(Andjela) I wasn’t warmed up for this event because Taake was lessinteresting to me than all Nordic black metal bands. I am not saying it’s bad butjust I wasn’t as a young metalhead clear with his evil rough style and to be honest no one presented me as such an important part of black metal scene. Till Wednesday night that opinion changed. Now it’s Nordjevel, Taake and Gorgoroth, many places empty and the rest of the scene in my heart. I like those concerts where I get more bands on my playlist and new obsessions. My hopes weren’t so high because in the middle of the week many fans from the rest of Serbia couldn’t come. I know I would be disappointed. If I was in my hometown. So I went on blind date not knowing what I would experience. Sometimes it turns out good. Crowd was made of bog fans and famous black metal names from Serbia. Some of them did not hear the first band, unfortunatelly.
Theotoxin is from Austria, an evil, rough German school of black metal totally unknown to me but nothing less good then the next two bands. Sending us a special greeting and gratitude, vocalist Ragnar came on the stage while sympho melody in the background was announcing his entrance. Ragnar’s eyes and attitude were so convincing under the corpse paint that I truly got scared. My attention was divided at that moment but he just showed up in front of me like real live Satan. Their fearsome appearance was full of energy and adrenaline, the crowd was a bit stil but they accepted the band very quickly. Theotoxin gathered the crowd like a magnet, people were pleasantly surprised by them. Biggest impression was their drummer, mister Flo Musil, who is a drum machine in human form. I was looking at him the entire time the man wasn’t sweating at all! I am sure it was a robot or some creature that plays drums. Their black metal style is much different then other two bands’ quality wasn’t presented in the right way because of the doom of the first support band. Theotoxin intoxicated ou rears with black metal blast and warmed us for Nordjevel.
(Strahinja): Just something for the readers to keep in mind, Nordjevel played in Belgrade without their drummer due to a documentation issue. To make the experience as realistic as possible the band used a live recording from the show in Zagreb. Even though I knew ahead of time this was about to happen I never really got affiliated with these two guest bands. It’s a habit made throughout the years. Supporting acts often do not catch our interest. This was not the case, from the start of their set Nordjevel completely captivated the audience. There is nothing, for a lack of a better word, special when trying to analyze this band, it’s straightforward black metal and aesthetically not much to differentiate them from other bands in the genre. There is however something extraordinary about their performance and presence on stage, something not seen so often these days. Although they were without a drummer, the band was more than capable in transferring their energy to everyone present. I would not know if I can call this honesty to the craft they do or simply a show of experience which the members possess but they obliterated the stage. Each and every song played could be considered like an energetic bomb, no better way of describing it. I know at least five to ten friends who did not listen to them but were astounded as myself, it was simply an organic response. Technically, the band was in sync, the sound was so good I did not need earplugs which I use regularly for the last year or two when attending concerts. I wasn’t even deaf when the night ended! They sounded massive, the sound originating from each instrument was very clear. Moments when a single musician/instrument would take a lead in a certain part of the song were very nicely done without having the feeling it is forced or that it lasts too long. Since the drum track was from a live show I can only imagine having the whole band on stage would make them sound even more surreal. After getting better acquainted with their discography and comparing it with the setlist I can say that it was fairly compiled, showing the very best this band has to offer. To add to this, I would say the song “Of Rats and Men” left the biggest impression. There is nothing in their style which I would call experiential but the sheer force which they demonstrated does make this band very much worth listening to both live and at home.
(Andjela): Taake, one of the fathers of Norwegian black metal, was awaited in Serbia, almost14 years. As Takke said: “Many of you werent born then.”, so this time he came to enchante us with his last album “Et Hav av avstand”. Crowd waited for him to comeon stage and with an attitude of viking mag Hoest showed up wrapped in a Norwegianold dirty flag. His stage appearance is now well known as one of the best; he has his own devilish style. Full of aggression and dark energy his aperrience together with a band wakes some unpeacful feeling in your guts. When he looks in my direction with perfect corpse paint I have a feeling he unlocked my soul. Not many bands can do that now specially in black metal. Full attention was on Hoest because of his shamanic energy but perfect moment was when he invited Doedsadmiral to sing together and they hugged like brothers! Metal unites people for sure! With one broken microphone which was a target of Hoest’s anger, Taake finished the show and vanished like a ghost. I was surprised and now I see why people like this man. My biggest impression wasn’t Taake, Nordjevel took my heart as Strahinja’s too but Taake surely gave a lesson to all others what a concert is, energy and why black metal is taking such a great place in Norway. Please don’t let another forteen years pass to come again and biggest gratitude as a crew and as fans we owe to MM concert and mister Milan Rakić. All heil to black metal and Norway!
Text: Andjela Milunović & Strahinja Rupnjak
Photo: Strahinja Rupnjak
