in for the openers Thy Antichrist’s energetic set consisting of a pre-set ritual and songs from their latest The Wrath of the Beast. It was my first time seeing Thy Antichrist live and I must confess I was impressed with their live performance and eclectic take on pure black metal with the occasional Latin and thrash influences. Lead man Antichrist 666 is the quintessential black metal vocalist and the rest of the band complement the aesthetics nicely.
Dark Funeral took the stage next and absolutely conquered with a captivating set. Despite the recent lineup changes, the band’s two pillars in Chaq Mol and Lord Ahriman continue to make up one of the most dynamic guitar duos in all of black metal. I was extremely impressed with the band’s 2016 effort, Where Shadows Forever Reign (Century Media), so I was happy to hear some of my favorites off the record including Unchain My Soul, As One We Shall Conquer and the title track, Where Shadows Forever Reign, as well as older classics like The Secrets of the Black Arts and The Arrival of Satan’s Empire.
The highlight of the night for me was the performance given by the whole band, especially vocalist Heljarmadr. There was an air of majestic fury about the band that not only matches but also far surpasses what comes across on the albums. The set came to an end amidst screams of “Dark Funeral” and with Heljarmadr waving the Dark Funeral flag which embodies a 25-year reign over the melodic black metal universe.
Co-headliners Septicflesh stepped up to finish the night off in equally impressive fashion. The band’s latest album, Codex Omega (Season of Mist/Prosthetic), is a behemoth of orchestral death metal that I have enjoyed immensely since the day it was released. I generally tend to enjoy the later material from the band’s legendary catalogue including the three previous releases (Communion, The Great Mass and Titan) and was ecstatic to discover the vast majority of the setlist included my favorites from those including the highlight of the night, Persepolis. The band closed out the night with Anubis and Dark Art to prolonged cheers and screams from a hypnotized crowd.
Overall, this was one of the best metal shows I’ve been to lately because of the pedigree of the acts on the bill and the level of musicianship on display. Mostly, the intimate crowd, smaller stage, and the hellfire burning inside the venue despite the near-freezing temperatures outside put me in a sort of trance that I haven’t quite been able to shake off as yet.
9/10
