Give or take a week, it was exactly five years ago when I first met the Romanian black metal duo that painted Fest’s stage black this fateful Thursday night. I had the privilege to share the stage with them in their capital city, just before the world came to a complete halt due to the most recent epidemic.
Thankfully, none of them were lazy in the meantime and they arrived in Serbia with new releases under their respective belts. Ninth full length offering by Ordinul Negru, dubbed “Dodekatemoria”, and Nocturn’s third album, “The Conjuring”.
But first, the attendees needed to power through the Serbian dynamic grinding twosome. Though the second ones on the bill, Anality, are old enough to be the parents of Geger’s members, you couldn’t really feel the drop of energy or enthusiasm in the older gang. Geger, naturally, still being fairly fresh to the scene, but overall well accepted, lack no power to exude. I’ve written about them on previous occasions and there’s nothing new to report on the face of music itself. It is the same extreme grind core with rare death metal elements, laced with humour but also political (and otherwise) activism. However, I need to say that Geger is starting to grow on me. Could be that I judged them wrong before. Wouldn’t be my first mistake of that nature. It could also be the case that they’ve grown into their own “shoes” a bit and became a compact quartet that can deliver a serious punch in the creative department. “Šizofrenija”, the song with “guest vocalist” who, purposefully, doesn’t know the lyrics. Not to mention the silliest raffle I’ve ever witnessed. There’s definitely more to Geger than I originally thought, but I still need even more.
Anality was grinding its way through the Serbian scene back when I was nothing more than a kid. Almost a decade long disappearance made them an obscurity among the young fans, but with their most recent studio effort, 2022’s “UrinoNekultura”, and a couple of live shows, this might still change. Their gore grind is much more old school than Geger’s, and therefore more influenced by death metal. On the other hand, the band is absolutely possessed by disgusting humour. At least if you are familiar with Serbian language. Otherwise, you’re fairly safe with vocals not unlike Nešo of legendary Bombarder horde.
As for the more serious portion of the evening, Nocturn was the first. Lengthy preparations of what was almost to become a full scale “conjuring”. Their previous record was an introduction into the full maturity on display in Fest club. Even if you wouldn’t include the stage props as creative force for the ambience of their show, the mere music would do enough of a job. It’s gotten more elaborate in the meantime. Nocturn has obviously worked on further developing the compositions and arrangements, just as they did with the individual pieces of music that later form the songs. Black metal is the obvious frame of reference, melodic and atmospheric but with more than enough of raw aggression to “conjure” the inner monstrosities. However, the tracks from the new album seem to unlock a whole new level of escape from the strictness of genre defining rules. Rhythmically, too, there’s a freedom there that evolved since “Thrones of Deception”. Six years have passed in the meantime and they have left a positive mark.
Soon enough there will also be a review on Abaddon Magazine, since I cannot wait to check if these tracks are as convincing in the studio setting.
Ordinul Negru started off on a different side of the black metal spectrum than their countrymen. A thunderous, yet thought-provoking, distorted type of almost dissonant black metal. Toying around with the pillars of human sanity, Ordinul Negru could be felt evoking the monoliths of impossibility such as only the grand Mr. Lovecraft was able to. Their music is not way too complex or overly progressive, but crafted of regular pieces, irregularly shaped, dismantled, disfigured and then assembled into a black metal bending maelstrom.
Thus concluded the evening that started with satanic brownies (no, not that kind of brownies) and kept together by a flame of Serbian grind and Romanian black metal. Relatively small attendance cast the only shadow on a great night of extreme music. Thursday night was surely the only factor in this. Still, for the better part of the evening there was enough energy in the crowd to have the bands feel welcome on stage. Hopefully, it gave our guests an incentive to visit again, since what they’ve displayed in Zemun was a real glorification of the genre they represent.
